Nadal - The Future Looks Bright

This interview throws a brighter spin on Nadal's future compared with some of the gloom that is being spread. But then if you will read the Daily Mail... Pfft!

But did you win your 7th title in Roland Garros with an injured knee?

"The problem started in February, at Indian Wells. I was forced to miss the semi-final in Miami but came back stronger in Roland Garros, where I played the semi-final with just some infiltration. I won because at the time I was playing some of the best tennis in my career. But the injury got worse again in Halle and the week before Wimbledon it was absolutely terrible. It was only after that I discovered I had suffered a tear.”

Admit it, you are slightly afraid of never being able to play tennis professionally again, aren't you?

"My injury (Hoffa’s syndrome) hasn’t ever forced anyone into retirement from the sport. The future looks bright. I’m still 26, I still love competing, I still love tennis. If anything, this season has been one of the seasons I’ve enjoyed playing tennis the most. I’ll try as hard as possible to get back playing again. And I’ve always worked hard all my life. I’m not foolish enough to believe I can play well enough to start winning again straight away, especially with the level of competition in tennis so high at the moment. But I’ve been at the top of the sport for 8 seasons and 3 months ago I won Roland Garros – so why should things suddenly change after 5 months out of the game? I've the same motivation as before and the same faith in my ability and desire to work hard: why shouldn’t I get back to where I was before in the sport?”

But will you be able to play on the hard courts again?

"I don’t believe I’ll be able to avoid playing on hard courts, especially as 2 Grand Slam tournaments [the US Open and the Australian Open – Ed] and a lot of other top tournaments are played on the surface, but I know I need to play on clay courts more, as that'll help my knee. I’m not only saying this now, as I’ve said it a lot of times over the past 3 years and during the ATP tour, but it’s a mistake to play so many tournaments on hard courts: I don’t see many football players or basketball players playing on the surface day in, day out. I can’t do anything to change what has happened to me, but I can do something for future generations. Playing on hard courts is very damaging for the knees, ankles and back. Unfortunately, the sport is dominated by business, by money and the upkeep of hard courts is much easier than the upkeep or grass or clay courts. The sport is heading in that direction and my feeling is that it’s a mistake. But that’s just my opinion.”

So, when do you think you’ll be back playing again?

"I don’ know whether it’ll take 3 weeks or 3 months. But I hope to play at the Australian Open, even if I hope I can be back even sooner, in Qatar. Who knows, perhaps I won’t be back until after, on the clay courts. But what I’m certain of is that after playing tennis in a certain way for 20 years I won’t be able to make any drastic changes to my style of play. You can change things slightly, something small here and there, adapt in certain ways, even in the way you stand on the court, as I’ve actually had to do. Before, I used to cover the court a lot, as it was the only way to pay against the top players. Now, I don’t cover the court as much as Djokovic. But that’s because I play a better style of tennis now.”

http://english.gazzetta.it/More_sports/25-09-2012/rafa-nadal-m-not-worried-ll-be-back-just-as-strong-as-ever-912718555671.shtml

"The sport is heading in that direction and my feeling is that it’s a mistake"

So Rafa thinks the sport is heading in the wrong direction. Presumably he'd like to see some changes made.

This is the 2nd article you have generated from a post made on another thread.

Are we that bored your resorting to spamming!

legendkillarV2

This interview and hence the article is new. I have no idea what you are talking about. Have you read it?

JuliusHMarx

If you read the interview Nadal says what changes he would like to make.

Hawky,

lydian already posted the same interview on another thread

hawkeye wrote:If you read the interview Nadal says what changes he would like to make.

Yes, but if the game is in a 'Golden Era', should anything be changed? Requiring changes implies all is not great.

No it isn't! Lydian posted quotes from an (amateur?) translation of another interview. Please check your facts (I have provided a link) before jumping in with side tracking accusations.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:If you read the interview Nadal says what changes he would like to make.

Yes, but if the game is in a 'Golden Era', should anything be changed? Requiring changes implies all is not great.

