Vamos, @RafaelNadal!
As you get ready to graduate from tennis, I’ve got a few things to share before I maybe get emotional.
Let’s start with the obvious: you beat me—a lot. More than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in ways no one else could. On clay, it felt like I was stepping into your backyard, and you made me work harder than I ever thought I could just to hold my ground. You made me reimagine my game—even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.
I’m not a very superstitious person, but you took it to the next level. Your whole process. All those rituals. Assembling your water bottles like toy soldiers in formation, fixing your hair, adjusting your underwear... All of it with the highest intensity. Secretly, I kind of loved the whole thing. Because it was so unique—it was so you.
And you know what, Rafa, you made me enjoy the game even more.
OK, maybe not at first. After the 2004 Australian Open, I achieved the #1 ranking for the first time. I thought I was on top of the world. And I was—until two months later, when you walked on the court in Miami in your red sleeveless shirt, showing off those biceps, and you beat me convincingly. All that buzz I’d been hearing about you—about this amazing young player from Mallorca, a generational talent, probably going to win a major someday—it wasn’t just hype.
We were both at the start of our journey and it’s one we ended up taking together. Twenty years later, Rafa, I have to say: What an incredible run you’ve had. Including 14 French Opens—historic! You made Spain proud... you made the whole tennis world proud.
I keep thinking about the memories we’ve shared. Promoting the sport together. Playing that match on half-grass, half-clay. Breaking the all-time attendance record by playing in front of more than 50,000 fans in Cape Town, South Africa. Always cracking each other up. Wearing each other out on the court and then, sometimes, almost literally having to hold each other up during trophy ceremonies.
I’m still grateful you invited me to Mallorca to help launch the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2016. Actually, I kind of invited myself. I knew you were too polite to insist on me being there, but I didn’t want to miss it. You have always been a role model for kids around the world, and Mirka and I are so glad that our children have all trained at your academies. They had a blast and learned so much—like thousands of other young players. Although I always worried my kids would come home playing tennis as lefties.
And then there was London—the Laver Cup in 2022. My final match. It meant everything to me that you were there by my side—not as my rival but as my doubles partner. Sharing the court with you that night, and sharing those tears, will forever be one of the most special moments of my career.
Rafa, I know you’re focused on the last stretch of your epic career. We will talk when it’s done. For now, I just want to congratulate your family and team, who all played a massive role in your success. And I want you to know that your old friend is always cheering for you, and will be cheering just as loud for everything you do next.
Rafa that!
Best always, your fan,
Roger
The 1st @BIOSortho and @BOMSA_UK has been a super successful event. Great fun and a fantastic experience for the next generation of medics….amazing to see how enthusiastic students are and the energy they have on a weekend! 👏 @sunilgarg9@JitMangwani
#Oliverscampaign
So important to see the person in everyone, not their learning disability. We are all human beings with emotions regardless of anything else and we communicate distress in the same way . This is something we should all think about. Please share
An incredibly painful email from an IMG 🇮🇳 😞
Struggling with career while Trust ensuring PA can attend training
No supervisor
No pastoral support
No anything
Where are all the national organisations, Colleges & leadership on this? 😡
Say something
Do something.
There is a small town called Charouda in Chhattisgarh, unfamiliar to most of us, there lived a boy named Bharat. He belongs to a weak financial family. His father worked as a security guard at a bank and his mother ran a tea stall
Later age he went to Kendriya Vidyalaya Charouda for school. In the 9th grade, he was unable to pay fees, but the school helped by waiving them, he did well in 12th grade and got into IIT Dhanbad.
When money became an issue again, business people Arun Bagh and Jindal Group from Raipur helped him. He did excellent in college and got a gold medal with 98% at IIT Dhanbad.
During his 7th semester in engineering, he got placed in ISRO. And got an opportunity to work on Chandrayaan 3 at just 23 years old.
He is proof of the saying 'Rising from the ashes like a phoenix'.
There are many Bharat like him around us, who come from humble backgrounds from the small towns, and who are pushing the dream of a new India every day. 💜
@DrJN_SportsMed@OrthoM8 I think it is time the world knew how great this man (DCJ) is.
This Nomination letter for David’s Knighthood has collected plenty of dust in my hard drive (😎), but every word still holds true.
#Oliverscampaign
Discrimination against Learning Disabled people from the caring profession is real. Often this discrimination is subconscious, we must self reflect & heal ourselves if we are to change culture. Thoughts??
"In the NHS, leaders who have failed to deliver in a role are moved from one organisation to another, and organisations are endlessly restructured.
But changing the name, structure, or shape of the organisation they led isn’t going to deliver outcomes"
https://t.co/hSaNUgKJKJ