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Nadal's Head Game
Paul J. Bereswill / AP Photo
Rafael Nadal sported a familiar new ’do at the U.S. Open—“the Roger.” The Daily Beast’s Gail Sheehy asks: Is he taking his rivalry with Federer to a higher level?
Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet both walked on court for Day 3 of the U.S. Open with the grim intensity of champions hiding the first big holes shot through their youthful bravado. Nadal was asked if his hair was shorter. “You don’t like?” he affected a wounded ego, then flashed a full smile. “It makes me feel younger.”
Nadal was asked if his hair was shorter. “You don’t like?” he affected a wounded ego, then flashed a full smile. “It makes me feel younger.”
Did the handsome young Spaniard need to feel younger, or more like a facsimile of his arch rival, Roger Federer, whose short curly haircut he looks to have aped? He hadn’t played at a major tournament since the end of May, when he dropped off the tour complaining of knee tendonitis. But how could a champion relinquish his hard-won Wimbledon title? What gnashing of teeth must have gone on while Nadal sat out Wimbledon at his island home on Majorca, doing nothing for six weeks, while Federer dazzled the world by grinding down Andy Roddick in five sets? No one on the circuit today can overshadow the gangly elegance of this Swiss supermodel in his black and red costume.
XTRA INSIGHT:
• Gallery: Gail Sheehey's U.S. Open Photo Diary
• Check out The Daily Beast's latest U.S. Open photos and reports. Nadal admitted his confidence was sapped by his time at home nursing a nasty tendonitis. He played Wednesday without any tape and claimed he has no pain, so he doesn’t think about his injury.
What he thinks about is apparent: Can he catch Roger the robot?
Nadal acknowledged that his choice to play nonstop, every week, for five straight grueling years, had diminished his game. After “doing nothing” for six weeks, “I am more fresh,” he said. He bit his nails nervously. “Fresher than ever in this tournament. I don’t know if this kind of fresh is good,” he amended, meaning he can’t make any excuses about being tired.
Even as he put Gasquet away handily in three sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, he brushed off any boasts about expecting to win a slam here: “If I have a chance to win a few more matches, I’ll get more confidence.”
Gasquet did not smile once, on court or afterward in his press conference. The darling of France since his teen years, unique with his one-handed backhand—“I think one is more beautiful,” he says with the French reverence for style—he will forever be shadowed by the shame of being suspended by the ITF in March, when a blood test found a trace of cocaine. He was suspended for two years, and had to go to sleep every night thinking his tennis life could be over, before the ITA ultimately apologized and lifted the ban.
The pain of that condemnation, the loss of status in a country where tennis is the top sport, showed all over Gasquet’s glum face after losing to Nadal. His head bowed, looking up from his sad hazel eyes, he refused to answer questions about that chapter, except to say the obvious: “When I couldn’t play, it was the darkest part of my life.”
It’s often noted that men rise fast and crash faster, while women keep on truckin’. Venus and Serena Williams look as if they will never burn out. Guided by father Richard not to confine themselves to tennis, Serena launched a book on Tuesday and spent the summer writing a screenplay with her 29-year-old elder sister.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Gail Sheehy is an American writer and lecturer, most notable for her books on life and the life cycle. She is also a contributor to Vanity Fair, and can be found at gailsheehy.com
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Gail Sheehy is an American writer and lecturer, most notable for her books on life and the life cycle. She is also a contributor to Vanity Fair, and can be found at gailsheehy.com
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Gail Sheehy is an American writer and lecturer, most notable for her books on life and the life cycle. She is also a contributor to Vanity Fair, and can be found at gailsheehy.com
"No one on the circuit today can overshadow the gangly elegance of this Swiss supermodel in his black and red costume."
"Costume?"
C'mon, Athletes wear "Uniforms."
"Venus appeared in a hot pink zipper dress"
"Dress?"
"Nadal looks almost diminutive as he dances"
"Dances?"
Really, do dancers make loud grunting and screeching sounds?
Sure you weren't at some Broadway Play ?
Not a sports fan, or you're being metaphorical ?
yes, it's a dress. and look up "costume" in the dictionary.
not a writer, or are you being facetious?
Half kidding.
Athletes wear Uniforms. Actors/Models wear costumes.
Try telling a 250 pound football player he wears a "costume."
Nadal did not cut his hair to be just like Federer, or to incite some rivalry... Come on... Honestly... That is a reach. That haircut is not "the Roger".
Ms. Sheehy,
Your hypothesis is sheer idiocy. Mr. Nadal cut his hair short for summer, like millions of other men all over the world.
Don't read anything more than that into it. You look foolish.
One thing I've noticed about Fedophiles like you, is everything in tennis is always about him in your eyes. You're obsessed with Mr. Smugalot & you can't fathom that other people are not.
Rafa's worn his hair exactly like that when he a kid. Check some of his old photos.
please DB and Sheehy, this is not journalism, it isn't even insightful or applied theory on the US Open. i consider DB a reputable source of editorial and even newsgathering - please don't add to the noise !!
this 'story' deserves a 3-line mention - not a 2 page column
and don't bring the Open into the catty playpen. leave that to someone else.
This is a ridiculous piece, filled with wrongheaded statements and errors:
1. Nadal never "complained" of tedonitis. He HAD tedonitis.
2. If "what (Nadal) thinks about is apparent" why doesn't Sheehy tell us what he's thinking?
3. Anyone who knows anything about Nadal knows he didn't cut his hair to resemble Federer...
4. She writes "... 'I don't know if this kind of fresh is good,' he (Nadal) amended, meaning he can't make any excuses about being tired." Nadal NEVER MAKES EXCUSES. Not Ever. Where does she get off assuming she knows how he feels about anything?
5. Nadal "looks almost diminutive"? He's 6'1" -- even a 9 year old seeing him in the flesh should realize that he's tall...
6. "The six foot sisters" don't exist. Serena is 5'9"...
7. Gasquet hasn't been "the darling of France since his teen years" - he's been their darling since he was about five...
If you're going to cover the Open why don't you send someone who knows something about tennis?
3.
Ugly article! Guess Gail's mama never taught her , "if you can't say anything nice about a person, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT"!Gail needs to develop some manners, but there's another old saying, "you can't teach AN OLD DOG new tricks".
Are you kidding? Does this person know ANYTHING about tennis or the current tennis scene?...let alone Rafael Nadal.
Hire a pro!!!
Ms. Sheehy,
As a devoted Rafa fan, I am appalled at your snide remarks and inane attempts to ridicule him. The very idea that Rafa cut his hair in some absurd attempt to emulate Roger Federer, would be insulting if it wasn't so laughable. You wish! Rafa is his own person, thank you very much. If you must elevate Federer, then please do so without insulting his greatest rival, a young man who has carved out his own special place as a great tennis champion. The sarcasm and tone of your comments is unprofessional. If you like Roger Federer, so be it. Just don't express your fandom by trashing a true sportsman and a great athlete. The implication that Rafa was having fun in the sun at Mallorca, while Roger was toiling at Wimbledon, is outrageous. Obviously, you have never experienced tendinitis, or you would realize just how debilitating and painful this kind of injury can be. Frankly, you are an embarassment as a journalist. Get rid of the bias or just stop talking about Rafa, because it makes you look lame and utterly pathetic. You should be ashamed!
Thank you.
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