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Rafael Nadal Injury/Health Update Thread : Nadal confirmed for Viña del Mar

153K views 1K replies 248 participants last post by  Action Jackson 
#1 ·
Toni just gave an interview on Spanish radio. Said:

- Rafa's career is not in any danger. They are just being cautious.
- Rafa would like to play in Rio 2016 and hopes to compete there (again I suppose emphasising this is not some career ending injury). They all want to extend his career as much as possible and to do that they are taking the conservative approach -- "no more patches". (By this I think he is referring to earlier remarks he made about how this year they've just tried to manage injury in a piece meal way by taking time off in Miami etc. but that is not correct. He needs to wait till he is 100%.)
- It is not the same tendinitis as before, but is related to the same issue.
- Toni's been hearing that Nadal's career will be short all his life - but even if he retired now it would not have been a short career as he's played for a decade as a professional - since he was 16.

They also had some doctor on who said Nadal's tendon had degenerated and needed 3 months of rest. Given that he had most of June off, July and now August, maybe a DC return in September is not too far fetched...

Basically, as always, I think the "his career is over" brigade are going a bit far. If anything this sounds like he's learned from past mistakes and is following exactly what the doctors tell him to try and get the most from what remains of his career. Beating any of the other 3 - Andy, Roger, Nole - would have been tough at the US Open - let alone when not at full match fitness and without competitive play. If he was still suffering a bit, then better to be cautious - at this stage he needs to basically try and maximise slam chances.

As a reminder - think of the Nadal we saw at WTF 2011 - listless, passionless, bagelled by Federer. Next major tournament a few months later - few games away from winning the Australian Open. His body will always be an issue but the fire and motivation to me has been a bigger concern - at least that seems to still be there and perhaps be even stronger due to setbacks. Sounds like Rio 2016 might just be the think that keeps him going even if it seems farfetched right now that he'd be competitive in 4 years time. :lol:
 
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#3 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

Thanks for the info but why not post it in the US Open thread? Why a separate thread for this :p?
 
#8 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

Probably quite a bit harder to get back at 26 than at 23 for Nadal. It will definitely be interesting to whether he has the will to keep on playing till his 30's even if the success wanes.
 
#9 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

If Murray wins the US Open, I won't give a shit if Rafa retires. Tennis is done at that point. But I am glad Rafa will be back. I may not like him but the guy can play :)
 
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#10 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

If Murray wins the US Open, I won't give a shit if Rafa retires. Tennis is done at that point. But I am glad Rafa will be back. I may not like him but the guy can play :)
Mugray winning a slam is like someone winning a lottery 3 times in a row.
 
#18 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

Given that he had most of June off, July and now August, maybe a DC return in September is not too far fetched...
did Toni really say that or is it your words ?

Nadal played the French Open until the 12th of june then in Halle until the 15th.

In Wimbledon, played until the 28th of june, surely prepared before.

That sounds like a busy june to me :shrug:

He knows better than us but reasonably, I don't see him playing the Davis cup : the Spaniards probably don't need him to beat the Americans on clay (they needed him more to play the quarterfinal in the US last year), and one more month off could be important if he really has that degenerated tendon problem.

He could be back in Asia in that case, or even for indoor season.
 
#23 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

I must say that, without knowing everything about the injury, it seemingly would make sense for Nadal to take the rest of the year off.

Say that he COULD return in october, there would only be a few tournaments remaining all played on a surface that is generally bad for Nadal. Sure, he would be fresher than his rivals, but Nadal is a confidence player, so he's unlikely to do all that well. Wouldn't it make more sense to simply skip the rest of the year and start fresh on the slow outdoor hardcourts at the beginning of the season, which suit his game far better than indoor courts.

Yes, he'd lose quite a few rankings points, but he'll already fall far behind Djokovic and Federer with him missing the US Open and a couple of ranking spots probably doesn't make a huge difference for a player of Nadals stature. For those players its all about being #1 or not being #1.

And of course the most important argument is that such a break could significantly prolong his career rather than try to play as soon as possible and risk further injury.
 
