Rafa Nadal: Buzzing off the court

Rafa Nadal has been busy off the court making news in myriad manners. The final loss to Nole in the Aussie Open was taken in the best possible manner by the Spaniard and he feels confident of stopping the Serbian juggernaut soon enough. There is no mental block. That is what Rafa said and based on the evidence of that final, we have to believe him. The upcoming clay season would be the best in recent years. We have a proven legend and an unstoppable tormentor who is looking to make his name in the lion’s own den.

Rafa posed for the 2012 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition with 26 yrs old Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli … Rafa with Refa. The picture was a scorcher and both the sexes must be drooling over it. The way Rafa carries his body is super confident be it, on the court or off it. The pictures will definitely give a complex to Hollywood superstars. Some hardcore Rafanatics weren’t very happy with the way their idol was posing “pornstar-like” with a swimsuit model. But. this is the age we are leaving in, where athletes are expected to do all sort of things to stay in the glamour limelight. Brands and stars feed off each other.

“I was calm and I enjoyed doing it, It was a new experience for me.” … Rafa

“I love tennis. The combination of him and Sports Illustrated. I’m so happy to be part of this. I was nervous.” … Refaeli

One more positive news for Rafanatics. His FB page is nearing 10 million fans. Roger’s page is also nearing the magic mark. Rafa has 9.5 million while Roger has 9.7 million currently. Both the superstars keep their fans updated with the latest in their lives and that is why they are by far the most popular tennis players ever. They never get into controversies and tennis is indebted to these two good boys for tonnes of positive PR. Rafa’s recent update was a pic of himself running backwards on the treadmill. The super athlete that he is, this is hardly surprising.

Rafa also led the way for tennis players in the Bloomberg Power 100 list. Roger and Nole followed him. Rafa was at 5 while Roger was at 6 and Nole made his way to 9 as a newcomer to the list. Rafa’s youthful nature, his looks and marketing muscle did the trick in this power list

Soon, it’ll be business time for the Spaniard as he gets ready to establish his supremacy on the current clay court season after the 2011 season when Nole almost completely dominated the clay courts as well. The French Open title was the sole consolation amid a slew of final losses. This season has started off with another final loss to the Serb. Hope history doesn’t repeat itself all over again.