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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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#987 · (Edited)
Two more news about Nadal:

-> In Viña del Mar, he will play doubles with one of his greatests friends, Juan 'Pico' Monaco:


(this picture was taken last year when 'Pico' travelled to Mallorca to visit Rafa and stay with him some days... they trained and swam together)

Nadal will play his doubles match on Tuesday 5th of February, so he will play in doubles before than in singles. It can help Nadal to get his best level sooner, to practice more on clay and to warm-up for the defence of the Indian Wells doubles title, which was won by Rafael Nadal and Marc López.

-> The organization has scheduled Nadal debut: 6th of February at 22:00 CET (18:00 in Chile). If he wins, the next match is scheduled by the organization on Friday 8th of February, time to be confirmed. And if he wins this match too he'll play semifinals on Saturday and maybe the final on Sunday. So, he'll start in R16.
 
#989 ·
I changed my last message: Nadal and Pico will play their doubles match on Tuesday 5th of February, so Nadal will come back to courts playing a doubles match (before his singles match on Wednesday).

And thats all :D (sorry for posting it in more than one message but I'm getting the information in this moment).
 
#994 ·
When Nadal first tournament starts?
 
#1,001 ·
Thanks for all the information. It made me really happy :) Can't wait for the 5th GS- Vina del Mar :)
BTW, I didn't realise that you get BYE in R1 in Vina!
 
#1,015 ·
not good for him.
 
#1,024 ·
8 > 2, let's throw that one out there. Federer has never in his life been able to beat Rafa in a big match, other than two times on his favourite surface during his peak against a boy that was playing his first couple grass tournaments as a claycourter.
 
#1,026 ·
May I remind you sir, that Nadal is four years younger than Federer, a pretty large gap in real tennis terms. So in reality there was always going to be a small window of opportunity where they would each other in their prime. Unfortunately due to how bad Nadal was on non clay surfaces early on in his career and even now you see this gap.
 
#1,045 ·
Nadal has almost 2 times wins against Fed than he does against him.

I can compare all this with boxing.

For example I am Lenox Luis , and in my prime years, there is no any boxer who can beat me and because of that I get numerous titles. After some time new young boxer comes , for example Vladimir Klitchko and he kicks my ass dozen of times.

Does all my titles won mainly against weaker boxers makes me better than he ? I think not....

H2H is more important. Especially between champions.
 
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