:crying:
One of the reasons for the performance today. 99% he'll skip Basel now. But WTF and YE#1 in danger now if his health declined. He can't play freely if he has to think about his knee all the time.
Not surprising. He had to make decision to play Beijing, Shanghai, and this built his confidence further after US Open victory.
Now making the decision to not play Basel is sensible. It is Federers home anyway and Nadal will only be more likely to be destroyed. He must bide his time for WTF.
I'm certain he does have knee problems as a result of the accumulation of HC play over the years. But, if he wasn't 100% then perhaps he should not have played? People here were saying Denis Shapovalov gave a lame excuse because he was ill in bed for three days prior to his match. So, why does Nadal get a pass?
I worked with people with injuries for many years and I know that if / when you push the body too hard, the damage will continue to get worse. Nadal may be coming to the point once again where his knees will give out permanently if he doesn't take care of himself. Or, he may be able to play a few tournaments a year. I suspect the same with Federer and his back. Long periods of rest seem to do him a world of good, and he plays well for a couple of tournaments, then he is in pain again, just like this year.
if dull is smart he will only play WTF. Honestly the guy has played A LOT this season and even then only if 100% recovered. He has had too many great seasons followed by injury prone ones.
I called him giving an excuse the second Federer won - I started the excuse countdown... The only question is whether he'd give the excuse in his losing speech or in the presser but now we have the answer.
Honestly I'm not very surprised (I thought injury problems would appear in 2018 though). His whole career is like that - running his body on 110 percent and then sustaining an injury. A few days ago one of his fans (amenalot) tried to convince me that his knee problems are nonexistent nowadays. Well, hopefully it's not very serious but Nadal should definitely skip Basel (and possibly Paris as well).
Basel starts in a week and paris right after that.
Nadal would be dumb if he has tweaked his knee to just rest 1 week (skipping basel) and then go right back at paris which would be just a 2 week rest plus all the traveling home and time zone change is never ideal for recovery. He should rest until WTF and only play if it has resolved as he has a hx of compromising the following year.
ill be surprised if nadal rests until wtf but that would be ideal for him and even shutting down if he has not recovered by then.
Once again DIMIdal proves to be the true final. Their physical contest was so great that even GODdal couldn't stay healthy for the rest of the tournament. And here you were all calling their match "routine"...
Physical fitness and injury management is a part and parcel of a sportsman's career. I don't have to say this to Rafa or Rafa's team after playing tennis for close to 30 years.
Who is to blame for Rafa's scheduling?
Rafa should not play exhibitions Laver Cups, IPTLS, or even Mubadalas (he has Brisbane, Sydney, and Doha to pick from and prepare himself for Australian Open). He has played Laver Cup, anyway. Despite winning title in Beijing, I think Rafa should not have played Beijing, because Shanghai is a bigger tournament and more important than Beijing and Rafa should have concentrated more on and kept himself fresh for Shanghai. Playing day in and day out at the highest level against the best of the world and with all the traveling is going to be tiring.
Rafa should skip Basel. Play Paris Masters (Indoors) with an aim to win it (he has never won Paris Masters before) or as a preparation for World Tour Finals and play World Tour Finals.
Eh, timing of knee problem seems iffy. Still, he always has these issues post-Wimbledon, and is actually quite surprising he had this run in Beijing and Shanghai, so still it was a great 2 weeks for him. Well wishes I guess. Will be crazy if he does call it a year though, and only Fed being the only one left of the Big crowd for the rest season -- at the age of 36, to boot.
Yep, knew it was just a matter of time before this happened. I was apprehensive about Beijing, now I am very bearish about Basel for sure, and maybe even Paris. WTF is really the only goal now.
Well, all this talk about the knee, and it was taped, but he has taped it before as a precautionary measure, does not mean it's injured.
I looked around online and all I could find was Rafa saying now (right after the match) was not the time to talk about his knee.
There was a tweet, citing Grosjean confirming Rafa's knee injury, but how would Grosjean know this, and the info came 2nd hand.
So until I hear from Rafa or his team, I am not assuming his knee is injured.
He did look dead out there. Tired, or the knee, or Fed so thoroughly in his head he was psychologically hobbled.
Maybe a bit of all three.
Just hang on to YE #1, do well at the WTF (finalist will be fine) and beat Fed next time. Stay healthy or get healthy as the case may be. Fantastic season nonetheless. Let's remember where Rafa was a year ago. This yearhas been spectacular, in the larger view.
He's suffering the consequences of over-performing relative to expectations these past two weeks, especially in Shanghai. MTF never expected to him to do anything at either of these events, let alone win the first and final at the second. I doubt the Nadal camp were anticipating he'd be playing the matches necessary for a 1000+ point haul either. Clown.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mens Tennis Forums
18.5M posts
87.7K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to male tennis players and enthusiasts. Talk about everything from the ATP, NSMTA, to college Tennis and even everything about equipment. It's all here!