Mmm... If you think that maybe you've been away? You should read through some recent posts for updates.

The improvements Nadal recommends are to do with playing surface. Less hard courts as although they are much cheaper to install and maintain they are more damaging to players. Just to be clear as it is often misinterpreted he doesn't mention surface speed (slow or fast). Hard courts can be slow and natural surfaces can be fast (as I well remember from the 90's Zzzz..). He says that he understands that things won't change in time for himself as a player but hopes for change for the future. Personally I think it unlikely that he will get his wish because of the relative cheapness of hard courts. Also it's only when players get to a high level that they have a voice and obviously if they reach a high level they will have lots of reasons not to use it. It's not only Federer that wants to smell of roses.

All I'm saying is that this year alone, at least Murray, Djoko and Rafa (maybe more) have indicated a desire to change the current playing conditions of the game one way or another, and expressed fears for the future.
It seems reasonable therefore that many fans also feel that some changes would be beneficial.

Look, I have a lot of sympathy for Nadal but his problems originate from his congenital foot problems. It's not like the tour is falling like flies on hard courts.

If he feels it's better he moves mainly to clay and grass then it's his call, and people have to recognise the misfortune behind it, but he shouldn't be generalising to suggesting it's a problem for everyone, because it isn't.

Ok I understand. Part of the problem will always be to get an agreement on what should be changed. Especially as tennis is an individual sport and players and tournaments will often have conflicting interests... not to mention fans. It really needs some sort of independent body to oversee things.

bogbrush wrote:Look, I have a lot of sympathy for Nadal but his problems originate from his congenital foot problems. It's not like the tour is falling like flies on hard courts.

If he feels it's better he moves mainly to clay and grass then it's his call, and people have to recognise the misfortune behind it, but he shouldn't be generalising to suggesting it's a problem for everyone, because it isn't.

Well to be honest we don't know what everyone thinks. Nadal is in a unique position really. He is well known, has strong views, isn't afraid to say what he thinks and the world puts a microphone to his mouth and wildly reports and analysis everything he says (this sometimes involves dodgy translations)... Usually people in this position are influential and have power to make change. But Nadal like other players has no such power. Maybe the easiest course of action in these circumstances is to say nothing whatever your view. Especially considering nothing will change quickly enough to be of any benefit to yourself.

I don't want to turn this into another thread about what needs to be done to improve the sport so will try to stick to the point. Rafa's injuries are believed to stem from a long standing foot problem he has had since he was a kid so this kin of problem was always likely to affect him later in like. If it really is hard courts doing the damage then the answer is simple. He sticks to clay and grass tournaments. At the moment we already have more than enough clay tournaments and not enough grass tournaments in my book and just about right for hard courts though pace needs to be altered. It is up to Rafa and only he knows how serious and what causes the injury to flare up. If he believes hard courts are the culprit then he has to either prioritise the hard court tournies he wishes to play in and minimise his involvement in them or carry on as before and if he does this then I can only presume that it isn't hard courts causing the damage but something else. However this pans out I wish him all the best and fingers crossed he comes back all guns blazing.

hawkeye wrote:

Well to be honest we don't know what everyone thinks. Nadal is in a unique position really. He is well known, has strong views, isn't afraid to say what he thinks and the world puts a microphone to his mouth and wildly reports and analysis everything he says (this sometimes involves dodgy translations)... Usually people in this position are influential and have power to make change. But Nadal like other players has no such power. Maybe the easiest course of action in these circumstances is to say nothing whatever your view. Especially considering nothing will change quickly enough to be of any benefit to yourself.

On the contrary, I'm not convinced Nadal has any real opinions on many of these things.

All of his press conferences and interviews seem to be pretty much scripted affairs and I would imagine most of his opinions come directly from his 'team'.

He makes a lot of money for a lot of people. I don't believe a lot of his opinions, which on the whole seem to be completely self serving, actually come from him but from people who don't want to see their source of income run dry.

