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Nadal OUT of the Australian Open

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#1 ·
Craig Gabriel ‏@crosscourt1
JUST IN - official. Rafa Nadal is out of the Australian Open due to stomach virus.

Jon Wertheim ‏@jon_wertheim
From the camp : Rafa Nadal will not play DOHA & MELBOURNE... a stomach virus makes him stop his rehabilitation and thinks in the new season

Other tennis folk on twiter are saying it too.

Made a new topic as it is big news, merge it in a few hours.

This can't be just from a virus... this smells like a cover up
 
#45 ·
expected
 
#51 ·
OK, AO's official announcement (from the link someone posted before : http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2012-12-29/201212281356705033061.html ) with some words from the man himself, it's better than nothing :

Nadal withdraws from Australian Open
Saturday, 29 December, 2012
By Tennis Australia

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next month's Australian Open.

A stomach virus has plagued the Spanish superstar's preparation for the summer as he attempted to rejoin the tour for the first time since a mid-year knee injury.

Ironically, in the end it was the virus, and not the knee, that prompted his decision.

"I am sorry and very sad to announce that I will not play in the Australian Open," the 2009 Australian Open champion said. "My knee is coming along okay, but a stomach virus has left me unable to get ready in time to tackle the rigours of a Grand Slam.

"Because of the virus, I have been unable to get any match practice and simply would not be doing myself or my friends in Australia justice if I went down there so unprepared. You need your body to be at its best for the Australian Open," Nadal said.

"It was a difficult decision and I am extremely disappointed to be missing such a great event. I love coming to Melbourne and playing on Rod Laver Arena before the Australian crowds. It brings out the best in me. It hurts to have to wait another 12 months before I get another chance. In the meantime, the focus is now on desperately trying to get back on the tour."

Nadal was originally due to play his first matches since the surgery in Abu Dhabi followed by an event in Doha. The virus has meant he has had to withdraw from both, thus depriving him of match practice and no doubt playing a large part in his decision to withdraw.

"It is completely understandable and we really feel disappointed for him," Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said. "But without any match practice and without sufficient lead up time on the practice court, it makes it virtually impossible for him to get his body ready.

"We just hope he gets better quickly and we see him back on the tour as soon as possible. Tennis fans across the world have been missing him. Our Australian Open staff will very much miss him and his team as he is not only a great player, but also a great guy with good people around him,"explained Tiley who has been in regular contact with the Nadal camp in recent weeks.

"We wish Rafa all the best. I am confident we will see him back on the tour soon and back in Australia for 2014, no doubt as one of the contenders for the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup."
 
#217 ·
OK, AO's official announcement (from the link someone posted before : http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2012-12-29/201212281356705033061.html ) with some words from the man himself, it's better than nothing :

Nadal withdraws from Australian Open
Saturday, 29 December, 2012
By Tennis Australia

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next month's Australian Open.

A stomach virus has plagued the Spanish superstar's preparation for the summer as he attempted to rejoin the tour for the first time since a mid-year knee injury.

Ironically, in the end it was the virus, and not the knee, that prompted his decision.

"I am sorry and very sad to announce that I will not play in the Australian Open," the 2009 Australian Open champion said. "My knee is coming along okay, but a stomach virus has left me unable to get ready in time to tackle the rigours of a Grand Slam.

"Because of the virus, I have been unable to get any match practice and simply would not be doing myself or my friends in Australia justice if I went down there so unprepared. You need your body to be at its best for the Australian Open," Nadal said.

"It was a difficult decision and I am extremely disappointed to be missing such a great event. I love coming to Melbourne and playing on Rod Laver Arena before the Australian crowds. It brings out the best in me. It hurts to have to wait another 12 months before I get another chance. In the meantime, the focus is now on desperately trying to get back on the tour."

Nadal was originally due to play his first matches since the surgery in Abu Dhabi followed by an event in Doha. The virus has meant he has had to withdraw from both, thus depriving him of match practice and no doubt playing a large part in his decision to withdraw.

