[Mark Lenders]

It'll be interesting to see. He didn't have surgery, so it shouldn't be that hard for him to make a comeback to a high level. It will still probably take him a while to get in the groove of things, but fortunately for him he has a high ranking ensuring he gets easy draws to reach the late stages of tournaments even if he's not at his best.

I say he will not win a Slam next year - also in accordance of tradition of no one ever winning Slams 9 years in a row - but will have a strong year overall and remain a top player.

[MTwEeZi]

If we take 5 seconds between points the comeback will be faster no?

[DrJules]

Originally Posted by StatRacket

People ragging out this comment are short minded. Even with his long injury lay off, Rafa is still the 4th favourite.

According to SportsBet:
Djokovic $2.50
Murray $3.75
Federer $6.50
Nadal $7.00
Tsonga, del Potro $21.00

I suspect Rafa will be dangerous come late January.

Possibly says more about the failings of the players outside the top 4.

Wondering when the next non top 4 player will win a GS.

[Roy Emerson]

Originally Posted by Mark Lenders

I say he will not win a Slam next year - also in accordance of tradition of no one ever winning Slams 9 years in a row

Agree. It might take 2 months for every month he was out to get back in the groove. Being 6 months out he might need an entire year to get back. Next year he might not win a slam. Djokovic's best chance to win RG and complete the career slam.

[Just like heaven]

Originally Posted by HKz

Getting in shape isn't the issue, getting the matches under your belt is.. Not sure how you can say 2009 would ultimately be harder.. He had zero confidence against top players from August 2009 to April 2010... He had an extremely poor and obscure stat for his standards against top 10 players in that stretch. I mean he lost to Ljubicic and Roddick in IW/Miami after being up a set in each match, he lost to Davydenko after being up a set and serving for a match twice (?) if I remember correctly, he lost to Djokovic, Davydenko and Del Potro 3 times in a row each. If he struggled that bad, I sincerely doubt it will be easier for him this time around when he has ONLY gotten older and arguably slower.

One big win is all it takes to gain back that confidence. As I said, starting to play from the beginning of the season, when almost all the players come back after two months without matches, should make things easier. He seems pretty confident in interviews and if he feels 100% phisically and is able to practice as much as he wants, then I don't think this confidence thing should be such a big issue. Losing matches after winning the first set or getting broken when serving for the match has become a habit in the past two years, so those 2010 loses don't seem that strange anymore.

[Mountaindewslave]

his last big layoff he actually preformed pretty well immediately upon return. not winning events, but going deep

he's coming back at his favorite part of the season and he's been training hard, the reality is that he will return at tip top form pretty quickly assuming he's healthy

I think we all know that if any player can adjust back to his best fast, it's Nadal

[Mountaindewslave]

Originally Posted by HKz

I think the fact that he came back during the hardcourt season allowed him to find enough matches under his belt for the clay season. I would be worried if he came back starting from the clay season, regardless of how amazing he is on the clay. He has normally been pretty rusty the past couple years when coming back from a long break. Not to mention, he will be low on confidence and certainly low on matches. Practice matches can only go so far.

I have never seen Nadal come back from a injury break void of confidence per say. I have seen him come back rusty, but there is no point in his career where he came back and wasn't winning matches. he is not the kind of guy who loses his edge entirely

[Mountaindewslave]

Originally Posted by Jverweij

Impossible to say really. I still have no idea if all he needs now is time to heal, or that he really has to adjust in order to prevent this from happening again.

If nr. 2 is the case, I see him falling out of the top 5 within 2 years, and maybe even worse. He relies too heavily on running and his confidence stems mostly from winning matches. As others pointed out he is usually rusty after a break. This has to do with him having low confidence.

Murray/Djokovic run as much as Nadal... the reality is the top could entirely change dramatically in 2 years time, as all of the top guys are defensive runners who will be getting older

[The_Djoker]

He will retire hopefully for the good of Tennis and his fans. It won't be good for his legacy to consistently lose to Journeymen in early rounds at slams.

[fivebargate]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewslave

he's coming back at his favorite part of the season and he's been training hard, the reality is that he will return at tip top form pretty quickly assuming he's healthy

Lol....that's the best "assuming he's healthy" yet!!

The whole premise of the thread is how he will get on with his return from being "not healthy"....one assumes he will not come back injured, right?

[misty1]

it took him quuite a while to get back in the groove last time. I think it will take even longer this time and, because he'll be rusty i dont see him winning roland garos next year.

he's not going to fall out of the top 10 or anything but i think we'll see him suffer losses to a few players he shouldnt first

[Pusha T]

Originally Posted by Topspindoctor

Nadal will win AO

Originally Posted by GSMnadal

He'll win the AO.

[Poirot123]

Has Nadal even confirmed he'll play the AO this year?

I'm not convinced he'll be a major threat there. Murray and Djokovic are the dominant players right now, with Federer still lurking, and a rusty Nadal will be unable to compete with any of them bar Federer, due to the match up issue. Adn all of this presupposses he avoids another Roselling.

Naturally Nadal should ease himself back in for the clay season where he will be deadly. I expect Nadal to win Monte Carlo for the 53rd time, win Madrid and Rome again, and quite possibly sweep the lot with an 8th RG. Outside of clay and slow grass (2nd week Wimbledon) though, Nadal will be a bit part player.

[Honestly]

The ATP and WTA is as different as night and day. You just can't spend the amount of time out of the game he did and start winning slams again, especially at his age and the fact that he has to start playing with a reduced schedule. Look how long it took Delpo to come back and he was never the same player again, even at his young age. Nadal needs to play many events to stay at the top as he is a confidence player and he just can't afford that anymore. He really is done this time. At most he can win one more FO as far as slams go. But I think there is a high possibility Djokovic wins the FO next year.

[Honestly]

Originally Posted by Pusha T

Lol I hope those two tards are at least on their knees when they pray that hard.