that you would even consider it possibly being 'fear' is silly. after you've won as much as he had, you think he would not play just because of being scared that he might do badly?
he's not naive, he doesn't want to play with zero practice. I can't say 100% that it's the stomach virus or something else, but I think it's safe to assume that he THINKS that he'll be back on tour in the next month or so.
if it is indeed the stomach thing or anything, it makes sense. how can you play Doha with no match practice? what would the point be. I do agree with some comments that it's totally strange that he would already retire from the Australian Open, you'd think maybe he could practice hard and see if he is feeling good in the next week or two, but we all know how anal Nadal is about the schedule, hell even how water bottles are sitting besides his chair during matches...
I don't like all of this lame accusations though, obviously it's not a 'game' for him to fake out the public. he certainly wouldn't look good if he had an on going knee injury he was trying to hide, but why again would he still hide it? it's not unheard of that players get the bad luck of having an injury and then an illness.
I just hope he gets better.
I was certain he would play Doha and now the future is pretty uncertain
I do know that it benefits Nadal nothing at all to make up the problems he's having and that some of you truly must be haters to claim that he is just throwing the public around. whether it's a stomach virus or a knee problem what does it matter? he can't play near maximum level by the grand slam so he won't play. not like it's a conspiracy
and dude the Australian Open is one of the hottest tournaments of the years and 5 set matches! if he was opting out of playing Roland Garros I might think it was a serious injury he was trying to hide BUT does anyone here really think he would be able to play well in Australia with no practice time in the past week or two?
wish there was just a more positive attitude around here, I mean Nadal's out and doesn't want to be, rather then accuse him of being a faker or hiding things why don't we just wish that he gets better