Good find HE, Rafa's comments are interesting.

He's absolutely spot on about the over use of hard-courts, they need to be eradicated and quickly.

djlovesyou wrote:
On the contrary, I'm not convinced Nadal has any real opinions on many of these things.

Good for you.

JuliusHMarx wrote:"The sport is heading in that direction and my feeling is that it’s a mistake"

So Rafa thinks the sport is heading in the wrong direction. Presumably he'd like to see some changes made.

Yes what he was referring to is the large number of hard courts that was the only thing he said needed to be changed. He also said that the competition today was exceptionally strong. So do you support Rafa in his quest for more clay courts and his opinion that the competition today is incredibly strong? What he isn't saying is lets federize all the conditions.

Im not sure we need more clay tournaments. We certainly need more grass tournaments though. It's the kindest on the body, the oldest form of tennis and the most prestigious slam surface.

I don't think anyone would complain if the grass season was longer and included a masters.

Hard courts are more damaging than natural surfaces to play on. That is a fact.

Just talk to one of the many amateur "joggers" who have suffered injuries by running on concrete pavements or ask a ballet dancer if they would be prepared to dance on such a surface. Ha ha! I bet ballet dancers think that tennis players are a bunch of easily exploited fools for agreeing to do so...

It also is murderous to maintain grass courts danny and less than one in a thousand courts in the world are grass courts. I know very few players here in the states who have let alone seen one or played on it. Maintaining a clay court takes several times more time and money than maintaining a hardcourt a grass court takes several times more time and money to maintain than a clay court. I agree a grass court masters would be great, but can you really play a large part of the season outdoors on grass? Probably not much bigger than what we have now.

It Must Be Love wrote:Good find HE, Rafa's comments are interesting.

He's absolutely spot on about the over use of hard-courts, they need to be eradicated and quickly.

Rafa has a regrettable recent record of self-serving statements and this is of that ilk. There's really no problem to anyone else on the tour.

I would cut him some lack for the understandable frustration he must feel; only the hardest hearted could not feel sympathy. However, I don't feel the same way about fans repeating this tosh as if it is living truth.

bogbrush. It's not "tosh" hard courts are more damaging. That is a fact.

Yes but hardcourts are what most players play on. So should the tour play on a surface that no one plays on or a very small number play on, and then not play on a surface that is the most prevalent in the world? If you don't want to run on concrete tennis is probably not a good sport for you.

Nadal should instead of playing dubai go and play 2 tournaments in latin america during the clay court season instead of pushing for the whole tour to play more on clay. It isn't just the fact that you are saving yourself from playing on hardcourt for one tournament you also spend that whole month on clay when you practice. So by going to south America Nadal can instantaneously buy 6 weeks less of hardcourt play and more clay play, so why has he instead been shortsighted and taken big appearance fees instead to show up to Dubai? I think in the end no matter what the emirs paid him to go to Dubai that he would have been better served not taking their payday and spending february and early March in latin America play and MOST IMPORTANTLY practicing exclusively on clay.

hawkeye wrote:bogbrush. It's not "tosh" hard courts are more damaging. That is a fact.

Perhaps you could point to the consequences of this damage across the stock of players.

Obviously excluding congenital conditions.

socal1976

Hardcourts are what most tournaments are played on today because of economics and perhaps because players have been foolish enough to agree to it. This is not just an issue about Nadal. He is merely the one who has had the guts to be vocal about it. The other players are not super human they are still suffering unnecessary damage. Until relatively recently (historically speaking) 3 slams were played on grass and one was played on clay. In fact prior to switching to hard court I believe the US Open was played briefly on clay also.

Ha ha! about Nadal playing in South America. I keep reading people suggesting that. Maybe it's wishful thinking? Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments? Even if for a minute you imagined Nadal would want to do such a thing. Can you imagine Miami or Indian Wells being put in the position were they are loosing an audience to Acapulco?

