[Mountaindewslave]

it's his FIRST match back on tour in 7 months. players will certainly maybe have a bit more belief against him because of this, but they are not foolish, they're well aware that he had the big break from the game. I think the lower ranked players in this South American swing will have more confidence but I seriously doubt that once Monte Carlo hits and the regular clay court swing that many will feel that much belief

cannot reiterate enough that the first tournament back after such a long hiatus does not really say THAT much. needs a few tournies first

and YES, excuses or not, it is disturbing that in interviews Nadal is claiming to be feeling pain in the knees

his career could be over if it is truly as bad as before

[Orangeball]

Originally Posted by GSMnadal

So? Did Nadal forget how to play tennis in three years? Forget three years, 8 months ago when he butchered everyone on clay?

All he needs to do is get healthy (maybe he already is) and start finding his rhythm and he'll be fine.

"Butchered everyone"???? Did you forget someone called Djokovic???? He only won the French because of bad sportsmanship, after Djokovic won the 3rd set and with all the momentum to win (if u actually watched the match, I believe you did), what did Nadal do? He wanted to stop and reschedule for another day, if the FO had roof installed and play continued into the night, Djokovic would have made history already, and Monte Carlo, Djokovic was playing much better in the first set and should have won it and he would have went on to win the match and made history as well. So be careful which word you use, do you even know what does butcher mean?

[Orangeball]

Originally Posted by pepita1964

There are a lot of low ranking players who do not have anything to lose. As we could see they can play a very good level of tennis and now Rafa is going to play them, The first three players who Nadal played no one of them have a believe they can do something against King of clay. They have lost the match in the locker room not on court. That gave Rafa false confidence.Zeballos did not pay to much attention to Rafa's aura and he just enjoyed playing tennis against Rafa on CC. Tne boy played brilliant tennis a 100 times more exciting than Rafa's game, The worst thing in tennis is more fans watched it because of personality not because of the game,

Totally agree

[Orangeball]

Originally Posted by GSMnadal

Oh will you guys stop it with that nonsense already. I said when he plays like crap, that doesn't mean he's injured or anything. On clay, when Nadal reaches his best form, you're not beating him. The closest anyone ever got is Djokovic in Madrid/Rome 2011, Nadal played pretty well there. But his best? No.

It's not that Nadal wasn't at his best, Djokovic was simply unbeatable

[GSMnadal]

Originally Posted by Orangeball

"Butchered everyone"???? Did you forget someone called Djokovic???? He only won the French because of bad sportsmanship, after Djokovic won the 3rd set and with all the momentum to win (if u actually watched the match, I believe you did), what did Nadal do? He wanted to stop and reschedule for another day, if the FO had roof installed and play continued into the night, Djokovic would have made history already, and Monte Carlo, Djokovic was playing much better in the first set and should have won it and he would have went on to win the match and made history as well. So be careful which word you use, do you even know what does butcher mean?

Where did you come from

this is some truly cringeworthy stuff. I'm not even going to bother

[Orangeball]

Originally Posted by GSMnadal

Where did you come from

this is some truly cringeworthy stuff. I'm not even going to bother

You can laugh and insult all you want, most people in here know who are you, so grow up and make some valid arguments based on facts, otherwise leave this forum alone and go somewhere else, maybe create your own forum and blog to worship Nadal, just not on here where most decent tennis fans would make valid points without behind blinded by blatant denial of facts, maybe learn better use of the English language by actually looking up a dictionary, it's free online if you can't afford a hard copy...oh wait you are only 20 right? Or that's just another lie????

[GSMnadal]

Originally Posted by Orangeball

You can laugh and insult all you want, most people in here know who are you, so grow up and make some valid arguments based on facts, otherwise leave this forum alone and go somewhere else, maybe create your own forum and blog to worship Nadal, just not on here where most decent tennis fans would make valid points without behind blinded by blatant denial of facts, maybe learn better use of the English language by actually looking up a dictionary, it's free online if you can't afford a hard copy...oh wait you are only 20 right? Or that's just another lie????

Funny how you attack me for my English, when you have an unbelievable grammatical error in your first sentence, even after you've edited your post for another mistake. And all I see are personal attacks here, I've discussed this topic many times with more reasonable posters than you.

[Orangeball]

Originally Posted by GSMnadal

Funny how you attack me for my English, when you have an unbelievable grammatical error in your first sentence, even after you've edited your post for another mistake. And all I see are personal attacks here, I've discussed this topic many times with more reasonable posters than you.

