Herioc Nadal confirms return to tennis

First topic message reminder :

Golden Career Grand Slam Holder 11-time Winner Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will enter the Chile Open, which starts on 4th February.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/01/Features/Nadal-To-Play-At-Vina-del-Mar.aspx

Earlier he accepted a wildcard to return at the Brazil Open, which starts on 11th February but has not also confirmed he is playing Chile too, which starts a week earlier.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/01/Features/Nadal-Set-For-Sao-Paulo-Next-Month.aspx

This comes as a surprise considering Nadal was meant to return for the Mexican Open later in February, but he has been feeling good in training and hence pre-poned his return.

Rafael Nadal, founder of the charity 'Rafael Nadal Foundation', helps to provide an opportunity for children and adolescents with disabilities, those coming from underprivileged surroundings and those limited by an unfortunate family environment, who run the risk of being excluded from society. His three projects include: Vicente Ferrer Foundation in Antapur, India; the Special Olympics; and the Aldeas Infantiles SOS. His work in India was noted worldwide, as the Rafael Nadal foundation set up tennis schools which also provided education; for children of all ages and backgrounds.



Amritia3ee

Personally I thought that was a spiteful little article. Not surprisingly since it's written by Peter Bodo who spends way too much time writing spiteful little articles about Nadal. He reckons most tennis fans have moved on and quickly forgotten about Nadal? But not him though... Ha ha!
------------------------------------

I agree HE it was a spiteful article.. doubtless why it was posted
But Im sure Millions of his supporters who are pleased to see him back fit and well will rise above it

Spaghetti-Hans wrote:Dear God....

He's not actually back is he? We thought we'd seen the last of him!



No need to worry, our patron Roger Federer...

I saw some of the match via live feed. He did look at bit 'chunky' though with the time he has spent out of the game and the nature of his injury would've kept mobility limited. Sorry to state the obvious but he needs time. It was a nice match to settle him back into the swing of things.

Good to have him back.

Yes LK to most it would be obvious that he needs time... other wont grant him that though

Well I for one will give him time. Miracles don't happen overnight and he will still show the rust. I am keen to see how he moves on court in singles action and see if he has made any adjustments

Haddie-nuff wrote:other wont grant him that though

They are the idiots though - best ignored!!

I see him as being fairly useful for RG, but not the favourite. It could then be, ironically, not until late in the season that we see him somewhere back to his best. I think, if he's thinking long ter, he's probably seeing next year as when he'll be back to his best

It might seem a long time, but it took him a few months in 2009 to get his mojo back and he was out for less time

Andre Agassi said that he felt it would take Rafa 12 mths to get back to where he was... I hope its less but realistically I think Rafa shouldn´t push it. He isn´t bothered about the ranking aspect... just getting his tennis, movement, and mind-set is his priorities I think. Im like you Lk want to see if he has made any adjustments to his game .. my suspicions are that in the short term he may but will he revert to type if all goes well ??

legendkillarV2 wrote:Well I for one will give him time. Miracles don't happen overnight and he will still show the rust. I am keen to see how he moves on court in singles action and see if he has made any adjustments

LK did you watch it on streaming channel ??if so which one do you use please

Agassi would know as well when he was out of the game for a year and had to come back via Challengers at 141 ranking. Makes you wonder if Nadal could have picked a couple of Challengers to start with...it may only be Chile but its still an ATP250 event he's chosen and the rankings there are strong...even stronger in reality if you ignore players above them who aren't so good on clay...plus he has his friend Monaco at ranking #12 to potentially face, he's no mug at that ranking. Not sure how Monaco would feel if he beat him though given the drubbings he's had in the past from Rafa...

Anyway, the game needs him back so let's hope he's return to form is sooner rather than later, and his injury doesn't return n earnest. In training vids he looks to be moving the same, I can't see an change. Be interesting to see if the revised racquet has any effect as well.

You can try www.streamhunter.eu Haddie, or www.fromsport.com
There are others too.

lydian wrote:You can try www.streamhunter.eu Haddie, or www.fromsport.com
There are others too.