"It is completely understandable and we really feel disappointed for him," Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said. "But without any match practice and without sufficient lead up time on the practice court, it makes it virtually impossible for him to get his body ready.

"We just hope he gets better quickly and we see him back on the tour as soon as possible. Tennis fans across the world have been missing him. Our Australian Open staff will very much miss him and his team as he is not only a great player, but also a great guy with good people around him,"explained Tiley who has been in regular contact with the Nadal camp in recent weeks.

"We wish Rafa all the best. I am confident we will see him back on the tour soon and back in Australia for 2014, no doubt as one of the contenders for the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup."
What surgery?
 
#237 ·
Tignor quite had the same reaction as Raging Lamb, lack of preparation because oif the virus only, not worrying much about his knee, maybe they are right, but anyway there will still be a lot of conjectures until, finally, he plays again ... maybe in Acapulco, but why not even in a claycourt tournament before Acapulco ?



it was not very transparent but some things were done on his knee, for instance if I remember well they first made a PRP treatment which failed, then they stopped, they did something else, etc etc ...

Now he'll be at least 27 during his next Slam final. Federer was considered old by some when he won the French Open at that age.
Fed was nearly 28 when he won Roland-Garros, but yes from what I looked, it's not so common for a player to win a slam from 27 years old.

fish and nalbandian are still in, btw
they're expected to withdraw, but have not done it yet
sometimes official withdrawals come a while after public declarations, but if I remember well, both Fish and Nalby were very clear about that, weren't they ?
 
#239 ·
Tignor quite had the same reaction as Raging Lamb, lack of preparation because oif the virus only, not worrying much about his knee, maybe they are right, but anyway there will still be a lot of conjectures until, finally, he plays again ... maybe in Acapulco, but why not even in a claycourt tournament before Acapulco ?
That part is weird imho, how do they know he'll need a month to recover from virus? With such things sometimes you can suddenly feel as good as new after a short while, you would expect to wait for at least week or so and see how it's going, nobody throws away a slam because of a virus. Of course, he needs matches to prepare, but most of other players will only play an exo leading to AO, it's not like there's a masters going on right now.
 
#58 ·
Is it just me or does a stomach virus not seem like like a good enough reason to miss a Grand Slam which is 18 days away. There is definitely something more at play. From what I hear, it seemed that he been back to his full practicing schedule, so knees must be alright. If so, maybe it is mental. He does not want to go out early, maybe have his first first round loss. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he won't come back till the clay season. If these things continue, I will start giving in to the conspiracy theories. :tape:
 
#62 ·
Canada's hopes in Davis cup are getting stronger and the Vina del Mar organizers will come back in full force with their 1.2 millions dollars offer ... and surely other southAmerican organizers.

Ferrer will be at worst number 4 (at best number 3) after the Australian open unless Berdych wins the AO and Ferrer loses very early.
 
#63 ·
Obviously very disappointing for Rafa and Tennis. Hopefully he can comeback very soon although I doubt he will return until a clay court event at this point.

Rafa's absence means the draw will leave a lot more room for someone outside Nole, Fed, or Murray to make a run for the title.
 
#64 ·
no, it doesn't change anything. Rafa wouldn't be a contender anyway and he knew it. Everyone knew it, even the bookies.

So it's still Nole, Fed, Muzza and Pony for the titlle and noone else.
 
#67 ·
he is not coming back to the tour, he is a retired player now. time to it face dulltards :haha:
 
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#70 ·
It does seem very odd to pull out so early. One of the fittest players you will ever see, but he can't handle five sets because he won't have played any warm-up matches? And he's got over two weeks to train between now and the AO, but he definitely can't make it because he's got a stomach bug? It does seem an odd and premature decision unless there's more to it than meets the eye. He's not even ill now, he says in his statement that he couldn't practice last week because of it. You would think he'd be dying to get back on the courts, he claims his knee is absolutely fine, but won't go to the AO because it's a 5 set tournament? This seems rather unlikely.
 
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