2018 Australian Open - Early Chatter

[the AntiPusher]

But he was gifted two titles there by the retarded slower surface. A change which has hampered Federer on his best surface as well. And now of course the USO has slowed down for the island princess as well.

Come on Darth.. only at SW19 is he not our Warrior.. Otherwise he is a BEAST.. When he takes AO over Roger this year he will become Lord of the title rings if he adjust his playing schedules.. No need to play anything but IW, Miami, Barcelona, MC, Rome and RG.. then he can juice up his bh to win SW19.. (its the only ways to beat Roger because his Fh will click but its the bh that can potentially make things uncomfortable)..Carlos has got to be pounding this concept into Rafa’s thick skull.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Let's just focus on the AO which has a refreshingly quick surface these days.

Dont worry.. AO is the focus but Darth rejoices about pouring salt in Rafa’s SW19 wounds

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Come on Darth.. only at SW19 is he not our Warrior.. Otherwise he is a BEAST.. When he takes AO over Roger this year he will become Lord of the title rings if he adjust his playing schedules.. No need to play anything but IW, Miami, Barcelona, MC, Rome and RG.. then he can juice up his bh to win SW19.. (its the only ways to beat Roger because his Fh will click but its the bh that can potentially make things uncomfortable)..Carlos has got to be pounding this concept into Rafa’s thick skull.

Rafa has already disclosed his schedule. Here it is.

1. Brisbane
2. AO
3. Acapulco
4. IW
5. Miami
6. Montecarlo
7. Barcelona
8. Madrid
9. Rome
10. RG
11. London
12. Wimbledon
13. Toronto
14. Cincy
15. USO
xo. Laver Cup
16. Beijing
17. Shanghai
18. Paris
19. WTF (if qualified and still alive)

This is his plan. While you can be certain that he will not play any tourney not listed above, I feel he will be forced to
drop out of at least a couple of the above tourneys.

 

[shawnbm]

I sure hope Nadal drops out of at least two of the above ^ events, for his own sake. There is no need to play that many clay events or hard court events in the winter/spring.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Rafa has already disclosed his schedule. Here it is.

1. Brisbane
2. AO
3. Acapulco
4. IW
5. Miami
6. Montecarlo
7. Barcelona
8. Madrid
9. Rome
10. RG
11. London
12. Wimbledon
13. Toronto
14. Cincy
15. USO
xo. Laver Cup
16. Beijing
17. Shanghai
18. Paris
19. WTF (if qualified and still alive)

This is his plan. While you can be certain that he will not play any tourney not listed above, I feel he will be forced to
drop out of at least a couple of the above tourneys.

Brisbane I assume he will try to play a few rounds.. No need for Madrid or Rome.. His goal should be AO, RG and USO.. IW he has to play for his dawg Larry E and Miami is a nice to have..(however he will be ambushed by Novak or Roger if he isn’t returning serve well. ) everything else is just gravy..

 

[Carol]

Rafa has already disclosed his schedule. Here it is.

1. Brisbane
2. AO
3. Acapulco
4. IW
5. Miami
6. Montecarlo
7. Barcelona
8. Madrid
9. Rome
10. RG
11. London
12. Wimbledon
13. Toronto
14. Cincy
15. USO
xo. Laver Cup
16. Beijing
17. Shanghai
18. Paris
19. WTF (if qualified and still alive)

This is his plan. While you can be certain that he will not play any tourney not listed above, I feel he will be forced to
drop out of at least a couple of the above tourneys.

According what I’ve read that’s his schedule but he also has said that he probably will skip more than one tournament

 

[Moxie]

Brisbane I assume he will try to play a few rounds.. No need for Madrid or Rome.. His goal should be AO, RG and USO.. IW he has to play for his dawg Larry E and Miami is a nice to have..(however he will be ambushed by Novak or Roger if he isn’t returning serve well. ) everything else is just gravy..

