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Roland Garros 2012 Preview
by MAC (with interview translation by Moondancer)

Rafa Nadal

Rafa has an incredible 45-1 win-loss ratio at this tournament - a winning percentage of around 98%. He has only lost 13 sets against 157 sets won. In both 2008 and 2010 he went through all seven matches without losing a set.

This year he is out to break Bjorn Borg's record of 6 titles. He comes into it having won all the lead-up tournaments on red clay - Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome - without dropping a set. This has prompted tennis pundits to make him the favourite but what does Rafa think about it all? The following extracts are from an interview by Rémi Bourrières and Antoine Couvercelle in the May edition of the French Tennis magazine. The interview was conducted during this year's Miami tournament.

The full article was translated for vamosbrigade.com by Moondancer.

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC

Tennis Magazine: Rafa, Roland Garros is fast approaching. When people mention “Roland Garros” to you, what sort of image first springs to mind?

Rafa: Roland Garros will always be the first major tournament where I felt that I had a chance of winning. More generally, it’s of course the tournament that gave me my best souvenirs. Roland Garros has always been important for the Spanish players. And it’s an honor for me to maintain that tradition.

In Paris, I had tough moments and happy ones. There will never be a tournament like that in my eyes. That tournament has given me so much …

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by rafafanatic, edited by MAC

Tennis Magazine: Of all the big matches you played in Paris, is there one in particular that you hold in mind?

Rafa: (he thinks about it for a long time). Maybe the 2010 final. That match against Söderling was particularly important in my eyes,1 I won that. I was very, very happy because I came back from a very difficult season in 2009. So, that victory had a very sweet taste. Other than that, my best Roland Garros, when I played my best tennis, was 2008, without any hesitation. But if I had to keep one title, I’d say the first, in 2005, incredible…

1Nadal won that match 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 against the player who gave him his only defeat at RG. It’s even more traumatising for the Spaniard because he was injured at the knee and he and to endure the support of the partisan crowd rooting for his opponent.

Rafa Nadal
trinity77

Tennis Magazine: In all of Roland Garros, where’s your favourite place?

Rafa: The place I prefer in Roland Garros are the locker rooms of the Philippe-Chatrier court.

Tennis Magazine: Where you have locker n° 159

Rafa: Maybe…I’m not sure (laughter)!

Tennis Magazine: We’re sure!

Rafa: Really? I know very well where I need to be but I’ve never really paid attention to the number on the locker. In fact, I’m always in the same area in the locker rooms but I don’t know if I’ve always had the same locker.

Tennis Magazine: We thought that the n° 159 held special significance to you but apparently not…

Rafa: I do like the number 9, though. I don’t know why but that’s always been my number.

Tennis Magazine: Maybe it’s because you will win Roland Garros 9 times…

Rafa: We’re still far away from that (laughs)!

Tennis Magazine: Well, if you win it this year, that’ll make 7 and you will go one up against Bjorn Borg to become the only record title holder in RG. Now, there’s a record that should be important in your eyes, no?

Rafa: Even having 6 on my counter is already a dream…If you would have told me that seven years ago, I would have taken you for a fool! No, 6 titles in RG is already more than I hoped and more than I dreamed about. All of it has been constructed day by day and it will be similar this year: I will go to RG to give it all that I have, to play my best tennis and we will see what that brings me. I don’t think about the record. I take things one by one. To equalise Borg, given all that he represents for tennis, is already incredible. I will now fight to surpass him. But to win a tournament like that remains extremely difficult. So, it’s too soon to talk about a record.

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC

Tennis Magazine: Do you follow the discussions around the new stadium?

Rafa: A bit, yes, but not into detail. I’ve heard that they wanted to make a new court in the Bois de Boulogne, is that it?

Tennis Magazine: No, in the greenhouses of Auteuil, across court n°1…

Rafa: (he gestures with his hands) The main entrance of RG is there, opposite Philippe Chatrier and the new court will be on the other side, is that it?

Tennis Magazine: That’s it, yes.

Rafa: Yes, that’s what I understood. Well, why not? You have to move forward anyway. Times have changed and a lot of tournaments have changed as well. The Australian Open has changed and they have new projects. Wimbledon now has a retractable roof…yes, it’s necessary to move on. If I understood it correctly, the city of Paris wanted to keep RG. They have to do whatever they can to make sure that it stays that way. I can’t imagine a RG in Versailles or anywhere else, as I’ve heard people mention.

Rafa Nadal
bluebird

Tennis Magazine: You want the stadium to stay there because it’s your home in a way, right?

Rafa: No, because I love tennis and I’m attached to tennis history. RG has been there for such a long time. When you arrive in that stadium, you breathe tennis history. To leave would mean to lose something…

Tennis Magazine: If you had to change something in that stadium today, what would it be?

Rafa: They really need to put a roof in, like Wimbledon has managed to do. That’s a necessary change for the good of the sport. Out of respect for the tv networks, for the public, for all those who pay to watch tennis, we should be able to guarantee that they will get what they paid for. Otherwise, the stadium could improve in the relaxing areas. Around Suzanne-Lenglen, it’s doable but elsewhere, everything is a bit narrow. There’s always something you can improve, of course, but that doesn’t change the fact that RG is one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world.

Rafa Nadal
bluebird

Tennis Magazine: You know that the managers of RG are talking about getting blue clay like in Madrid?

Rafa: What, blue clay?

Tennis Magazine: We’re joking.

Rafa: Ah (he laughs)! That’s better. Don’t repeat the mistakes of others.

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by meriko, edited by MAC

¡Buena Suerte, Rafa!