Rafael Nadal - Not Looking Good

Rafael Nadal says he could miss next year's Australian Open with the knee injury which has ruled the Spaniard out of action since Wimbledon.

"I hope you see me in Australia. That is the biggest goal for me, to come back just before then in Qatar, but I cannot say for sure it is going to happen," Nadal tells the Daily Mail.

Well lets keep our fingers crossed that he makes it back in time. The longer he is out the harder he will find it to return to slam winning ways in my opinion.

He does have some points to defend at Australian Open. If doesn't play before the clay season, I fear for his future in the game.

Reading the report (on BBC website) he seems fairly hopeful and makes the point that he won't return until he is absolutely ready. Perhaps he feels he came back too soon after his last injury? Anyway best of luck Rafa.

I can't understand why every 2-3 weeks Nadal comes out with the same statement that he will not be able to compete in the next tournament. If he says once and for all he will not be playing this year that would be better than this whole 'will he play this year or not' speculations going around all over.

The other thing I just cannot understand is how this injury manifested itself all of a sudden. I know he did not want to discuss why he lost to Rosol in case it would seems as though he was making excuses for losing. He played pretty well in Paris and did not seem to show any signs of vulnerability where injury was concerned.

Does anyone know if this injury was sustained between Wimbledon and the Olympics perhaps during training etc? Could this issue be something more serious than an injury that is keeping him away? There is speculation by some conspiracy theorists that he is sitting out a ban. I do not think this is true as you cannot hide this sort of thing as it is bound to come out somewhere despite who you are in sport.

I am just wondering whether he has lost the drive/ambition in tennis. Did he not say a couple of years ago he has lost his passion for the sport or something like that? Perhaps he feels he has put his body through the wringer enough? Or maybe this is a silent protest against the busy ATP schedule? He has achieved a lot in this sport, made hundreds of millions through sponsorship and advertising so maybe his priorities have shifted?

As for Federer, I am wondering whether him achieving his goal of #1 and one more GS title has left him feeling he has fulfilled a personal goal he set out and its time to take his foot off the pedal a little. Perhaps he feels his slam record is safe for the time being with his biggest/closes rival temporarily out of action.

Here is the article. May answer some of your questions.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2208011/Rafael-Nadal-interview-struggle-injury.html

Typical Nadal gets a tiny graze on his leg and wants to stay away from tennis for the next 12 months.

At least there won't be anymore of that annoying trophy biting.

Thanks!

Novak to lend him his magic egg chamber?

I think it would be different if it was earlier in the year, he is probably finding it hard to push himself to come back at the time of the year he dislikes the most. He will be low on confidence as he always is when he doesn't play for a while plus on indoor hard courts where he struggles anyway, losing a bunch of matches before the new year may not be smart

Come on, we know Nadal's knees have been a problem for years now...the future has never looked good.

When they decided to alter his shoes to overcome the congenital and career threatening foot problem they knew they were putting his knees under strain. Ever since then he's been storing up future issues. If you listen to the Nadal family they're almost amazed he's lasted as long as he has given he almost had to retire in 2005 before he even got started and then have been awaiting break down of his knees ever since.

We know is year he had knee pain before AO, he had it in February...and then he had to withdraw from Miami SF vs Murray due to them. I suspect this injury was carried into the clay season but he was driven on to win the 7 RGs so just ignored the pain. After Wimbledon clearly they had a good look and found a few new issues...as one old knee issue clears another one flares given the strain his altered trainers put on his legs.

So...we don't know how the knee is settling down...maybe they don't properly know either. Joint healing is not a precise science...some areas of inflammation can be ok after a month or take 6 months to repair...you can't predict what it will be at the outset. They probably thought it might be a month, then 2 months, etc...clearly the knee hasn't responded as fast as they would have liked. And if he was playing on through pain and inflammation then he may have not only damaged the sheath of the patella tendon (tendonitis) but more severely torn the tendon itself (tendinosis) which is known to take many months to repair given blood supply to joints and tendons is always poor. Diagnosing these conditions is not a precise science unless you went into the knee itself and had a good look with arthroscopy - something they will have always wanted to try to avoid.

If the tendon can fully repair then he should be ok...if he comes back too soon and plays with inflammation then he'll make it much worse. Even if he comes back with a clean joint then those realigned feet/trainers are probably always going to lead him to the next injury...which might be the last one before he's told enough is enough. Who knows...but trying to pin time frames to the recovery of joints is notoriously difficult. Hence the monthly updates.

