TENNIS: Gracias Rafa

[JaneJeffer]

Well done Matteo!

Is he Italy's number2?I thought he was ranked lower than Lorenzo.

The different start times are annoying Ice

Well done Matteo! He's pumped!

Can't really see Tallon Griekspoor winning against Jannik

I am glad to see Matteo ending the year well- he's had so many runs of bad luck.

Yes me too Raahh - it's so nice to see him happy and smiling (it's just nice to see him full stop!)

Jannik not having it all his own way

No, Tallon is out to spoil the Italian party.

I might have to miss a bit of this, the dog is getting angsty. Not that he will want to be out for long.

Still keeping up the fight then, Tallon. Despite losing the first set.

Well done Italy.

Aww, Matteo is crying.

Well done Italy!

Aww Matteo 😢

Jannik is just dominating things at the moment- and yet the commentators will still find a way to get Djok's name into the conversation somehow.

I think everyone is really pleased for Matteo. He is such a lovely bloke.

I think it was on RB but I couldn't watch so I watched bits of YouTube of someone watching it and doing commentary he said Sinner is the first player since Roger in 2005 not to have been beaten in straight sets in a season and they are the only two ever to have achieved that.

It has been a very sad week, with Rafa retiring. But I think tennis is in a very good place with the Italian team playing the way they are, and some really good matches this week. The Dutch team did well- they only actually have 2 players left now that Wesley has retired, so to make the final was a great achievement.

Well done Italia!
Nice of Jannik to mention Wesley in his interview.
Matteo is lovely!

That is quite something, really.

He's so laid back, as well. And I'm amazed at how different he is now, how comfortable he is talking to the media after a match. Such a change from his first wins when he was really shy and nervous.

We have firmly entered the Alcaraz/ Sinner era.

Carlos milking his moment

Feli has had to stick around all week.

The Netherlands team seems a bit depleted.

That's a lot of confetti stuff. I'd be a bit worried about the fireworks.

At least Jannik should be able to celebrate this week- since he wasn't able to , after winning the ATP final!

Well done to the Italian team, really sweet to see how much it meant to Matteo in particular.

Morning all - hope everyone is coping with no tennis this week!

I'm not sure why but this popped up on my Instagram feed - hopefully the fragrance is pre not post a very sweaty 5 set match

cdn.notonthehighstreet.com/fs/c7/60/8419-73f8-4abb-8163-76bb42f1eb94/original_rafael-nadal-candle-with-matches-tennis-gifts.jpg

Actually I seem to remember reading someone (it might have been Annabel Croft who I think is a bit of a Rafa fangirl) saying that Rafa did always smell nice even after a long match

Erm...I'm not too sure what to make of that candle Fizzy . It really does depend which version of Rafa it has captured the scent of, doesn't it?

I filled my first tennis/Doctors free day with more rubbish made for tv Christmas films that I have already seen and other useless things, to avoid tidying the house ready to put the tree up (always do it Advent Sunday weekend -ish).

I thought the Next Gen finals would have been on now too, but they are on nearer Christmas. I have voted for my 'Fan Favourite' on the ATP site, from a very strange list (surely it should just be any player? And Rafa has only just retired, yet wasn't included, which I don't think was fair- Roger won it every year, including years he barely hit a ball ).

I love Rafa but I'm not convinced I want my house to smell like him!

That said, I'm always surprised by how many people want players' sweaty wristbands and towels after a long match.