'Dios, Rafa

Shortly before Rafael Nadal played Novak Djokovic tonight, I had a talk with Benito Perez-Barbadillo, the ATP communications manager turned Nadal press rep. He told me that Nadal's foot has been bothering him again, off and on, but when I pressed him on the issue, he told me to ask Nadal - he'd rather have that information come directly from the pony's mouth.

So that's just what I did shortly after the Djoker played a fine match to bump Nadal out of the Sony Ericsson Open. I've got to hand it to Jet Boy. Win or lose, he attends his presser, sits down at the table facing a collection of reporters, and peers out at them from under his mop of wet hair, his brow furrowed (it's his permanent, press-conference game face), the way a man might when he's struggling to positively ID someone who's just accosted him in a dark parking lot. All he sees is the periodic, orange glow of the tip of a cigarette: Is this really the operative sent by the home office to receive the secret intelligence, or some kind of diabolical trap?

But the mien is deceptive, for Nadal is a young man of great cheer and equanimity; the furrowed brow is just the fake nose-and-eyeglasses he wears on his sunny disposition. He is equally engaged, win or lose. He doesn't mince words or play mind games. When he appears defensive, it's only because he's mistrustful - not of his audience or the question, but of his words. Why should he be? He's delivering them in a tongue not his own.

Anyway, when I asked Nadal how his foot feels, he replied with sincerity:

Jet Boy has made great strides on hard courts this spring; one of his major challenges has been faced and met - nothing wrong with winning one Masters Series title and losing in the quarters of the next one, to the de facto world No. 4 or 5. What I wondered, though, is how he feels about the pending clay-court season. This is how I framed the question: "You have dominated the clay circuit in Europe, you know, tremendously, and at this point going back for really like a third year of playing so well, what is left for you to do there?  Is it your attitude that gee, I just have to do this again or is it brand new all over?

He replied:

Well, I'm about to get kicked out of the media center; last man standing once again. Ride the fur off it. See you all tomorrow. 'Dios, Jet Boy!