#25 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

Rafa had many MRI scans earlier this year . So his camp should know about any problem that can come if Rafa overplays.MRI scan images show any minor sign of wear and tear that can not be seen on x-ray.This injury did not come suddenly.So Rafa took the risk knowing something can happen.When you abuse your body at end you will pay the price. Tio Tony or Rafa did not specify this injury.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

EDIT : WRONG INFO DENIED BY BENITO, as Just_like_Heaven showed below :

on this French tennis news website, which is not used to spreading bullshits but can of course make mistakes as is often the case with news websites nowadays, they say that Benito Perez Barbadillo, Nadal's agent, denied doctor Sanchez's allegations (about the degenerated tendon ?) and said that "the infos on the web about Nadal's knee injury are wrong, Nadal is not injured :confused: , he hasn't taken part in the Olympics, Toronto, Cinci because he's not in optimal physical condition" :

http://www.welovetennis.fr/rafael-nadal/54207-rafa-nadal-n-est-pas-blesse

is there a more direct or reliable source about Benito's words or is it a complete mistake from the website ?

Besides, somebody in the comments of this site says that Toni tweeted that they had "stopped the PRP injections" : does anybody have reliable news on that ?
 
#39 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

Rafa will be back in WTF and he'll kick everybody ass, BAMOS!
Not going to happen. Even if he recovers in time for WTF, he hasn't been competing since Wimbledon; it's going to take him just as long to get back on track. Players (even elite players) can't return after months of absence and be ready to compete at the top level. This isn't WTA tour.
 
#36 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

"Toni Nadal yesterday spoke to @esportsib3tv and of the things said, this for me is very important
Toni Nadal: "in 2009 the doctor already told us that what Rafa needed was to make a long stop, a total regeneration in the knees... .. .and start again. It wasn't done because there were no circumstances to stop. There wasn't a suitable time... ... now, on the other hand, there is no more remedy than to do it", Toni Nadal said"

Also there will be a press conference at 12 noon tomorrow in Manacor.

Hopefully to only say he is ok, recovering, and will return to tour soon. Hopefully not to announce retirement.
 
#38 ·
Re: Toni's comments on Rafa's withdrawal

Also there will be a press conference at 12 noon tomorrow in Manacor.

Hopefully to only say he is ok, recovering, and will return to tour soon. Hopefully not to announce retirement.
only to give a clear message I think, because at the moment there are contradictory words everywhere and typically communicators like Benito don't like that :lol:

(even if the previous info was wrong, I read elsewhere that Benito didn't like some alarmist rumours and that the doctor contributed to spread them)
 
#37 ·
Toni Nadal: Rafa's career is not in danger

http://www.vavel.com/es/tenis/atp/182078-Toni-Nadal-“La-carrera-de-Rafa-no-esta-en-peligro”.html

Toni Nadal: "Rafa's career is not in danger"

By ADRIAN PEINADO | 16/08/2012 | Translated by nou.amic for http://www.VamosBrigade.com

Never has a press release caused such an uproar as the one issued yesterday by Rafael Nadal Parera, the best Spanish tennis player in history. "I'm very sad to have to announce I'm still not ready to play and have to pull out of the US Open," he wrote on the social networks. Then the storm broke... and the doubts began. The Mallorcan has been sidelined by the problems he has in the patellar tendon of his left knee since he lost to the then No.100 Czech Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon. An injury which is as well known as it is painful, as he has had it since 2006. So painful that it forced him to withdraw from the London Olympic Games, where he would have been Spain's flag bearer, and the Masters 1000 in Toronto and Cincinnati and so gloomy that some have dared to suggest his prompt inevitable retiral at the age of 26. That conjecture is a pessimistic one made from a distance. Close up, just a few metres away from the tennis player, it all looks different. There is hope.

"Rafael's career is not in danger," was the prognosis Toni Nadal, the world number three's uncle and trainer, gave on 'El Larguero' (CadenaSER) last night. "Indeed this extended stoppage is good so he can prolong it (the recovery period) as much as possible. We have been using stop gap measures for the past two months so he could continue playing, but the doctor has advised us that it is best for him to recover well. We have already missed the Olympics and now the US Open, we're in no hurry to come back. We have to be patient so we can return in the best of conditions to play well. It could be at the Davis Cup (semi-final tie against the United States in Gijón starting 14 September) or a little bit later. But I hope it won't be much later," he went on.

