[NADALalot]

 

[NADALalot]

Hope he pulls out of London, no need to waste his time and health on that.
Australia will be nice and hot!

 

[tribalfusion]

I'm not sure the problems were only from the cold though. He mentioned in a few spanish interviews that he was only able to train off and on for brief periods at times during the time away from tournaments due to body issues as well.

Let's hope that's behind him now.

 

[NADALalot]

 

[Budadiii]

Damn, hurts me to read that..

 

[Jolyon]

What are those two red dots on Rafa's knees, in the picture in the OP, that caught my attention?

 

[Hamdam]

"Said the man with 20 slams" yeah, 13 of them clay anyway. Federer has more balanced resume.

 

[NADALalot]

What are those two red dots on Rafa's knees, in the picture in the OP, that caught my attention?

Read the OP.

 

[NADALalot]

"Said the man with 20 slams" yeah, 13 of them clay anyway. Federer has more balanced resume.

Actually Nadal has won multiple slams on clay, grass and hardcourt.
Federer/Djokovic have not.
And they probably never will....
Even more amazingly, Djokovic hasn't even won as many US Opens as Nadal, despite being known for hardcourt.
And Nadal leads Djokovic 2-1 h2h at the US Open, and Nadal leads Federer 3-1 h2h at the Australian Open.

 

[nolhman]

It’s better he rests up

 

[nolhman]

No need to go play London or any other tournament

 

[Terrible--one]

That's sad to hear.

He might not have much longer to play.

 

[Boogalo]

What are those two red dots on Rafa's knees, in the picture in the OP, that caught my attention?

St Rafael's holy wounds

 

[SetPointDown]

Smashing opponents with an injured knee.

Kinda scary

 

[sheep85]

excuses on cue already for pulling out of the WTFs. what a warrior he is indeed.

 

[guitarra]

I agree with Rafafans and said it already before: Rafa should call it a season, get rest, take care of his body and prepare for the AO. At this stage of his career it’s all about slams no matter what some greedy people want. He has a legit shot at the AO and a very high chance of surpassing Roger next year. He should not risk it via some silly scheduling.

 

[sheep85]

He has a legit shot at the AO

for whatever reason i'll bite: how so?

 

[guitarra]

for whatever reason i'll bite: how so?

I don't say he's the favourite. Djokovic is obviously. But Nadal should be 2/3 favourite probably. I'd give him a 20-25% chance of winning. He was in the final 5 times. Has high confidence after RG win. His chances to beat Djokovic in the final on Novak's favourite court are pretty low in my opinion but it's not a given Novak will be in the final.
But now, if Nadal decides to play Paris + London his chances in Melbourne go down cause of the potential health issues.

 

[NADALalot]

for whatever reason i'll bite: how so?

At 2020 AO Nadal lost 76 46 76 76 to Thiem, a higher quality than Djokovic-Thiem.....because Nadal took Thiem's best shots, so Djokovic faced a weakened version in the Final.
Nadal made the 2019 AO Final even though he had ankle surgery at the end of 2018 and wasn't allowed to practice his defense/retrieving in January.
Remember in Nadal's first 6 matches at the 2019 AO people said "why is he attacking so much" and "looks like he's got a new playing style".....ah he was attacking because he couldn't defend.
And when you play Djokovic you have to defend before you can attack.....you have to work the point.

"....because of the things that happened to me in terms of surgery, then what happened in Abu Dhabi, I was not able to work that much the defensive game. I worked a lot on the offensive game, but not that much on the defensive game.
To play against a player like him, playing the way he played tonight, I needed that defensive game to finally have the chance to be offensive, no?"
Rafael Nadal F interview

 

[Ilkae]

I don't say he's the favourite. Djokovic is obviously. But Nadal should be 2/3 favourite probably. I'd give him a 20-25% chance of winning. He was in the final 5 times. Has high confidence after RG win. His chances to beat Djokovic in the final on Novak's favourite court are pretty low in my opinion but it's not a given Novak will be in the final.
But now, if Nadal decides to play Paris + London his chances in Melbourne go down cause of the potential health issues.

Yeah, based on his showings against the field in the past few years I don't fancy him against Djokovic (last time he beat him or even took a set on HC was 2013!) but against the rest, sure. So if Djokovic ends up being taken down Rafa's odds get a boost.