Nadal nowhere near his best

First topic message reminder :

I must say, as a Nadal fan I'm very pleased that he survived the first week and is now into the QF.
When he lost in Doha R1, I thought considering the fact he's only played a handful of matches in 6 months, means he will be so rusty that he won't be competitive at all in Australia. But he's improved a lot from his performance against Berrer, and his latest 3 sets win over Anderson was his best play this year so far.
He was sick in his match against Tim Smyzcek, not sure sure why, but he seems to have recovered from that bug as well. Also I think Nadal has been pretty lucky with the way his draw has turned out so far- for example he avoided Rosol in R3 (after Rosol lost to Sela in R2).

So I'm already very happy with the tournament, and Nadal has exceeded my expectations, but I'm very wary that Nadal's level is nowhere near his best. I'm not sure if you guys have watched him so far, but he randomly makes ridiculous unforced errors on his forehand, easy stuff that he wouldn't normally miss in a million years. His movement has been ok, but when on the defence his shots haven't actually been great. For example he's normally very good at finding precision in passing shots, but he's kept missing them.
Against Anderson he made 25 unforced errors, only 1 less than Kevin himself; this for a player like Nadal is pretty alarming.

So overall despite being very pleased with his progress in the tournament (if you had told me before the tournament he would lose in the QF I would happily take it), I am very wary that Nadal still seems off his game; and with the high level from Berdych and Murray in this tournament- he faces a mountain to climb to progress further in his draw.

It Must Be Love wrote:Truffin; I think Nadal is rusty and I do think he's going to improve from the level he is at now; which won't be surprising given how few matches he's played in the last 6 months.
In terms of Nadal's overall career, I'm not going to go into it in detail here as this thread isn't about that, and I can't predict the future for sure, but I think when a player reaches around 29 years old he is going to be permanently declining. Peak age for a tennis player is between 24-27 imo, you may disagree.

Im not saying now, because Im actually seeing a decline, but Daveed Ferrer was an exceptional case then, because he only got better from that age.  Feli Lopez just made the quarters for the first time ... he is what 32yrs old.Jimmy Connors too was over 30yrs old and great competitor. In Rafa's case they have been predicting a decline for the last 4 yrs

IMBL the reason why there are/were errors in his game just now are because he is rusty but he is improving with every match he plays. Each match played more rust is shed and each match won brings more confidence. Now he may not win the Australian Open but him getting back playing to a high level had to be the main aim in Melbourne and I would say he has already achieved that as a slam quarter-final is not to be sniffed at.

I think the reason you are getting stick is because you have said quite a few times of late that his career was in decline or in tatters or other terminologies which right now look way off the mark. He has exceeded your expectations here in Melbourne IMBL so that, logically, should be filling you with confidence so I don't see why you need to post negatively about Rafa.

legendkillarV2 wrote:I know that a Nadal success down under will lead to euphoric ad nauseam.

I confess I may just jump up and down a little bit... but if Nadal doesn't lift the trophy this weekend there will be other opportunities when he will be better prepared

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:
Your missing his point entirely.

What he is saying is that when Federer won the AO in 2006, there wasn't so much focus on his injury months before hand. Should Nadal win the AO, why should it be treated as some gladiatorial and miraculous effort? I know that a Nadal success down under will lead to euphoric ad nauseam.

I said that Nadal is not really close to his best, well not on his forehand anyway.
Federer's circumstances in late 2005 and early 2006 were different to Nadal's now (Nadal has had barely any games in the last 6 months), and as I said to eman, different players react differently to injuries/ time out of the game. Also I never mentioned the world gladiatorial or miraculous; although I am very pleased with his progress so far already; his game has improved more than I thought it would from his collapse against Berrer.

He's not a million miles from his best. This is the thing. It's rust in his legs. The more matches he plays, the better. He is facing Berdych. A player who even when Rafa is not at his best, doesn't push him. That's why it is met with scepticism. Say if he was playing Nishikori, then I think we could have a discussion in the realms of how Rafa's low level would far against a player on the rise. I say we re-visit this discussion post QFs as his next opponent be Kyrgios or Murray who had recent victories over him

I agree with you on one thing for sure, the more matches he plays the better.
Berdych is an interesting one, as Nadal has really dominated Berdych for the past few years. Berdych is also quite consistent and predictable, he always plays to a quite high level but (with the exception of Wimbledon 2010) never at such a level to threaten winning a slam. The thing which worries me about Nadal is his forehand. Against any player, and especially one who can generate pace like Berdych, it's really crucial to Nadal in order to turn defence into attack. He needs it to fire and be reliable, which it hasn't been so far.

