What Rafa Deserves

Guess I'm going to have to do some revising of my blokes' Wimbledictions, which I kind of expected I would have. All I can say is this - get well soon, Rafa.

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You've got to feel for the guy, you really do. This must be utterly devastating, not being able to defend a crown like Wimbledon, which is basically the biggest crown in tennis. And to have such a lot of bad press and people saying he was bunging it on to get some sympathy as a sort of excuse for losing to Soderling in his backyard in Paris... it's pretty insulting, really. Poor guy. Poor, poor guy.

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I read somewhere that Rafa's loss to Soderling was like the first time in his career that he got punched in the teeth, and the writer was up on their high horse for Rafa immediately crying knee problems. I mean, sure, admittedly it might look a bit suss, but let's just say it was Federer (heaven forbid he should get injured!) who did that. I think we'd be a lot quicker to believe him than we have to believe Rafa.

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My point being that I think Rafa deserves our trust. If nothing else, this Wimbledon withdrawal means that if Rafa says he's injured, then he's really, really f*cking injured.

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Poor guy.

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We all know that I'm a Roger lass, but Rafa deserves so much respect, and he deserves so much more than this - than being scorned by the media and not being able to defend his Wimbledon crown. Here's hoping he has a lovely time in Mallorca chillin' with his girlfriend Xisca and his family and getting better, because he's too nice a guy and too good a player for us to lose from the tour.

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Get well soon, Rafa - we want you back.

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Benjamin Becker def. Raemon Sluiter, 7-5 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-3 7-5

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Dmitry Tursunov def. Frank Dancevic, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

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Women's Draw

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Virginie Razzano, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5