Thursday, November 10, 2005 Thursday, November 10, 2005 I'm leaving for the Los Angeles airport in about an hour. What a busy day it has been! I expected the launch of Rafa's Official Site (see the official press release below -- Romina thoughtfully pasted it here -- she knew I'd forget!). But we didn't expect Uncle Toni to have a chat with the Chinese press and tell them that Rafa has a girlfriend in Mallorca. That certainly set the cat among the pigeons, and I'll see what I can discover in Shanghai. The security around Rafa is pretty tight, though, and I'll be lucky to see glimpses of him on-court. But I'll make inquiries, and if nothing else, the Chinese media should be interesting to chat with. I'm being interviewed myself (I suspect they ran out of Nadal-related people to interview, and I was the only one left). I'll land in Shanghai around 5 p.m. on Saturday. I change planes in Vancouver, and have a long flight after that. I won't be able to make the Opening Ceremony, but I should be around for everything else. I'll check in as soon as I can get an internet connection. In the meantime, I suggest you take some time to explore http://www.rafaelnadal.com. I'm very impressed with it. There are a few things to improve, but they intend to do that during the off-season. For a long time, I've had this vision of a high-tech site with great fan-oriented content. Maybe that will be a reality. Talk soon. Susan xoxo FRENCH OPEN CHAMPION RAFAEL NADAL TO LAUNCH OFFICIAL BI-LINGUAL WEB SITE, RAFAELNADAL.COM WITH PHOTOS, CHATS AND TENNIS NEWS SHANGHAI, China, November 10, 2005 – Rafael Nadal, the 2005 French Open champion winner this year of 10 ATP tournaments, including four ATP Master Series events, and #2 ranked in the Indesit ATP Champions Race 2005, will launch his official global web site, rafaelnadal.com today, the Spanish player announced. “The support of my fans has played an important role in my success this year, “Nadal commented. “I wanted to better connect with them. This site gives me a way to do that and to show my appreciation to the fans. The site allows me to share stories and information about my tennis and my life off the court with my fans in Spain and everywhere around the globe,” he added. Rafaelnadal.com will feature unique Rafa content, including a once-monthly live web cam chat with Rafa, weekly Rafa gear giveaways and monthly Rafa signed giveaways. Additionally, rafaelnadal.com will include a fan page with live chat, a media gallery showcasing video from Rafa’s commercials, interviews and match highlights from throughout the year. The site will be in both English and Spanish. Rafael Nadal, born in Manacor on the island of Mallorca, Spain, took the tennis world by storm in 2005. In addition to capturing Roland Garros, he won the ATP Master Series events in Monte-Carlo, Rome, Canada and Madrid and the ATP events in Costa do Sauipe, Acapulco, Barcelona, Bastad, Stuttgart and Beijing. He was also a finalist at the ATP Masters Series Miami and quarterfinalist in Valencia, Doha, and Buenos Aires. In doubles, Nadal and Albert Costa won the doubles tournament in Doha and together with one of his best friends, Feliciano Lopez, were finalists at Barcelona. He was also a semifinalist in Bastad (with Juan Monaco) and Stuttgard (with Fernando Verdasco). posted by Susan @ 10:30 AM