I recall you arguing that Nadal of 2010 was inferior to Nadal of 05-07 because he was 'slower' when his best years have been 2008, 2010 and 2013.
Well, you need to work on your recollection. I argued, and still do, that Nadal of 2010 was inferior to Nadal of 2008, not 05-07. What kind of an idiot would argue that the well-rounded player who won 3 slams on 3 separate surfaces in 2010 is worse than the one-dimensional clay courter of 2005-2007? Are you seriously saying I ever argued that? Nadal never even reached a major semi final on hards until 2008.
On natural surfaces, I don't think it's even debatable. Nadal of 2008 was better. On hards, he definitely became a better, smarter, player since 2010. And he's better now on hards than he was even in 2008.
Now you are arguing that since 2012, his knees are 'shot'. This year, Nadal has looked as good as ever, perhaps a bit below 2010 and 2013. Back in 2008, did Nadal make AO finals? he was decimated by Tsonga. His FO win this year was as dominant or more dominant than in 2008. This year, i have seen 0 evidence of bad knees or physical issues.
Well, luckily, to avoid someone taking it out of context, I specified that "shot" is a huge exaggeration. That of course, didn't stop you from doing just that. Once again, Nadal was better on natural surfaces in 2008. He's a better hard court player now than he was then which I never argued against. So yeah, him making the AO final now when he got destroyed by Tsonga then makes sense (although the Tsonga who showed up that day crushes any version of Nadal).
And now I remember why I never fully agreed with your posts, it's because you misunderstand basic points. I am not saying Nadal's knees are hurting him now. So yes, of course you're not going to see evidence of injuries or physical issues. He's clearly healthy. However, years of tendinitis and knee injuries have taken their toll to where he clearly doesn't move as well as he used to (and the fact that he's 31). Moreover, that long layoff in 2012 definitely affected his movement permanently. He still moves as well anyone on tour but he's not quite as fast as he used to and he's clearly struggling on grass since. Please don't give me the whole "he's never been good on grass" bullshit... He got straight setted by Steve freaking Darcis, who has absolutely zero weapons. Or do you just conveniently bring up results when it suits your narrative?
Struggling in the early rounds of Wimbledon is one thing (you can say he struggled all you want, he always got past them), and not making it out of the fourth round since 2011 is another thing altogether. Are you seriously saying nothing has changed? Then explain 5 straight finals followed by the abomination that we've seen since 2012? If nothing's changed, don't you think he would have at least fluked out a quarter final appearance?
Maybe he'll do it this year. I'm not saying his knees absolutely prevent him from doing so. I'm saying they have affected his game on grass and he hasn't been able to adjust, mainly due to movement. I actually think he looked very good at Wimbledon in 2014 but Kyrgios had a insanely good day. I really think Rafa looked pretty good that year. Other than that he's looked like shit.
