1 GRAM GOLD JEWELLERY SETS

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan pronunciation: [r??f?? n???a? p???e??]; Spanish pronunciation: [rafa?el na??al pa??e?a]; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time;[2][3][4] his success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.[5][6][7] Nadal has won nine Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008 and 2009. He completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi. Nadal had a 32 match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which included titles at Hamburg, the French Open (where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club, his first ever title at Wimbledon, and the Rogers Cup. In 2011, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, he became the only player to have won seven editions of a tournament in a row at the ATP level.
Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he held from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009.[8] He regained the world No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010, after winning his fifth French Open title.[9]

Nadal started 2011 by participating in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He defeated Tomas Berdych 6–4, 6–4 to reach his third final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, he won over his main rival Roger Federer 7–6(4), 7–6(3).
At his first tour event of the year in an Australian Open warm-up tournament, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha, Qatar, Nadal barely struggled past his first three opponents, Karol Beck 6–3, 6–0, Lukas Lacko 7–6(3), 0–6, 6–3, and Ernests Gulbis 7–6(3), 6–3 citing fever as the primary reason for his poor performance. He fell in straight sets to a resurgent Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals, 6–3, 6–2.[99] He and countryman Lopez won the doubles title by defeating the Italian duo Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi 6–3, 7–6(4).[100]
In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Marcos Daniel of Brazil 6–0, 5–0 ret. In the second round, he beat upcoming qualifier Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6–2, 6–1, 6–1. In the third round, he was tested by emerging player Bernard Tomic of Australia, who previously ousted Nadal's countryman Feliciano Lopez, but Nadal was victorious with a score of 6–2, 7–5, 6–3. He went on to defeat Marin Cilic of Croatia 6–2, 6–4, 6–3 in the fourth round. He suffered an apparent hamstring injury against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer early in the pair's quarterfinal match and ultimately lost in straight sets 4–6, 2–6, 3–6, thus ending his effort to win four major tournaments in a row.[101]
On 7 February 2011, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Nadal won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the first time, ahead of footballer Lionel Messi, Sebastian Vettel, Spain's Andres Iniesta, Lakers star Kobe Bryant and Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.[102]
In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on hard indoor in Spiroudome, Charleroi, Belgium. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.[103] after Spain's victory in three matches, Nadal played second match against Olivier Rochus without the importance and won 6-4, 6-2.[104]
At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, In the first match Nadal defeated upcoming qualifier Rik de Voest of South Africa 6-0, 6-2, In the Third round, he beat upcoming qualifier Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6-3, 6-1, He then defeated upcoming qualifier the Indian player Somdev Devvarman 7-5, 6-4 in the Fourth round. In the quarterfinals Nadal lived a hard time when he met a giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic but in the end he won 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(7), in the semi-finals Nadal meet the return from long injury Argentine player Juan Martin del Potro, the last three confrontations between the players was in favor of Del Potro, despite some difficulties Nadal won 6-4, 6-4. He reached his third final at Indian Wells, in the final Nadal lost against Novak Djokovic, despite the progress in the first set but the Serbian player has won in the end 6-4, 3-6, 2-6.[105] After one day Nadal and Djokovic played a friendly match in Bogota, Colombia which Nadal won.[106]
Nadal started 2011 Sony Ericsson Open win over Japanese player Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4, then met his compatriot Feliciano Lopez in the third

Pre and Paul Geis. Geis transferred from Rice University to Oregon in Pre's senior year there (1972-73) after he experienced the running atmosphere in Eugene the year before at the 1972 NCAA Championships. Geis was touted by the press as Pre's heir-apparent, kicking off a rivalry between the two. Geis is wearing an Oregon Track Club singlet (sitting out his year of ineligibility and competing for the OTC) and Pre his olympic singlet from the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Geis was considered a world class long distance runner since his sophomore year in college (1972). He was ranked #2 in the U.S. for 5,000 meters in 1972; was ranked #3 in the U.S. and #10 in the world for 5,000 meters in 1974; and finished 12th in the 5,000 meter run at the 1976 Olympics (13:42.51--he ran 13:32.36 in the round one heat). Due to the US boycott he was unable to compete in the 1980 Olympics.