If Berdych is just a massacre waiting to happen. Not a real contest.

hawkeye wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:I know that a Nadal success down under will lead to euphoric ad nauseam.

I confess I may just jump up and down a little bit... but if Nadal doesn't lift the trophy this weekend there will be other opportunities to write an article about my favourite spaniard

Let me rephrase that for you

legendkillarV2 wrote:
If Berdych is just a massacre waiting to happen. Not a real contest.

I think Berdych Nadal will be a close game, I think Berdych will do a lot better than you think... let's see tomorrow what happens shall we

You know IMBL as this thread goes on and more people are backing Nadal i get the feeling you are looking for reassurance rather than agreement.  Im not pessimistic of Rafa's chances just skeptical.. because for me, anything he does from here in is a bonus. I live in hope that he can do what he has done so many times before, and bring THE BULL on court ... but either way I will applaud him

It will be interesting to see how far a tennis players peak years begin to stretch out. Think the advancements in sport science have been ridiculous last fifteen years, and I won't be surprised to see a guy like Djokovic still kicking butt in five years. Something like muscle identification, which was unheard of fifteen years ago is helping athletes stay fresher for longer, as it's helped them reduce glycolic formation in the global mobilisers, and such reduce muscle fatigue by a large percentage. With on board physios, players must be adding years to their careers, finding out rather quickly when muscles and joints are lacking range or motion, and as such preventing "system bugs" from wreaking havoc. And thats before I even mention new age contraptions. Overall, I'd say 29 is past absolute physical peak, but modern science probably slows down the decline a lot more than anything before.

legendkillarV2 wrote:

hawkeye wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:I know that a Nadal success down under will lead to euphoric ad nauseam.

I confess I may just jump up and down a little bit... but if Nadal doesn't lift the trophy this weekend there will be other opportunities to update the GOAT sticky

Let me rephrase that for you

hawkeye wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

hawkeye wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:I know that a Nadal success down under will lead to euphoric ad nauseam.

I confess I may just jump up and down a little bit... but if Nadal doesn't lift the trophy this weekend there will be other opportunities to update the GOAT sticky

Let me rephrase that for you

Touche ...

Haddie-nuff wrote: Im not pessimistic of Rafa's chances just skeptical.. because for me, anything he does from here in is a bonus. I live in hope that he can do what he has done so many times before, and bring THE BULL on court ... but either way I will applaud him

I think being pessimistic and being sceptical are pretty close.
But either way, I don't think I'm being either optimistic or pessimistic. I genuinely don't think his level, especially on his forehand, is comparable to close to his best level which he needs.
I will applaud him either way as you say, I can assure you I'm still very much a Nadal fan.

Then do what I do IMBL... WAIT.. and bite your nails when he comes on court and for the rest of the match !!!!
I, like Roger, tell myself his opponent has not won until the last ball.

Haddie-nuff wrote:Then do what I do IMBL... WAIT.. and bite your nails when he comes on court and for the rest of the match !!!!
I, like Roger, tell myself his opponent has not won until the last ball.

I'm normally exceptionally nervous before big matches; but my expectations for him in this tournament are so low I'm relatively calm. Berdych is my second favourite player, so I'd probably prefer it if he loses to Berdych than anyone else.

still amazes me how a 14x grand slam champion can go into a tourney so often as an underdog, in 2013 he was out for even more time and had a ridiculous year. I genuinely can't think of an Australian Open at the beginning of the year where there wasn't question marks over Rafa.

09, I remember being surprised about how little talk of him there was. All about Federer going for 14, Djokovic defending champion and Murray the player of the last 3\4 months. Rafa ended 08 quietly so again went under the radar.

10, much more understandable the knees hadn't fully recovered.

11, despite winning the last 3 slams I remember there was talk of him being sick and had lost loads of weight but got to the QFs really easily before getting injured during the match against Ferrer

12, he struggled through the World Tour finals so wasn't spoke much before or during the Aus Open again. Djokovic has won the last 2 slams, Murray had just hired Lendl and Federer was on a 20+ winning streak

13, injured

14, there was a lot of talk he was very tired from a long year but played in my opinion one of his best ever tournaments. Beat Tomic, Kokkinkas, Monfils, Dimitrov, Nishikori and Federer. If you compare that draw to this years I doubt he would still be in the tournament in my opinion.

