Rafa reigns supreme.

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I thought he would win. Sad for Federer, but he cries a lot anyway.

Rafa was very good. He won a marathon match against a fellow Spaniard to make the final-over five hours long. He deserved his victory.

I felt sad for Federer aswell. I just hope he wins at Roland Gaross.
Rafa is truly no. 1 though.

For some reason I've never found the way Nadal plays as easy on the eye as the way Federer plays. I know I should really admire Nadal for what he's achieved, but it gets strangely frustrating watching Federer-Nadal matches, because I still can't quite work out why it is that stuff that works for Federer against every other player doesn't work so well against Nadal. I guess it's mainly to do with the fact that Nadal gets everything back and has that big looping cross-court forehand high to Federer's backhand.

I think he's (Rafa) a left hander. Yeah he's not as 'elegant' as Rog, but it gets boring when the same people stay at the top for too long, like Pete Sampras. You just like to see someone new.

Federer is a utter king. I hope that he could win his 14th grand slam even more, but Rafa won't let Roger get his own way.
It's a good sign that there are some players have potentiality to become world No.1.

Do you think Rafa could have a mild case of AS or OCD? He is described as going through a number of rituals: lining up water bottles, pulling his socks up, making sure he carries one of his rackets with him at all times, and the notorious "knicker pull." I know that Asperger's is not typically associated with high-level athleticism. I don't want to diagnose him with anything, because I really like him, but some of the traits are there.

He's also very high energy and craves movement. Some people might have medicated him as a child, but I think his family had the right idea in channeling all that energy into productive areas.

I have been thinking about the life of someone with a possible ASD in Spain. What is it like?

I would have to see more evidence before I'd start to suspect he had AS.
As for OCD, I know very little about the condition - maybe I should really learn some more about my neuro-untypical brothers and sisters - but I do think that rituals and superstitions are quite common among sportspeople, and mostly (I would guess) for non-OCD-related reasons.
For example, Goran Ivanisevic used to refuse to shave during tennis competitions! Perhaps Rafa's rituals have more of an aspie feel to them though.

When it comes to other neuro-untypical sportspeople, an obvious one would be the swimmer Michael Phelps, who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child.
I suspect ADHD is much more common among sportspeople than AS.
I was watching a documentary once about the ex soccer player Paul Gascoigne, and a psychologist speculatively diagnosed him with ADD, OCD and Tourette's.

Anyway ... back to Rafa!
One other thing Rafa's been noted for is the length of time it's taken him to learn English in comparison with other players. I personally think that's a bit unfair, but I guess being expected to speak English comes with the territory of being a top class tennis player.

I think his English is progressing, though. I know that Roger Federer knows four languages. That does sound like an unfair statement about Rafa.

Who criticized Rafa's English? He seems to be progressing pretty well now. I have seen athletes in my own country who can't put a coherent sentence together and sports commentators who say the most inane, insulting things-and English is their first language.

Oh, maybe I've just seen a few comments here and there.
I remember after he won his umpteenth tournament or something and he was supposed to address the crowd afterwards, and a few people on message boards were saying stuff like "for someone who's won so many tournaments he should have learnt a bit of English by now".
Well, anyway - his English is better than my Spanish.
I remember when Federer first won Wimbledon - his English wasn't so great back then.

Rafa's English is a lot better now. I don't think I could hold my own with him in a conversation in Spanish, even though I had a nearly straight-A average in my classes at school. I don't know Mallorquin or Catalan at all, which he also uses in daily life.

I have noticed that that the more comfortable people get with English, the more "ums" or "you knows" they use. People seem to be a lot more careful about every word when they are first learning. Ironically, as they become more comfortable, the sloppier they tend to get.