Also what did you think about Nadal saying he doesn't "cover" the court as much as Djokovic because he has a better style of tennis now?

bogbrush wrote:

hawkeye wrote:bogbrush. It's not "tosh" hard courts are more damaging. That is a fact.

Perhaps you could point to the consequences of this damage across the stock of players.

Obviously excluding congenital conditions.

This is from an article entitled "How to prevent running injuries"

Find the right surface. Once you have the right shoes, you want to make sure you're using them on the best surface. Ideally, you want the ground to absorb shock, rather than passing it along to your legs. Avoid concrete as much as possible: It's about 10 times as hard as asphalt, and is a terrible surface for running. Try to find grass or dirt trails to run on, especially for your higher mileage runs. Consistency is important, too, because a sudden change to a new running surface can cause injuries. You'll also want to avoid tight turns, so look for slow curves and straight paths.

http://running.about.com/od/injuryprevention/ht/preventinjury.htm

Note it can also be damaging to suddenly change to a new running surface and tight turns should also be avoided. Nothing can be done about these risks but something can be done about playing on a less damaging surface.

No one is argueing hawkeye that hardcourt gives your body more of a pounding that is what I am saying. Hardcourt tennis makes the game more accessible to large numbers of the population. And one of the great charms of the game is that there is a unity between the pro and amateur game. We play on the same type of courts, with the same balls, same racquets and same strings. Having everyone else in the world playing on a hardcourt and the pros playing on grass divorces the amateur and pro games. At the weekend or club player level you will never replace hardcourts with clay and grass.

Additionally, why is it so wrong for Nadal to play in south America. Brazil, ARgentina, and mexico are large markets and spanish speaking markets. All of the tournaments are worth 500 points and in no way prevent him from playing at IW. IW is in mid to late march. In february Nadal goes to south America instead of playing and training on hardcourts in europe or the middle east. He saves 6 weeks of hardcourt play worth any amount of money that Dubai is paying him to save his body from more hardcourt play. Instead of pushing for changing the tour he himself can choose to add 2 clay court events and drop 2 hardcourt event by just making a phone call.

By the way Ferrer and Almagro have all made that trip it is hardly the boonies of the ATP tour. It isn't Johannesburg or Chennai or the St. Petersburg open for gods sake. In fact I can make up an excellent schedule for Nadal where he plays almost half his tournaments on natural surfaces. But he chooses to play the bigger paying hardcourt event in Dubai that is worth the same amount of points as Acapulco, i think over the years he could have saved himself significant damage by playing all his optionals on grass and clay, but he doesn't do that he takes the big pay day from the emirs and not only plays that week on hardcourt but trains on it for the week or two before so he can do well for the tournament. Short sighted for a guy who makes tens of millions and has congenital foot problems. Penny wise pound foolish.

Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments

What a load of lovesacks!!!



The tennis world has coped very well in his absence.

No-one gives a rats ass about someone who's views for change make him the sole beneficiary of them.

If he cares enough about his career he will sacrifice a majority of the hardcourt tournaments if it means prolonging his career. Just because the majority of clay tournaments have less ranking points doesn't mean the tennis season has more HC tournaments.

hawkeye wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

hawkeye wrote:bogbrush. It's not "tosh" hard courts are more damaging. That is a fact.

Perhaps you could point to the consequences of this damage across the stock of players.

Obviously excluding congenital conditions.

This is from an article entitled "How to prevent running injuries"

Find the right surface. Once you have the right shoes, you want to make sure you're using them on the best surface. Ideally, you want the ground to absorb shock, rather than passing it along to your legs. Avoid concrete as much as possible: It's about 10 times as hard as asphalt, and is a terrible surface for running. Try to find grass or dirt trails to run on, especially for your higher mileage runs. Consistency is important, too, because a sudden change to a new running surface can cause injuries. You'll also want to avoid tight turns, so look for slow curves and straight paths.

http://running.about.com/od/injuryprevention/ht/preventinjury.htm

Note it can also be damaging to suddenly change to a new running surface and tight turns should also be avoided. Nothing can be done about these risks but something can be done about playing on a less damaging surface.