I can't believe people are surprised he's in the Qfs, he is an absolutely ridiculous tennis player. Who has he played that you wouldn't have expected him to beat this year?

He was was world number 1 in 09, 11 and 14, in 2012 he was head and shoulders above everyone that wasn't Djokovic going into the tournament, etc etc but he's never been favourite? Hard court isn't his favourite surface but in the last 5 years only Djokovic has won more slams on the surface but seems to get overlooked so often. I don't think he will win it this year but in my opinion with the draw he had a QF was perfectly realistic for him at the start and probably better

IMBL sorry for you , jinx of yours by playing down Nadal's chances are unfortunately not working today the Big Boredick is winning and Tennis is dying.

invisiblecoolers wrote: the Big Boredick is winning and Tennis is dying.

I like Berdych, and I really don't find his play boring.
He's played great and deserves the win, Nadal was really poor tonight, but I think he'll be pleased with his fortnight as a whole.

It Must Be Love wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote: the Big Boredick is winning and Tennis is dying.

I like Berdych, and I really don't find his play boring.
He's played great and deserves the win, Nadal was really poor tonight, but I think he'll be pleased with his fortnight as a whole.

The honest fact is both are boring players and Boredick is even more boring and I was cheering for Rafa after a long time and this what happens, he can't save the Tennis when asked him to do the job.

Wow, I don't know why it is getting so tense. IMBL is entitled to feel like Nadal isn't near his best. And others are entitled to point out that Nadal seems to have great recuperative powers and that so far he is in the QFs of a slam so he can't be playing all that badly.

I will say this I do remember many Fed fans discounting all of Federer's losses in 2008 to mono, so there is a bit of hypocrisy in that regard. That being said IMBL does tend to discount and discredit Nadal's chances from the outset of most tournaments. Maybe that is being too pessimistic I don't know.

If Nadal gets trounced out by Berdy, and that is still a big if. We can say that Amrit was pretty prophetic with this thread.

socal1976 wrote:If Nadal gets trounced out by Berdy, and that is still a big if. We can say that Amrit was pretty prophetic with this thread.

Not really, it's not like I said 'Nadal is going to get destroyed by Berdych'; I've just said that I've observed Nadal was far off his best level, which is pretty clear anyway.

Yeah, he doesn't look close to the level that he can attain.

in the last 12 months nadal has lost to wawrinka, berdych, almagro, ferrer, dolgopolov, feliciano lopez...

players that have shared with rafa all his career and he had never or almost never lost to them.

its not a matter of being injured or unfit in a certain match, it is a trend. I think nadal is nowadays well past his best. will he comeback? I dont know, I wish he did, but this is not an exception, this is the line he is drawing since september 2013

Winning the FO so many times and playing too many tournaments has taken a toll on the body and mind. Fed had the same thing when he started to lose to guys he used to own.

naxroy wrote:in the last 12 months nadal has lost to wawrinka, berdych, almagro, ferrer, dolgopolov, feliciano lopez...

players that have shared with rafa all his career and he had never or almost never lost to them.

its not a matter of being injured or unfit in a certain match, it is a trend. I think nadal is nowadays well past his best. will  he comeback? I dont know, I wish he did, but this is not an exception, this is the line he is drawing since september 2013

I think Nadal is certainly on the downward slope. And unlike Federer he has had so many injuries and has had to make so many comebacks. For me this is the biggest question as to how many times he will be able to do it. I mean coming back from injuries takes a lot of mental and physical energy out of a player. When does his mind, body, and spirit give out to the extent that he starts losing to players that he has owned. I do think he is no very much showing the signs of wear and tear and that his best days are passed him.

socal1976 wrote:

naxroy wrote:in the last 12 months nadal has lost to wawrinka, berdych, almagro, ferrer, dolgopolov, feliciano lopez...

players that have shared with rafa all his career and he had never or almost never lost to them.

its not a matter of being injured or unfit in a certain match, it is a trend. I think nadal is nowadays well past his best. will  he comeback? I dont know, I wish he did, but this is not an exception, this is the line he is drawing since september 2013

I think Nadal is certainly on the downward slope. And unlike Federer he has had so many injuries and has had to make so many comebacks. For me this is the biggest question as to how many times he will be able to do it. I mean coming back from injuries takes a lot of mental and physical energy out of a player. When does his mind, body, and spirit give out to the extent that he starts losing to players that he has owned. I do think he is no very much showing the signs of wear and tear and that his best days are passed him.