If you want a correct and accurate statement of what RAFA has actually said rather than you make-it-up-as you go along... I urge you to visit Wooffie´s blog and you will find a true translation of a very candid and open statement by him.

He doesn´t "come out with it" simply because he does not know himself.. its on a daily basis.. he is swimming, but not yet picked up a racquet- Its a testimony to how you all miss him in the game (like him or no) that you can actually be bothered whether he plays or not.

To some of you I would have thought you were more than happy that he doesnt say when he will play.
To others I would say.. not IF he comes back, but WHEN, write him off at your peril.
As for me yes a true Rafa fan but more to the point Im more concerned that he doesn´t cripple himself for life than whether he can win anymore GS, beat Federer, or Novak..... yes JM and even Rosol
He will come back when HE is ready and FULLY fit and thats how it should be

Great tennis player, but a really annoying face that I'd never tire of punching.

Maybe if he saw yours the feeling might be mutual

Haddie-nuff wrote:If you want a correct and accurate statement of what RAFA has actually said rather than you make-it-up-as you go along... and making stupid and inane statements like JM who never manages to make a sensible contribution to any discussion, I urge you to visit Wooffie´s blog.......

No really, don't........

Well wouldn´t expect you to BB Im sure he who knows everything need not have to read a translation. But then you wouldnt want to read anything other than he his hanging up his Babolat. Sorry to disappoint. .

I believe that Nadal will be back and will again be a force on the tour. This long sabbatical may be what his body and mind needs to refocus his energy and to heal up his body. Like Haddie said I don't for a second think nadal is through the man just won the french open. But it is quite terrible how he seems to have chronic leg problems that are really starting to impact his ability to win slams and get to number 1. I think even if Nadal is relatively healthy he should just comeback at Australia. If he can't make it back for the AO that would be a dissappointing but not the worst thing. He could comeback maybe play a latin American clay court warm up and spend the whole first part of the year on clay and grass building up his body further.

Maybe it will be like Agassi after he missed a long stretch and came back to the game fired up and recharged ready to reclaim his number 1 ranking.

He has a congenital foot problem that nearly put him out of the game in I believe 2005 ..He wears specially designed foot supports in his shoes and . this as Im sure everyone will know would affect, in turn the knees.
He I am totally convinced will NOT be back until he is sure he can play without pain
There are no half measures with Rafa socal as Im sure you know. All or nothing.
If he plays the AO (which IMO) I doubt.. it will be because he is convinced he could win it.

It's interesting that Rafa is in the midst of a Serena style, steadily increasing injury layoff, with a seemingly innocuous injury.

In other unrelated news, the court case regarding Operacion Puerto and the Fuentes affair starts in January. Hope nobody is getting nervous.

That is a shame, so I guess he is definitely out of World Tour Finals at O2!?Gonna be tough to explain that to the Mrs ! First time for her going to a tennis match and she always held out hope that it might be Nadal we would see. No gurantees anyway but regardless we will see two top 8 players.

With a bit of luck it will be novak but I guess you cant really go wrong with the top 8 players. Really looking forward to it as its my first time going over. Only match i was ever at was Wimbledon final 1998, sampras vs ivanisevic. Amazing experience but the most shots i remember in a rally was about 5 shots! Thankfully times have changed

slashermcguirk wrote:That is a shame, so I guess he is definitely out of World Tour Finals at O2!?Gonna be tough to explain that to the Mrs ! First time for her going to a tennis match and she always held out hope that it might be Nadal we would see. No gurantees anyway but regardless we will see two top 8 players.

With a bit of luck it will be novak but I guess you cant really go wrong with the top 8 players. Really looking forward to it as its my first time going over. Only match i was ever at was Wimbledon final 1998, sampras vs ivanisevic. Amazing experience but the most shots i remember in a rally was about 5 shots! Thankfully times have changed

Yes thankfully times have changed I remember watching that match and just shaking my head and saying that this wasn't tennis.

very true socal, never seen so many serves wallop the backboard. the lines judges looked like they were playing musical chairs getting out of the way. Will never forget the look of Goran after the defeat, never seen a guy look so devastated after a loss. Murray this year looked devastated but in a different kind of way. Goran looked like he was about to do an Eric cantona on Pistol pete

djlovesyou wrote:It's interesting that Rafa is in the midst of a Serena style, steadily increasing injury layoff, with a seemingly innocuous injury.

In other unrelated news, the court case regarding Operacion Puerto and the Fuentes affair starts in January. Hope nobody is getting nervous.