And now perhaps something about actual players and actual injuries?

Do not be surprised that the above will be the response from HE BB. Has Nadal actually confirmed that Hardcourts have blighted his career despite having a unique condition that was going to shorten his career?

His comment on football was just wide of the mark. I retired from semi-professional football at 24 because of a long standing knee injury and that was the direct result of playing too much football! More footballers retire through knee injuries than tennis players.

I would have thought even though grass on a football pitch is softer it can be more dangerous with studs getting stuck in the turf and twisting all kinds of ligaments. He is pretty much the only player who has this knee problem, you don't see too many injuries in tennis compared to football. It amazes me how tennis players never seem to pull their hamstring but in football its a regular injury.

CAS wrote:I would have thought even though grass on a football pitch is softer it can be more dangerous with studs getting stuck in the turf and twisting all kinds of ligaments. He is pretty much the only player who has this knee problem, you don't see too many injuries in tennis compared to football. It amazes me how tennis players never seem to pull their hamstring but in football its a regular injury.

except socal

There is a player who has been playing on HC for a long time and has had very few injuries. Does the playing style have any impact (pun intended) on injuries?

One does not have to kill humanity to eradicate small pox, correct?


From another forum...

2012 Challengers Surfaces:

Outdoor Clay- 76
Outdoor Hard- 45
Indoor Hard- 22
Indoor Carpet- 4, Worlfsburg, Kyoto, Eckental, Toyota
Outdoor Grass- 2, Nottingham, Nottingham 2
Indoor Clay- 1, Saint Brieuc

150 Events

Outdoor Clay- 50.7%
Outdoor Hard- 30%
Indoor Hard- 14.7%
Indoor Carpet- 2.7%
Outdoor Grass- 1.3%
Indoor Clay- 0.6%

ATP Tour:

Outdoor Clay- 23
Outdoor Hard- 20
Indoor Hard- 17
Outdoor Grass- 6, and Olympics, so 7

66 Events

Outdoor Clay- 34.8%
Outdoor Hard- 30.3%
Indoor Hard- 25.8%
Outdoor Grass- 9.1%

Combined, 216 Events:

Outdoor Clay- 99/216= 45.8%
Outdoor Hard- 65/216= 30.1%
Indoor Hard- 39/216= 18.1%
Outdoor Grass- 8/216= 3.7%
Indoor Carpet- 4/216= 1.8%
Indoor Clay- 1/216= 0.5%

As we can see, Outdoor Clay is the most used surface, but hard courts, indoors and outdoors, count 48.2%, just above.

A real shame that only a combined 5.5% of tournaments are on grass or carpet.
__________________

1968 Main Tour

22 Events

Outdoor Clay- 12/22= 54.6%
Outdoor Grass- 6/22= 27.3%
Indoor Carpet- 2/22= 9.1%
Indoor Hard- 1/22= 4.5%
Outdoor Hard- 1= 4.5%

Grass was 27% of the tour in 1968

1969 Main Tour

32 Events

Outdoor Clay- 16/32= 50%
Outdoor Grass- 9/32= 28.1%
Indoor Carpet- 3/32= 9.4%
Outdoor Hard- 2/32= 6.3%
Indoor Hard- 1/32= 3.1%
Outdoor Carpet- 1/32= 3.1%

Grass was over 28% of the tour in 1969, while clay has always been about half the tour.
__________________



PS: http://tennis.wettpoint.com/en/atp-tour.html

Some stunning work there LF.

There are sufficient tournaments to keep one Rafael Nadal very happy

Excellent analysis lf.

One wonders what % of the the tour moving onto clay would satisfy* Rafa.


* I accept he's under pressure right now.

Honestly you people! Hard courts are more damaging that is a fact plain and simple.