For a guy like Nadal, the comebacks are actually good for him. The time away is really what he needs. You can say a comeback "takes a lot of physical and mental energy", but so does continuous play on the tour to stay at the top of the game. That's where we get the term "burn out". Time away actually keeps Nadal hungry to play and to win. His comeback now isn't as bad as it seems to the eye. In Abu Dhabi, he got crushed by Murray in his first match back, but then beat Stan in straights the very next day. He lost in Singles in Doha, but won the Doubles Title. When he came back in 2013, he started far lower down the ladder: a 250 event on clay, and made the Final before losing. He didn't really see a stellar field until he got to Indian Wells that year, and had some luck to win that one: Federer injured his back the day before their QF; Djokovic was ousted by Del Potro so Nadal had to play him in the Final instead of Novak. Point is, this time he dove right into the shark tank in this comeback as opposed to the last one. So it's not really a surprise he's short of what it takes at this stage against the very best guys in Best of Five.

Nadal will spend the next few months getting his legs, lungs and game ready for a shot at #10 at RG. He's probably also calculating he could get to #2 between now and then so he won't have to see Djokovic before a Final at The French. Federer has a lot to defend between now and Wimbledon, so he's got a greater chance of falling than staying #2. If anything, Nadal has gotten smarter about how to manage his schedule and his body at age 28. He no longer can run rough shod through the clay season like he used to for so many years and still have enough left for the big ones. Remember how many had written him off at RG last year because of losses on clay to Almagro, Ferrer and Djokovic? And who was it lifting the RG trophy in the end?? If anything, Nadal has gotten to the stage where he can still be at his best, just not as often as he used to be. And that's the same story for any tennis player who has ever played the game.

Its the facet of life, that all stars have to age out eventually, Nadal's time at the top has to come to an end long time back but given his fighting abilities he survived one more year at helm in 2013, given his attrition style of play expecting him to win at 29-30's with this injury prone body is expecting too much.

In my view he has already over achieved, so be happy for what he has achieved than saying he was no where near his best, his bes was 2008-2010 and 2011-2013 and thats not going to come back, if he does take it as a bonus.

Legacy as Fed the Goat is sealed, but Rafa gave a good run and hopes for you guys.

Whilst there is sentiment in this eulogy, the question remains:

Who in the blue hell will de-throne him at RG??

I hope that when he retires he will be the reigning champion....

One of young power guys will win RG.

Nadal can take the MC, and Fed Halle

There's only one young power gun!

I've been saying Rafa is well past his best for quite some time. This thing today can be seen as part of a longer term downward curve; it might have some inflexion points but the trend is clear, and has been for a good few years.

Federer is finished winning Slams; he'll contest and get to the closing stages again but he won't win. Nadal is near the end too. I think he might lose at RG, but not to Djokovic - I think he could follow Federer and start losing to players he previously wouldn't have been slightly pressed by.

Rumours of his demise (as BB has alluded to) have been circulating for years. Its too soon to write him off albeit I do think, given his history of injury problems, he is less likely than Fed to remain at or near his peak at 30/31.

If he loses his speed, then he is not winning RG. His game is obviously heavily reliant on being a wall which cannot be passed. With weaker movement he will be very susceptible on clay as much as on any other surface.

My personal view is that we will probably see him at or near his best for one more sustained spell of a few months to a year. He probably won't ever get back to number 1 because I think he will give limited effort in anything below slam level but I reckon he has at least 2 more slams in him.

1've been saying Rafa is well past his best for quite some time. This thing today can be seen as part of a longer term downward curve; it might have some inflexion points but the trend is clear, and has been for a good few years.

Some of this post I can agree with... the latter however absolutely not (and I am allowed to disagree no?)

He was immense in 2008 and 2010, since then he's been very good, sometimes right up there, but not the same baseline level. Obviously all my opinion of course.

I stress it's not injury, it's just what he can bring to the court in terms of physical imposition.

Re: Nadal nowhere near his best
Post by bogbrush Today at 9:07 pm

He was immense between 2008 and 2010, since then he's been very good, sometimes right up there, but not the same baseline level. Obviously all my opinion of course.


Thats ok then.. !! as long as we know that

HN, better find quickly some new young players to fan about, Nadal and Ferret are gone soon.