Your comment is neither interesting, or correct and I would agree unrelated but then of course its "innocuous" isn´t it
At least your right on one thing .. your profile does say that your sense of humour is sarcastic

Haddie-nuff wrote:Well wouldn´t expect you to BB Im sure he who knows everything need not have to read a translation. But then you wouldnt want to read anything other than he his hanging up his Babolat. Sorry to disappoint. .

Hey, if pictures of new angles on Nadal's crotch are your thing, that's the place to be!

Interesting interview, based on this I'd say

0.1% chance to play Shanghai.
5% chance to play Paris.
10% chance to play world tour finals.
40% for Doha
60% for Australian Open

Interesting saying he played through the pain at French Open. And yet he looked as good as ever. And now going out about should have maybe pulled out of Wimbledon. Rosol is having the glory of his victory chipped away a little.

Haddie mentioned Wooffie's blog earlier so I took a look and saw these translated interview comments from a very recent interview with L'Equipe which make interesting reading when you stitch them together. It's clear he's been playing through pain for too long and wasn't prepared to do it any longer...


"I want to come back when I'll be completely healthy, it's clear for me. I don't want to play anymore with doubts on my physical condition.”

"Pain due to Hoffa’s syndrome started in Indian Wells, forced me to withdraw for the semi in Miami.”

“It was less painful on clay because of the surface. But from the semis in Roland Garros, my knee was very painful."

“I had to play the 2 last matches with drugs and injections. But I've never played as good on clay.”

“It was not a mistake to play in Halle, but maybe a mistake to try to play Wimbledon. My practicing sessions were awful.”

“I know that multiple injections in my knee are not good for my health, but it's tough not to try anything to play a GS.”

“I seem to be very calm with my health issues, but you have to know that I had tough moments. Not being able to carry my country’s flag in the Olympic Games was one of them. It made me sad for 2 weeks. Missing a GS is tough, but less because it's not only every 4 years.”

“My wish is to play in Rio, but it's in 4 years ...”

"I was taught to resist, to play with pain. Everybody is different, but any high level athlete has to play with pain."

In 2010 & 2011, I didn't play often with pain. After RG, it was even not a question to bear the pain, I was wondering on every shot if my knee will resist. I couldn't go on like that."

"Tennis is first of all technical, then physical, and mental when you play to the limits."

"People have been telling me for years to change my game. I run less, I don't run more than Federer or Djokovic when I face them. My game is my game, I try shorter points, but I won't change my style. I'll never "serve-volley", useless to wait for that, guys "

"I didn't have the same physical level in 2009 than in 2005. If you don't work on new shots, you lose. I've been at the top for 8 years."

"Before my injury, I was No 1 on the Race, I was strong. Why couldn't I come back as strong as before ? I'm not afraid of my body."

"I want to start the next season in perfect conditions : Doha, and then Australian Open."

"I can't decide to play less on hard courts, because there are 2 GS on hard courts. I'll try to play more on clay, but I even don't think that I have many options to do that. You know my opinion on hard courts. "

"Football, basketball are not played on hard courts. Business won’t. It's cheaper to build a hard court, than a good clay one."

"My ranking has lowered, but I'm not worried about it. I still love tennis with the same intensity, the same passion."

"Tennis is not business for me. The priority is the court, the game. Until RG, it was one of my best seasons, I loved how I played. I was feeling good, I thought that I could win any tournament.”

“The team was strong vs USA, I don't know if I'll be ready to compete for the final. I don't look further than tomorrow."

"The captain makes the decision, it's the team above all. I'm not sure I’m the best player for the final in 2 months."

"I'm very happy for Andy and not surprised at all. I know for many years that something great would happen to him. Good for UK too."

"I'm very ok on the new "no let rule". But every country has to apply the sane tension to all the nets."

"Ah ah. I was not aware of the new time violation rules, they didn't call me. Maybe they don't wish to (laughing)."

Ha ha! I think he looks great.

Sorry bogbrush I know that is a bit low brow...

I think that the most significant feature of this story is that he has no choice but to exacerbate his knee problems every time he steps on court by wearing shoes designed to avoid problems with his feet.

The effect of such 'compensation' tends to accumulate and become more severe with time. Perhaps it would be a smart move for him to come back next year on the South American clay and stay away from giving it a real go on HC until after Wimbledon next year?

I agree Barry and wonder if he's half thinking that Doha/AO might be too a hard (pun intended) return back onto tour given it'll be 6-7 month absence by then. Instead he could do the South American clay season to "ease" his way back in. He'd lose the finalist points, 1200, but I don't think he's bothered by that and a player of his ability wouldn't be "low" in the rankings for long.

he wants more clay courts, I understand thats better on the body but if everything was on clay no one would watch tennis anymore. Tennis was originally about touch, if we go the clay route we can say goodbye to that forever.