If no player dares speak out they will continue to play on a surface that is known to lead to more injuries because it is cheaper. Knowing how powerless players are and seeing how an individual can get singled out if they say anything it's understandable why someone would decide it's safer to remain smelling sweet. Especially when for current players even if they are listened too and changes are made they will likely only affect future players...

Yes we have loads of clay tournaments.

But only 3 Masters, and 1 Slam. Give me 2 Slams, and 4 Masters, 250 tournaments are irrelevant really (ranking wise, also not very prestigious).

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

CAS wrote:I would have thought even though grass on a football pitch is softer it can be more dangerous with studs getting stuck in the turf and twisting all kinds of ligaments. He is pretty much the only player who has this knee problem, you don't see too many injuries in tennis compared to football. It amazes me how tennis players never seem to pull their hamstring but in football its a regular injury.

except socal

Proof positive that you can find a way to injure your self in any activity if you are determined enough and stupid enough.

Hawkeye no one argues that hardcourt doesn't pound your body more, but it has certain advantages in terms of accessiblity and ease of maintenance that make up for it. Nadal to me could have maximized his schedule for his health as opposed of sticking an extra month of hardcourt play and practice in schedule to collect a six figure appearance fee in Dubai. Instead of demanding the rules be changed why don't you first maximize your ability in the rules to schedule better.

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments

What a load of lovesacks!!!



The tennis world has coped very well in his absence.

No-one gives a rats ass about someone who's views for change make him the sole beneficiary of them.

You're worse than Tenez.

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments

What a load of lovesacks!!!



The tennis world has coped very well in his absence.

No-one gives a rats ass about someone who's views for change make him the sole beneficiary of them.

You're worse than Tenez.

And you're a towel!

legendkillarV2 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments

What a load of lovesacks!!!



The tennis world has coped very well in his absence.

No-one gives a rats ass about someone who's views for change make him the sole beneficiary of them.

You're worse than Tenez.

And you're a towel!

What does that mean?

socal. I think you are one of the few that are not arguing about the negative effects of playing on hard court. It is not only Nadal who is affected he is just the one doing the talking.

Of course relative cheapness and ease of maintenance make it advantageous especially for social play. But in a way I'm surprised that not more complaints are made by social players. Some of the strapping worn by the more "experienced" players suggests that damage is being inflicted even at this level. I am also surprised that parents don't demand something more user friendly for their children to play on. IMO at the very least some thought should go into creating or using surfaces that are less damaging.

hawkeye wrote:

It's ok HE, no one cares about Nadal.
No one gives a 'rat's ass' to be precise.

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments

What a load of lovesacks!!!



The tennis world has coped very well in his absence.

No-one gives a rats ass about someone who's views for change make him the sole beneficiary of them.

You're worse than Tenez.

And you're a towel!

What does that mean?

I may be wrong but I guess that legendkillarV2 is trying to make it clear that he doesn't find Nadal cute...

hawkeye wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments

What a load of lovesacks!!!



The tennis world has coped very well in his absence.

No-one gives a rats ass about someone who's views for change make him the sole beneficiary of them.

You're worse than Tenez.

And you're a towel!

What does that mean?

I may be wrong but I guess that legendkillarV2 is trying to make it clear that he doesn't find Nadal cute...

Nor do I
Where does a towel come into it?

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Why would arguably the biggest crowd puller in tennis be allowed to play in such low prestige tournaments

What a load of lovesacks!!!



The tennis world has coped very well in his absence.

No-one gives a rats ass about someone who's views for change make him the sole beneficiary of them.

You're worse than Tenez.

And you're a towel!

What does that mean?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NO8lnC7u3w

It Must Be Love wrote:Yes we have loads of clay tournaments.

But only 3 Masters, and 1 Slam. Give me 2 Slams, and 4 Masters, 250 tournaments are irrelevant really (ranking wise, also not very prestigious).

We have 0 MSes on Grass and 1 Slam.

If players can adjust their playing styles from Clay to Grass, then why not from Clay to HC?

laverfan. It has nothing to do with "playing styles" unless someone can learn how to hover.