Listen Up NYC!

His sweat pours for you, New York. In every match he plays, in every point he faces, with every shot he hits – no concern of the moment in the match or the scoreboard, Rafa gives you everything he’s got. It’s all to win the one Grand Slam title that has eluded him thus far, the one that’s in your back yard, and he’s doing it for you, New York.

For two months he watched and waited for his knees to mend, witnessing Roger Federer win the Wimbledon title he should have defended. During his second tournament upon returning, he acquired an abdominal injury that still bothers him now. On the days when he doesn’t play, he has a machine working on those abs, ensuring that he will be able to compete in true Nadal fashion in the next match. It’s the only way he knows how – to run down every single ball, to stretch for every impossible shot, and to fight for every point.

Yet, you will chant the names of Nicolas Kiefer and Gael Monfils when he faces them. Justifiably, you cheer for an even match, but you forget that Nadal has clawed his way back after Monfils won the first set in a tie-breaker. You applaud Kiefer for taking the second set from the mighty Spaniard and playing his best against the Goliath. But you forget what Nadal has been through to perform for you. You don’t realize that his willpower is so overwhelming that he convinces his own body’s ailments into submission, let alone his opposition’s game.

Here he is in the quarter finals, two steps from a championship match against Federer, a prospect that thrills every tennis fan, excites us to the core. Will you support him now? Cheer for him when you see his fist pump! Celebrate when you hear him yell ‘Vamos!” He gives it all for you, New York. Give him something back.


Notes:
- weigh in on your championship favourite in the poll on the right
- this is being posted in lieu of a Friday post