[Johnny Groove]

I know hes playing in Chennai and Sydney the first two weeks, so he can be tired for the AO Then, hes confirmed his participation in the DC tie vs. Suisse, then I dont know

Prolly Dubai, but in February, i dunno.

His spring season is set in stone, with IW, Miami, MC, Barca, Rome, (perhaps) Hamburg, RG, Queens, and Wimbly

After that, its anyone's guess. If he goes and loses to Kendrick in R2 wimbly, he'll prolly go play Stuttgart, but its mostly speculation

Anyone have anymore info?

[payrol]

any chance that Nadal will be playing Thailand Open? coz i really want to see him in action live since Thailand is the nearest...or else...maybe wait for the Masters Cup shangahi next year.. cant wait for the new season!!

[Björki]

only "perhaps" Hamburg??

[Johnny Groove]

Originally Posted by Björki

only "perhaps" Hamburg??

I used the last two years of evidence.

I.E. If the Rome final is ANOTHER epic, then he'll most likely pull out

[Roger The Great]

Isn't the Rome final now a three set encounter? If so, hopefully the finalists will be more inclined to play Hamburg.

[mallorn]

^^^ It's supposed to be best of three from now on. Still, I reckon Rafa's participation in the Hamburg tournament will depend on his clay season up till then. If he plays as many finals as in the last two years, he might still want to take the week off.

[NancyIsabelle]

Originally Posted by payrol

any chance that Nadal will be playing Thailand Open? coz i really want to see him in action live since Thailand is the nearest...or else...maybe wait for the Masters Cup shangahi next year.. cant wait for the new season!!

Hello Payrol ! They had political problems in Thailand several weeks ago (coup) and a press release was published to say that this exhibition with Nalbandian was "on hold". From what I understand, since we did hear nothing about it, I think it's cancelled. Unless they change their mind at the last minute, but Rafa has already few things to do while on "vacations" and he is living for Chennai on the 28th of December. I would be happy for you though if it's still on and you can see him.

[payrol]

Originally Posted by NancyIsabelle

Hello Payrol ! They had political problems in Thailand several weeks ago (coup) and a press release was published to say that this exhibition with Nalbandian was "on hold". From what I understand, since we did hear nothing about it, I think it's cancelled. Unless they change their mind at the last minute, but Rafa has already few things to do while on "vacations" and he is living for Chennai on the 28th of December. I would be happy for you though if it's still on and you can see him.

Hi Nancy..thanks for the explanation... ..cant wait to see him in action next season...

[fyi]

Hi Payrol and Nancy

Just to give information. Thailand Open is not cancelled. It is scheduled September starting the next day after Davis Cup in September ( can't remember which DC round). I don't think Rafa will come because if he plays DC on Sunday, it is unlikely he will play Thailand Open the next day (week ).

What they cancelled is the exhibition match (Rafa vs Nalbandian ) on 31 December this year.

[chocc0]

woooooooooooootttttttttttt SYDNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[oz_boz]

Originally Posted by mallorn

^^^ It's supposed to be best of three from now on. Still, I reckon Rafa's participation in the Hamburg tournament will depend on his clay season up till then. If he plays as many finals as in the last two years, he might still want to take the week off.

Yeah, too bad with Rome F as best of three.

But I think Nadal could try to make a nice record by winning all clay TMS in one season. He has a very good chance now with Roger as the 2nd best on clay and the rest of the competition pretty lackluster - Gaudio, Coria, Ferrero and the like.

However, it would probably require him to skip Barca - which he likely won't for obvious reasons - and he could be a bit tired when going into RG. Maybe the wrong time to take that kind of risk when he is a huge favourite to the first RG threepeat since the legendary Borg.

[kiwifan80]

Glad he's playing Sydney !!!

[Tess Gray]

I hope he plays in Rotterdam in Febuary... But i doubt it

[mallorn]

Apparently Rafa has signed a two-year contract to play in Stuttgart in 2007 and 2008.

http://www.lasegunda.com/ediciononli...noticia=328766

(Thanks Nou.amic)


There's also speculation about Rafa's appearance in Thailand:

ATP THAILAND OPEN

Organisers confirm star attraction

TOR CHITTINAND

Several of the world's top tennis players will compete in September's ATP Thailand Open in Bangkok, according to BEC Tero Entertainment managing director Brian Marcar. ''I can confirm there will be leading players in the tournament and one will be one of top two players at the moment,'' he said.

Swiss world number one Roger Federer played in the 2004-2005 event and there is speculation that this time the organisers will be trying to get world No 2, Rafael Nadal from Spain.

''The appearance fee for the top player would be between 16-20 million baht, the same as we paid Roger Federer two years ago,'' he said.

Attendances were down at last year's tournament, partly because few of the top players were in action.

The US$550,000 event will be held at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani from September 24-30.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/Sports/23Feb2007_sport26.php

[Johnny Groove]

great idea to play Stutt IMO. Therefore, he wont come to TMS canada/Cincy/USO playing flatly and un-Rafalike. At least he'll have some match play and a tourney win under his belt