I did begin to wonder yesterday after reading the article whether Nadal had already retired and the reason that hadn't been stated explicitly was because of allowing sponsorship deals to run for a while because of contractual obligations??

On one hand Nadal is saying that he is aiming for Rio, and in the same breath 'but it is 4 years' and he states that he will not come back until he is free of pain while the tone of the interview makes it clear that he has been playing with pain since 2005. I know he says that he still has 'intensity' and 'passion' but he and his team made all sorts of passionate noises about being ready for the Olympics and for USO at a time when they must have known that the former at least was not on the cards. There is just so much ambiguity in everything including the bulletins about the injury itself. I just wonder if Rafa hasn't had enough of the grind, especially given many of his comments last year?

I'm probably barking up the wrong tree and can quite easily be persuaded that Nadal will come back very strong and refreshed in 2013 to sweep all before him.

It is almost as if his body has just hit the wall.

Yes he has had long suffering problems with his knees, but it sounds like this time that he is really thinking long and hard if just playing Clay is enough to keep him motivated.

decisions decisions

Plus he knows that injury is just likely around the corner again...given his arch supporting shoes. Having played through pain for so long you wonder how much that alone has taken out of him...its been 'some' competitive drive thats kept him going all these years for sure. The prospect of 5-6 hr battles with Djokovic on hard courts cant be exactly thrilling him either knee-wise.

Lets put it another way, it would be more than good enough reason for many people to walk away from the game. He's an all-time great, a true sporting legend in Spain, rich beyond his wildest dreams and most importantly of all, he can still walk. I wouldnt be surprised if he chucked the towel in...and yet, I dont think he will. I dont think he wants to end on this note...to be remembered for leaving the game in this way. I think we'll see him back, but it may be beyond AO as thats a tough way to bring the knees back into action again.

completely agree Lydian, I think he's thought about it but surely wont want people to remember him going out to Rosol. I think he will retire before he's 30 though

Can't argue with any of that lydian. Would be a real shame to leave the game that way, but he has achieved so much in the game and cemented his place amongst the all time greats of the game.

I would hate to see him continue with the great risks associated with his knees. I have no doubt that if he misses the AO and isn't fully fit for Roland Garros, I think he will sail into the sunset.

Agree too CAS about Rosol, and LK about RG...if he's not fit for that then his ranking would also nose dive and he'd have a long hard battle back.
However, I dont think being unfit for RG is a realistic possibility. I do believe he'll be back for AO or the South American clay swing to test the knees out before heading to IW and Miami. After all, they have said the underlying joint itself is fine...its just that fat pad and torn patella tendon. Just.

I dont think it will be too bad for him to skip hard court tournaments below Masters series level and play some more clay matches, it will be good for him but Nicholas Almagro and Juan Monaco are up at night praying for this not to happen!

CAS wrote:I dont think it will be too bad for him to skip hard court tournaments below Masters series level and play some more clay matches, it will be good for him but Nicholas Almagro and Juan Monaco are up at night praying for this not to happen!

I expect the tournament directors in South America are praying it does happen.

And it's not unusual for Rafael's, he used to do the South American swing earlier in his career. With great success obviously! Yes I suspect the clay guys would hate that...would affect their rankings!

well if he does that it's the end of Almagro's chances of ever making the WTF

I don't think, if it were the case that Nadal did not return, that his loss to Rosol is what his career ending will be remembered for. On the contrary, it would be remembered that he went out after winning a record 7th Roland Garros and the fact that he withdrew from the rest of the year citing chronic injury will in fact lend more glory to that victory rather than detract from it.

I guess we will all know in 2013.

http://sports.ndtv.com/tennis/news/item/197042-rafael-nadal-will-come-back-even-better-says-david-ferrer

well there must be some positive gossip in the Spanish camp for Ferrer to make such a confident prediction!

CAS wrote:completely agree Lydian, I think he's thought about it but surely wont want people to remember him going out to Rosol. I think he will retire before he's 30 though

Pete Sampras sure set the bar high for the last match of an all-time great!

On another note, I agree with others that the interview suggests that Nadal is going through a fairly existential thought process right now - the real trouble is that playing long matches on hard courts seems to be an actively harmful exercise which he cannot change, only try to manage. How long does someone in his position who may have 60+ more years on this planet want to keep doing that?