Toni, like Angel Ruiz Cotorro, the RFET doctor and the player's personal doctor, believes the only viable solution is rest, not an operation, which would prolong his return for up to six months. During the past weeks they have continued with the growth factor treatment of the damaged tendons. But they are not achieving the expected results. Now, as a result of the accumulated effort made over the whole claycourt season, the inflammation (tendinitis) in his patellar joints has caused degeneration of the tendon fibre (tendinosis), thus increasing the period necessary for recovery. In other words, he has chronic pain that demands a minimum of three months' rest and if not treated with absolute rest could develop into patellar chondropathy, an even greater problem.

"The treatment we're going to follow is conservative. It's the most prudent and it's what Rafael wants. He is in good spirits because he knows it's the only way he can compete without pain. This week he has been able to practise with intensity, but he ended each practice in pain and we knew it would be difficult to play the next tournaments like that. We've really thought it through and it's best for him to recover completely," explained Toni, who made light of the possible effects on his ranking. Nadal has withdrawn from four tournaments on the calendar reducing his points tally by 1380 (including the Flushing Meadow final) which would cede his number three place to Britain's Andy Murray.

But all of this matters little. There are other goals. In the short term, he hopes to recover in time to be fit to play well in the final "rush" of the season with the Masters Cup as his main goal. It will be played on indoor cement, in conditions that rub both his knees and his game up the wrong way. But Nadal will only come back when he believes he can be victorious. Not before that. He knows that any relapse could be terrible... and that there will be new opportunities opening up for him in the future. "He is determined to play in the next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016," Toni announced. Believe him. From now on, there is only one option: playing it safe.
Seems they are optimistic he will return once more.

"Toni Nadal yesterday spoke to @esportsib3tv and of the things said, this for me is very important
Toni Nadal: "in 2009 the doctor already told us that what Rafa needed was to make a long stop, a total regeneration in the knees... .. .and start again. It wasn't done because there were no circumstances to stop. There wasn't a suitable time... ... now, on the other hand, there is no more remedy than to do it", Toni Nadal said"
Also there will be a press conference at 12 noon tomorrow in Manacor.

Hopefully to only say he is ok, recovering, and will return to tour soon. Hopefully not to announce retirement.
 
#49 · (Edited)
Re: Toni Nadal: Rafa's career is not in danger

http://www.vavel.com/es/tenis/atp/182078-Toni-Nadal-“La-carrera-de-Rafa-no-esta-en-peligro”.html


Toni, like Angel Ruiz Cotorro, the RFET doctor and the player's personal doctor, believes the only viable solution is rest, not an operation, which would prolong his return for up to six months. During the past weeks they have continued with the growth factor treatment of the damaged tendons. But they are not achieving the expected results. Now, as a result of the accumulated effort made over the whole claycourt season, the inflammation (tendinitis) in his patellar joints has caused degeneration of the tendon fibre (tendinosis), thus increasing the period necessary for recovery. In other words, he has chronic pain that demands a minimum of three months' rest and if not treated with absolute rest could develop into patellar chondropathy, an even greater problem.
Did anyone notice this buried in the statement by Uncle Toni about Rafa getting growth factor treatment in recent weeks?

Growth factor agents are banned by the Olympics, see below:

"Erythropoiesis-stimulating agent

Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents such as erythropoietin (EPO), darbepoetin (dEPO), hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) stabilizers, methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (CERA) and peginesatide (Hematide); growth hormone (hGH), insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1, etc.), fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), hepatocyte growth factors (HGF), mechano growth factors (MGFs), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), chorionic gonadotropin (banned in men only), somatotrophin (growth hormone), insulins and corticotrophins, corticosteroid mimics, and their releasing factor, are banned.

Also banned are any other growth factor affecting muscle, tendon or ligament protein synthesis/degradation, vascularization, energy utilization, regenerative capacity or fiber type switching; and other substances with similar chemical structure or similar biological effects."


If I were an investigative reporter, I think I would follow-up on this...
Edit: Of course, nothing wrong with getting necessary treatment, but if it was something banned, then that means he would have been prohibited from competing in the Olympics.

Respectfully,
masterclass
 
#40 ·
Re: Toni Nadal: Rafa's career is not in danger

Thanks for the article which is very informative, and the news of the press conference, but why do you always need to create a new thread rather than keep on an existing thread (here Ash86's one was about Toni's words on Rafa's withdrawal, that is exactly the same topic) ?

Besides, you add this stupid poll as if MTFers knew better than Toni :rolleyes:
 
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