Thank you Lydian Ill try those later

He says he is in pain while he plays. I think his time is almost up. After all this recovery time, he is still in pain? Pain is the body's way of telling you to stop. He should listen to it. He has had a great career so why risk his health now?

Apparently he's been told to still expect pain for another month whilst the joint continues to heal. He also has a fat pad (Hoffa's) in there too so that may always cause discomfort. We'll just have to see how he goes...then there is still the surgical option but clearly they're trying to avoid that.

@Lorus59... There are many who have climbed Everest, without Oxygen tanks, to push themselves to the limit. You have to flex a muscle a bit at a time, to gain power. Give him some time, as LK/H-n/Lydian indicate.

If he never wins another match, he is wiling to at least compete.

lydian wrote:Apparently he's been told to still expect pain for another month whilst the joint continues to heal. He also has a fat pad (Hoffa's) in there too so that may always cause discomfort. We'll just have to see how he goes...then there is still the surgical option but clearly they're trying to avoid that.

Why not wait another month before playing? I don't get it. Surely playing will slow the healing down if it's not fully healed? Maybe surgery 7 months ago would have been the better option, though there was probably no way of knowing it at the time.

The doctors have told him he is not harming the knee.. he must expect pain because the muscles surrounding the joint have not had the amount of use that he will now be putting his knee through. But it will ease and that he should be ok. I cannot imagine that Rafa would be stupid enough to do anything against doctors orders now after being so patient. As Lydian has pointed out everything has been done to avoid surgery.. that still remains an option but one that Rafa obviously does not welcome.

If he does come back 100% it will be a first, but then medical techniques are light years ahead of yesteryear. There are people, Nadal included, who compete today who'd have been retired some years ago.

Perhaps this is really a weak era compared to previous times when attrition was far greater and with modern medicine they'd have been thriving? Is it a help to the forum to mention that?

It also comes down to the indominitable human spirit.. there are millions of people that deal with pain on a daily basis. Working through it until they conquer it.I have been in an orthopaedic ward and seen people with replacement hips forced to get out of bed and walk. within two days.. I myself had major foot surgery.. forced to walk and the more I walked the easier it got. Providing Rafa follows the instructions he has doubtless been given and takes it "one step at a time".. he can make his way back. Just dont expect too much too soon.

http://sport.uk.msn.com/tennis/nadal-i-wasnt-surprised-murray-won-a-slam

Interesting article concerning Rafa´s comeback to comnpetition

I suspect the guy Rafa is playing today needs the prize money more than Rafa. Can we expect another 'heroically charitable' gesture from Nadal?

bogbrush wrote:If he does come back 100% it will be a first, but then medical techniques are light years ahead of yesteryear. There are people, Nadal included, who compete today who'd have been retired some years ago.

Perhaps this is really a weak era compared to previous times when attrition was far greater and with modern medicine they'd have been thriving? Is it a help to the forum to mention that?

Yes modern surgeries as evidence that this era is not strong. I say we ban stitches, orthoscopic surgery, antibiotics, pain killers, and make the players play with yak skin racquets then we will see how talented they really are. Wow BB, a classic I must say I love it, please give us more of your deductive abilities.

Back to the thread, I think that Nadal will come back and will have at least one more run of play in him, at least, at the highest levels. Nadal has done it time and again, sure he can't do it forever, but he is a thoroughbred that has managed 11 slams with these kind of injuries. He is second favorite for RG and worsed he is the 4th favorite at wimbeldon. He will be back and he will do it much faster than people think.

JuliusHMarx wrote:I suspect the guy Rafa is playing today needs the prize money more than Rafa. Can we expect another 'heroically charitable' gesture from Nadal?

Probably more or less than any other player

Haddie-nuff wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:I suspect the guy Rafa is playing today needs the prize money more than Rafa. Can we expect another 'heroically charitable' gesture from Nadal?

Probably more or less than any other player

I know, I was just teasing over the thread title
It's not like any tennis player is heroically charitable in Milton Hershey proportions. The top players all do some very nice things though.