Fed is gone too, so I have chosen Raonic & Bouchard

Haddie-nuff wrote:Re: Nadal nowhere near his best
Post by bogbrush Today at 9:07 pm

He was immense between 2008 and 2010, since then he's been very good, sometimes right up there, but not the same baseline level. Obviously all my opinion of course.


Thats ok then.. !! as long as we know that

As good as a fact, as you know.

Cant think why you dont write " BOGGAPEDIA"

Well known facts according to Sir BOGBRUSH

Bog is God in serbian, guess it suits bogbrush

Jahu wrote:Bog is God in serbian, guess it suits bogbrush

Bog is also a term for somewhere used for the depositing waste matter.  Take your pick.

And a brush is to clean it all up.

Make of that what you will.

antonico wrote:

socal1976 wrote:

naxroy wrote:in the last 12 months nadal has lost to wawrinka, berdych, almagro, ferrer, dolgopolov, feliciano lopez...

players that have shared with rafa all his career and he had never or almost never lost to them.

its not a matter of being injured or unfit in a certain match, it is a trend. I think nadal is nowadays well past his best. will  he comeback? I dont know, I wish he did, but this is not an exception, this is the line he is drawing since september 2013

I think Nadal is certainly on the downward slope. And unlike Federer he has had so many injuries and has had to make so many comebacks. For me this is the biggest question as to how many times he will be able to do it. I mean coming back from injuries takes a lot of mental and physical energy out of a player. When does his mind, body, and spirit give out to the extent that he starts losing to players that he has owned. I do think he is no very much showing the signs of wear and tear and that his best days are passed him.

For a guy like Nadal, the comebacks are actually good for him. The time away is really what he needs. You can say a comeback "takes a lot of physical and mental energy", but so does continuous play on the tour to stay at the top of the game. That's where we get the term "burn out". Time away actually keeps Nadal hungry to play and to win. His comeback now isn't as bad as it seems to the eye. In Abu Dhabi, he got crushed by Murray in his first match back, but then beat Stan in straights the very next day. He lost in Singles in Doha, but won the Doubles Title. When he came back in 2013, he started far lower down the ladder: a 250 event on clay, and made the Final before losing. He didn't really see a stellar field until he got to Indian Wells that year, and had some luck to win that one: Federer injured his back the day before their QF; Djokovic was ousted by Del Potro so Nadal had to play him in the Final instead of Novak. Point is, this time he dove right into the shark tank in this comeback as opposed to the last one. So it's not really a surprise he's short of what it takes at this stage against the very best guys in Best of Five.

Nadal will spend the next few months getting his legs, lungs and game ready for a shot at #10 at RG. He's probably also calculating he could get to #2 between now and then so he won't have to see Djokovic before a Final at The French. Federer has a lot to defend between now and Wimbledon, so he's got a greater chance of falling than staying #2. If anything, Nadal has gotten smarter about how to manage his schedule and his body at age 28. He no longer can run rough shod through the clay season like he used to for so many years and still have enough left for the big ones. Remember how many had written him off at RG last year because of losses on clay to Almagro, Ferrer and Djokovic? And who was it lifting the RG trophy in the end?? If anything, Nadal has gotten to the stage where he can still be at his best, just not as often as he used to be. And that's the same story for any tennis player who has ever played the game.

Well I don't know antonico, I by no means am writing him off or saying he is through. There is a point though that every player reaches when they can no longer come back from injuries and surgeries. Being on tour is tough no question. But surgeries and rehab are much worse and much more draining physically and mentally. At some point your body and mind break down. I think you are correct that the opposite can be true that players can also burnout from too much consecutive play. But injury after injury in my mind is a bigger threat.

He probably still is the heavy favorite for RG. And no he didn't do that poorly at RG considering he just started coming back. As I have said before it is too early to judge and others have written off before only for him to come back and dominate. The only question that remains for me is how many more comebacks does he have in him? Is this finally the one where he has hit the wall physically? Where eventually he will start losing more and more often to players he has controlled.

socal1976 wrote:Well I don't know antonico, I by no means am writing him off or saying he is through. There is a point though that every player reaches when they can no longer come back from injuries and surgeries. Being on tour is tough no question. But surgeries and rehab are much worse and much more draining physically and mentally. At some point your body and mind break down. I think you are correct that the opposite can be true that players can also burnout from too much consecutive play. But injury after injury in my mind is a bigger threat.