And what those posters think of you??? Not much at all....

All I am really saying is stop being ignorant and blinded by your love for Nadal when making a post on here coz people are really getting annoyed and fed up with you. Why stay in the forum if no one values your contribution?

[Alex999]

I think that some guys put too much to his last loss. Rafa is obviously rusty. It's too early to make any big conclusions. I think we'll have a better idea after MC, Madrid and Rome. and, no I don't think his 'clay aura' is gone.

one more thing. one I hear something like 'player A at his best can not lose' I get really annoyed. Nobody ever plays at his best all the time. It's not possible. Players respective forms simply fluctuate all the time. I mean 'define the best'. Consistency is what brings you success. Being solid, strong enough most of the time.

[Orangeball]

Originally Posted by Alex999

I think that some guys put too much to his last loss. Rafa is obviously rusty. It's too early to make any big conclusions. I think we'll have a better idea after MC, Madrid and Rome. and, no I don't think his 'clay aura' is gone.

one more thing. one I hear something like 'player A at his best can not lose' I get really annoyed. Nobody ever plays at his best all the time. It's not possible. Players respective forms simply fluctuate all the time. I mean 'define the best'. Consistency is what brings you success. Being solid, strong enough most of the time.

Well said again Alex, and may I add that using injury or poor form as excuses are just simply lame, it happens to everyone, maybe except for Federer who rarely has any injuries or suffers from poor form and that's why he's won everything. A loss is a loss and it is just pathetic that Nadaltards would go to great length to justify his losses

[NSMv1924]

Originally Posted by Alex999

I think that some guys put too much to his last loss. Rafa is obviously rusty. It's too early to make any big conclusions. I think we'll have a better idea after MC, Madrid and Rome. and, no I don't think his 'clay aura' is gone.

one more thing. one I hear something like 'player A at his best can not lose' I get really annoyed. Nobody ever plays at his best all the time. It's not possible. Players respective forms simply fluctuate all the time. I mean 'define the best'. Consistency is what brings you success. Being solid, strong enough most of the time.

This...I love how many posters simply jump to conclusions after only one loss. As the saying goes - "Keep calm and STFU until more serious matches against far better competition is played" or something along those lines

[the_hitch]

Originally Posted by GSMnadal

3 years shouldn't matter much when you're 23-24 at the start. You don't experience much physical drop off due to age in that time. If the knee is healthy, his physical condition should be fine, and he won't have lost his tennis skills.

And when I see the beatdown he put on everyone just last season, I don't worry too much.

Check the mileage on that engine though. Also check the wear and tear on the body. Not saying he is 'done' by any means. Obviously not. But he is becoming more and more beatable even on preferred surfaces, a quarter-step slower, and more and more prone to injuries, more vulnerable Rosol-Zeballos-like 'surprises', etc.

Nadal was an early bloomer. He won a slam at 18. Tennis prime is usually 21-27, more realistically 22-26 for most. Even Federer started to taper off around 2008. Federer happens to be a longevity freak but, even so, look at his results. Great for a geriatric tennis player, but obviously he is not playing at 2004-2007 levels and never will again. Same happens to everyone. Time is relentless and especially brutal on minds and bodies in a sport like tennis.

[GSMnadal]

Originally Posted by Orangeball

And what those posters think of you??? Not much at all....

All I am really saying is stop being ignorant and blinded by your love for Nadal when making a post on here coz people are really getting annoyed and fed up with you. Why stay in the forum if no one values your contribution?

Couldn't have said it better myself (well, apart from that I wouldn't have said 'in' the forum)

Check out last year's pop contest, how did you do?

[pepita1964]

You would not make a mistake if you say Rafa has more wear and tear on his body than Federer has , Nadal is heavier than Federer and his style of play is just too much for his body . He should not complain of anything because he won a lot and earn a lot of money, Rafa should be happy , There are a lot of players who can just dream to win a ATP 250 title, Federer is maybe
the greatest player ever to play this game. It is not because of his GS's This man just plays
most beautiful tennis i ve ever seen for a long long time, Fed is a freak of mother nature.

[Sri]

down rep ... 02-12-2013 11:15 PM ... Topspindoctor ... Why are you so obsessed with nadal? stfu already and go back to worshiping Pinocchio

Getting down rep'd by Topspindoc for this thread. I must be doing something right!