One of the times when Rafa beat Murray at Wimbledon he was told that "Murray is nice" and then asked "don't you want to let him win"?

Ha ha! Rafa looked a little confused. Maybe he didn't realise he was expected to be heroically charitable?

I think that counts as one of my favorite tennis interviews...

I dont think Rafa would let his mother win.. when it comes to charity he is better known for writing cheques

Monaco lost vs Rufin...an up and coming 22 yr old from France.
Nadal plays at 9pm tonight.

Del Bonis breaks Nadal in the first game.

Nadal gets broken in the first game.
Delbonis is good and played a lot of tennis already in qualifying draw.
This will be a real challenge for Nadal.

3-3 anyone watching?

I can't get the streams to work properly from iPad so just tracking on live score sites. Looks like after a slow start he's finding his feet...serving for 1st set at 5-3.

Rafa has won the first set 6-3, even coming to the net to put away a volley on the last point, having broken following a long struggle in the 8th game with many deuces. The surface looks quite fast at times for clay. At any rate, both players hit plenty of winners. Initially Rafa seemed to be more defensive and it was a question of his opponent's W/UE ratio, then Rafa started to take over and dominate, the forehand looking very strong and started to hit plenty of winners from behind the baseline.

He doesn't look 100% fit to me, in terms of running for the ball, strength on the backhand etc. And there was now and then a really wild moonball. Started playing very far back then came nearer the baseline. Anyway, I think he has enough to win these tournaments. If Federer, Murray or Djokovic played him today they would catch him cold and win I think, but not many others would. Del Bonis is coming up short for sure. By the time Nadal gets to Monte Carlo he will surely start as favourite against everyone there, provided he avoids injury of course.

He's playing OK.
I'm watching.

6-3 first set.

Wow!
What a forehand.

Have you not noticed before?

This would a good contest for about 7 games, Nadal is cruising now. Could be 6-1 or 6-2 this set.

LOL

No he just his a great return on it a few minutes ago.

He's cranking up the pressure now, nearly 3-0.

Rafa's drop shots have been FAR better than his opponent's!

I would now like to present a tactical masterclass in dealing with Nadal's forehand. The tactics defend on his position on the court....

Very glad to have Nadal back, it wasn't the same without him.

One question though.

His shirt selection - WHAT WAS HE THINKING?????

If he is 2 steps behind the baseline, the best tactic would to be to take a couple of steps back and balance on your toes getting ready to sprint.

If he is on the baseline, dead centre, a good tactic would be some panciking.

If he is 2 steps inside the baseline, with a fairly high ball, a good tactic would be to guess which way he is going and start running as he starts swining.

If he he is on the service line with a very high ball on his forehand, my reccomended tactic would be to start walking to get into position for the next point.

Of course, you could always just hit to his backhand a lot.

Hmmm, looks like Delbonis' world ranking of 128 won't be improving much this week.

Judging by the way he was playing I had assumed he was ranked about 50-100. Actually thanks for that, I was curious and was going to go and look it up.

Never understand why Rafa doesn't get aced out wide more when he stands so for back?

Or even down the middle like that!

Henman Bill wrote:Judging by the way he was playing I had assumed he was ranked about 50-100. Actually thanks for that, I was curious and was going to go and look it up.

I aim to please. Myself usually.

(I said 'please', not 'pleasure'. you have a filthy mind HB)

He'll get 32 pts...12 for qualifying, 20 for 2nd round...moving him 7ish places up.
Delbonis won a Challenger last week but has hit the buffers here...can't be a good feeling for Delbonis to get rolled over by a guy who hasn't play a clay match, or barely any match for 7-8 months having been on a roll himself!

If Nadal can win his next match as well he should move to first I think on the all time W/L %.

Henman Bill wrote:If Nadal can win his next match as well he should move to first I think on the all time W/L %.

You sure on this?

No, and I never saw it in the media or anything. Just find the W/L records online (the source was posted on another thread recently), add 2 wins to Nadal's, and recalculate. Come back to me and see if you get the same result.