He probably still is the heavy favorite for RG. And no he didn't do that poorly at RG considering he just started coming back. As I have said before it is too early to judge and others have written off before only for him to come back and dominate. The only question that remains for me is how many more comebacks does he have in him? Is this finally the one where he has hit the wall physically? Where eventually he will start losing more and more often to players he has controlled.

I get your point. Truly. Thing is, his "surgery" in this case was about his appendix, it wasn't about any part of his body that suffered wear and tear from playing the game. If your appendix is inflamed, you have to remove it since a ruptured appendix can kill you. But it's not a surgery that was related to his tennis.

One point brilliantly made by Steve Tignor about Nadal and his injuries: wouldn't it be high time for a new trainer at this point? If you have the series of injuries Nadal has had in his career - and he's had the same physical trainer(s) (Rafael Maymo & Juan Focades) his whole career - wouldn't it behoove you to get someone to keep you in better shape ? Take a guy like David Ferrer. Here's a guy who plays high octane, Top Ten caliber defense on every point as brutally as Nadal does and is three years older than Nadal. Yet we never have read about Ferrer on the sidelines for months because of some injury related to all that defending. Ditto Djokovic - who has become far and away the game's best defender over the last 4-5 years. We've not seen  Djokovic (yet) lay up for weeks or months because of injuries related to all his first class defense. But for Nadal the list of injuries necessitating time off seems never ending. So it raises a few questions. If Nadal is repeatedly injuring himself -while others who are as terrific at defense as he is seemingly able to play on relatively injury free - isn't it time to fire your training team? Or (and this is where I lean more towards) - are your "injuries" basically non issues and you continuously take time off because your game keeps getting figured out by other players and you have to keep going back to the drawing board? Lest we forget, Toni Nadal is not one of those coaches who ever experienced play at the Tour level - he was a club player and that's it. So the wisdom he can pass on is basically limited. Since Rafa won't fire his uncle (or vice versa), he's left to be coached by someone who hasn't the fullest understanding of having to make your living off of your game. In that sense it makes what Nadal has achieved so far all the more remarkable. But Toni Nadal's contributions have limits only because you cannot give to anyone else what you don't have - and Uncle Toni cannot give Rafa another perspective other than the one he's had to give as a club player. Most of the Nadal injuries in my humble opinion (save the one that kept him out 7 months) are more smokescreen than legitimate. Since Rafa insists on keeping his same team around him (and only gets their perspective daily), he needs more time to see the forest for the trees when others latch on to patterns and start exploiting him. So he whips out the injury list (to keep his off court endorsement dollars flowing in and to keep the tour off his back about not honoring your requirements), takes time to go back to the drawing board, get his legs and confidence back in trying to implement the new "solutions" in matches to solve the new problems rivals pose, and he hits the tour again. When you look at just how many different types of serve stances and poses he's tried to use in his career it's an example of what I mean. His court position too has varied wildly at different times. These are the types of things that change as a result of his "injury" down time. So my sense is he uses the cloud of injury to go back to the laboratory for more tinkering.

To me it is not rocket science.

Rafa's game has always been very dependent on supreme fitness so when that is compromised it compromises his game. Now we all know he was rusty coming in here but also I'd say it is fair to say with his operation to remove his appendix then his pre-season fitness regime will have been affected as surely he would have had to have rested following surgery until scar had healed etc. Now the fitness training perhaps only enabled him to get up to about 75% fitness levels so this with his rustiness is purely the reason for his QF exit.

What you are saying is without doubt an overriding factor in his performance which is why you and I both mentioned prior to the tournament we would have thought he might have chosen to get back to full fitness on the red stuff. ??

How would Rafa camp react if he goes down this FO?

How would you expect ? Like the rest of us accept it.Its into e man's hands there is nothing anyone can do.

Haddie-nuff wrote:What you are saying is without doubt an overriding factor in his performance which is why you and I both mentioned prior to the tournament we would have thought he might have chosen to get back to full fitness on the red stuff. ??
 

I'd suggested he'd be rusty and short of match fitness due to surgery encroaching into his pre-season fitness regime but I saw no harm in him having a crack at the Australian Open. If nothing else it has helped shake off rust, build up a bit of fitness and lose not as many ranking points as he would have done by opting out.

Tell you what, if he doesn't get it back for clay he's going to plummet in ranking.

Been saying that for a few years though.

Yeah we have noticed!!! Do us a favour and hold
your breath