Geis' personal bests include the mile in 3:58.0 in 1973; 2 mile in 8:21.8 in 1976; the 5000m in 13:23.28 in 1974; the three mile in 12:55.8 in 1974 (then 7th fastest on record); and the 10,000m in 28:06.62 in 1980.

Geis led the Oregon cross country team to its third NCAA team title in 1974. Geis was 4th, Dave Taylor 5th, Terry Williams 6th, and Gary Barger 25th. Pre led in Oregon's first two NCAA cross country team championships in 1971 and 1973, with Pre placing first both times.

About the Pre-Geis rivalry, Steve Bence is quoted:

-------QUOTE FROM "PRE" BY TOM JORDAN

"When Geis first came to Oregon, there was no problem. Paul was a good runner, but no threat to Pre. Perhaps there was some friction as they worked out together.

"Geis improved rapidly, and there was some resulting competition during practice, which Bill Dellinger discouraged. The press should be blamed for the true rivalry. They called Geis the 'heir-apparent' and made many comparisons. This put pressure on Geis to try and run as well as or better than Pre, and Pre must not have liked the idea that there was someone who could step in and fill his shoes. The result was two great Oregon distance runners competing against each other, not with each other."

The rivalry surfaced full-blown after the Pac-8 Conference meet. Ten days after beating Ngeno in the three-mile, Pre was running a two-mile in the Oregon Twilight II, his last race as a collegian in front of the home fans. A kind of farewell appearance.

Geis returned two days before the meet from California, where he had his "drawers blown off" in the Vons Classic. He didn't want to compete in Eugene, but Dellinger told him to run for fun. Geis stuck with Pre the entire way until the last 220 yards and finished only 0.2 second behind Pre's excellent 8:24.6.

"It was the best race of my life at the time," Geis reflects. "There was no pressure, and I just stayed with him until a 220 to go. Afterwards, he was really upset with me, just really mad, even though he'd destroyed me in the last 220. He had thought that I was going to share the pace with him, and that caused a lot of problems between us, because I was really hurt. It was my best time, and here was a guy that I wanted to be my friend, and I didn't know if I'd done the right thing or what. . . ."

Pre grumbled: "It was apparent I was doing all the work."

It was a rivalry that lasted to the end, one in which two proud people had the natural differences between them enlarged by the magnifying glass of the press. It reached its most comical point the next year in a two-mile race at a Hilites meet, similar to the Twilight meet, in Corvallis, Oregon. Dellinger insisted the two work together and not compete at the finish. "Pre and Geis finished hand-in-hand and staring at each other," Bence laughs. "Not in friendship but in distrust that the other would make a last second lunge for the tape."

--------- END QUOTE

After living in Eugene many years as a CPA for Price Waterhouse Coopers, Geis made his home in Houston, Texas, where he works for UBS managing clients' money and providing financial advice. He earned his MBA in 1978 at Stanford Business School.

In one of those "insider" views of sport, Geis describes in vivid detail the caliber of competition he faced at the 1976 Olympics. His race plan was to go with the leaders until I run out of gas." The tank went dry two laps before the finish. At the start, he lined up next to the three-time gold medal winner from Finland, Lasse Viren, planning to use Viren as a gauge. After ten laps, Viren decided to step up the pace. Geis, who planned to stay behind Viren, had somehow gotten ahead, "and when he went by I couldn't go with him.

"I know it looks easy from up in the stands. All it takes is a little sprint. I can't explain how hard that is. I was probably two seconds behind the leader when the last move came, with two laps left. And they ran the final 800 meters well under two minutes." Geis knew what to exp