wurnty

Sometimes I draw. she/her, eng/rus

[wurnty]

I’m glad that these sketches have found their audience

[fernscare]

peaceful chimera at the river

[vamos-rogi]

do you think anna wintour has read fedal fanfic

[wurnty]

Vamos Rafa

[yuex10]

grass 🧘

[6scera]

copper plate print òwó here u first see my reference photo from wimbledon 2024 and my initial etching into the hard ground on the plate

this is after biting in the acid ! quite a lot of scuffing bc this plate is actually from last year and I didn’t redo the hard ground 🙈 I think it turned out okay though 🤩🤩

and then the PRINT !!! this is the very first print so some of the scuffs will be fixed next week + I’ll hopefully add some tone too, but IT ACTUALLY TURNED OUT SO GOOD?? I wasn’t initially going to include the actual writing for the score but I genuinely enjoy writing backwards so I just went for it XD sooo tiny 😭😭

[zingaplanet]

I don't think new tennis fans realise the insanity of playing the same mind games with your rival for 25 years and never speaking about it until you retire.

Andy Roddick in his podcast said the most liberating thing about retirement is that you can actually TALK about tennis with the people you played with your whole career.

Tennis is the most physical non-contact sport. Especially in the early 2000s before sports analytics took over, a lot of the game strategy is based on how a certain opponent 'feel' when you play against them, how they hit the ball, approach a serve, react against your forehand, etc (see Federer's interview with Trevor Noah for reference).

When you play them long enough, say like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, you knew your rival's entire gameplan and became strangely intimate with their tennis vocabulary. It's like having a silent 20 year long conversation with someone through your racket and strings alone.

What's fascinating is both side of the players would know exactly what's going on but this wouldn't be obvious to the outside eyes. Both Federer and Nadal, in completely separate interviews, different times after they retire, describe their match-up in exactly the same words.

They specifically use the term "a game of chess", where they both know each other's strategies: Nadal trying to damage him against his backhand, open Federer wide enough so he can pass him down the line or force errors, Federer trying to take the ball early, hit aggressive with his forehand and break his rhythm.

Then it comes down to a battle of wills, each trying to dominate the match with their strategy, seeing who will relent, who plays better that day and on which surface. As Nadal said, "there wasn't any secrets", and when Federer was asked whether there's anything from Nadal's game that still surprises him, he said that after 20 years he "knows everything there is to know."

Courtside tennis and tv coverage don't really capture the nuances of how this game is played at a pro level. A tennis match, especially at tour level, is almost like a silent 4-5 hours mental debate in front of millions of people where only two people are privy to what's actually being said.

I don't think people grasp how intensely intimate career-long rivalries are and how soul crushing it is to lose them. When Federer retired, Nadal said that he'd have a really tough time coming to terms with never being able to 'feel the feeling of playing against Federer' again. Beyond the mental loss, it's also a profound physical loss, where each player's style of play is almost unreplicable in a top 100 level.

It's the grief of knowing that in one day, it'll be the last time you're on the receiving end of that forehand, almost like an end to a 20 year long conversation you've been having with the same person on the greatest stadiums around the world.

Interview references:

[wurnty]

[yuex10]

swiss army knife

[wurnty]

[wurnty]

Meow

[tennisandlife]

Hi! Do you have any good Fedal fic recs and do you write fic yourself? There are such few Fedal fics comparatively, so I'm having to re-read everything. Thanks!

I don’t write fics because I am not able to. English isn’t my native language. There are indeed so few Fedal fics but we do have some really good ones despite that. 

My favourite ones:

Mystivy writes the BEST Fedal fics. Her long fic, Joy, is my recent fav. Believe me. You will be overwhelmed by emotions. I am also impressed by how well-researched this fic is. I think Mystivy is one of the few authors out there who gets Rafa right. Make sure to read her other fics. Every fic from her is a masterpiece.

The Match of the Century - AU where Roger and Rafa are actors. I constantly go back to this fic because despite its AU setting Roger and Rafa are very in character. You will read about how Roger struggles to accept he is in love with Rafa because of his career, and how finally he accepts it. The ending will make you SO happy. 

All the Roads We Have to Walk. “Thirteen years after Roger Federer’s retirement from professional tennis, the release of a new movie chronicling his famous rivalry with Rafael Nadal brings the two back together in London. Rekindling their friendship, Rafa invites Roger to visit his home in Mallorca, where as they relive shared memories, their relationship deepens.”  In this fic Roger realises Rafa is what is missing from his life. I can’t tell you how beautiful this fic is. You have to read it for yourself.

The Long Experience of Love - based on The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This is probably my favourite Fedal fic, although it feels like a WIP. It has probably the best portrayal of Roger I have ever read, bearing in mind it was written years ago and the fic covers Roger from his youth to his older age. When I re-read it recently I have been amazed by how realistic the Roger of 30s in the story is. Warning: it doesn’t exactly have a happy ending and it might make you cry at certain points.    

A Life as known - in which Rafa coaches Roger and the coaching relationship gradually changes into something else. This one is special. It is made up of different scenes, some from the POV from different people in their lives.

Some others I highly recommend: 

Fallen - AU where Roger is pregnant with Rafa’s child after a night of passion. It follows the journey of his pregnancy, and how Rafa is dealing with Roger not allowing him to be responsible for the child. I know the concept sounds a bit weird. But do give it a go. You will have a pleasant surprise like I did.

From the heart - Recently re-uploaded on AO3 by the holy louise_lux. Rafa and Roger are bought together again as commentators long after their tennis careers.

Beautiful Secret Lives - Eight ways Fedal could happen. It’s a shame rilla only wrote two Fedal fics, this one and the Long experience of love.

return to ithaca - AU where no one remembers Roger and Rafa’s legendary tennis careers, except the two of them.

Before Summer Rain: Rafa and Roger are in some sort of relationship until Roger decides it is no more. The question of what is the right thing to do defines this fic. 

Breathe Out: Roger visits Rafa in Mallorca. They spend time alone together.

Wild Card: emungere writes the most must-read long fics. Roger is gay. He and Mirka have some sort of arrangement. Rafa finds out.

Desert places: another epic by emungere. I don’t think it has the best characterisation but it is an epic road trip fic. Check out Obvious as well. Rafa has a huge crush on Roger and the Spaniards tease him about it. Roger and Rafa are both very sweet in this one.

Within - Very angsty. It doesn’t have the best characerisation of Fedal but it is gripping. You will be emotionally torn. I read it in one go and when I finished it at 5 am I was a wreck. Go check out it’s a new dawn by the same author as well. 

Days like these I miss you - Rafa and Roger are hooking up but they don’t know if they are in a relationship. buckle-berry is another name you won’t want to miss in the Fedal fandom.

Check out this link as well for other good fedal fic recs. I will be updating this post from time to time.

[twolanguages]

just how fast the night changes

based off of this post

[muimira]

[mirawwis]

obligatory cleradin

[moonmacabre66]

Theyre so stupid

[xaxaga]

🪩 🪩 🪩