Also not sure of the point of Acapulco.

 

[Carol]

Nadal won´t play in Brisbane. It seems he has decided to wait a little longer and to arrive to the AO in good conditions

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Nadal won´t play in Brisbane. It seems he has decided to wait a little longer and to arrive to the AO in good conditions

It is more than that. Rafa also exited from the Sydney fast 4 exo. Moreover Rafa is in doubt of playing in AO.

Now Brisbane got serious blow. Rafa and Nishikori are officially out. Andy is likely to be out as well.
I cannot remember an year in which we have so many injury concerns right at the beginning of the year.

 

[Carol]

It is more than that. Rafa is in doubt of playing in AO

We’ll see because I’ve read he will go to Australia in January 4 to have better preparation for the AO
Wawrinka and Tsonga are out too

 

[britbox]

Tomic has decided not to bother playing the Brisbane Qualies... not big news usually other than it is Brisbane which is effectively his home tournament - he lives an hour south on the Gold Coast. We're left with Kyrgios, Murray and Dimitrov headlining the event and like others have said already - Murray might withdraw too.

 

[Moxie]

Tomic has decided not to bother playing the Brisbane Qualies... not big news usually other than it is Brisbane which is effectively his home tournament - he lives an hour south on the Gold Coast. We're left with Kyrgios, Murray and Dimitrov headlining the event and like others have said already - Murray might withdraw too.

You seem to be highlighting two points here: that there is still a hangover from last year's injury list, and that Tomic is possibly even a bigger brat than we thought.

 

[El Dude]

That article is deceptive. The title says that Rafa is "in extreme doubt for Melbourne," but Rafa himself said nothing of the sort and it seems entirely attention-seeking conjecture on the part of the article's author.

As for that full schedule, I wonder how much the #1 ranking influences Rafa's thinking. He's at 160 weeks and needs 40 more to reach the "200 Club" (Roger, Sampras, Lendl, Connors, Djokovic). While it isn't the most important benchmark it is a rather nice one. He'll coast as #1 for most of the year if he doesn't get hurt.

 

[Moxie]

That article is deceptive. The title says that Rafa is "in extreme doubt for Melbourne," but Rafa himself said nothing of the sort and it seems entirely attention-seeking conjecture on the part of the article's author.

As for that full schedule, I wonder how much the #1 ranking influences Rafa's thinking. He's at 160 weeks and needs 40 more to reach the "200 Club" (Roger, Sampras, Lendl, Connors, Djokovic). While it isn't the most important benchmark it is a rather nice one. He'll coast as #1 for most of the year if he doesn't get hurt.

The usual with articles v. headlines: alarmist headlines are a dime a dozen. However, as to the #1 ranking, there is no "200 Club." You really just made that up. He has to get past 180 weeks to pass McEnroe on the list, which would be nice, but I think passing Novak is untouchable for him (another year,) and so I'm sure he won't care about that. I'm sure he's about Majors and keeping his body healthy. Even Toni has talked about him passing Roger in Majors. That said, he'll still probably play too much, as that is his way.

 

[mrzz]

I agree that there is nothing else in the article but the information about the Brisbane withdrawing, but... I agree with the conclusion. He withdrawn from everything possible before the AO (two EXO´s and one real tournament). The only thing left is the AO. Let´s hope he plays but the pattern is not good.

Given that, not that sure if he'll coast to #1. He had a great first half of the year in 2017 and even healthy that is not easy to repeat. Ok, he's only adversary for #1 in the first half of 2018 is Federer, who also probably won't defend his points, but for the second half everything is up for grabs.

 

[the AntiPusher]

What I am reading into this is that Rafa is finally getting older and wiser. No need to get there to play those tune up events..Rest and fresh pair of legs will prove to be his nectar when he needs to call on his body reserves to make through to the later rounds.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

What I am reading into this is that Rafa is finally getting older and wiser. No need to get there to play those tune up events..Rest and fresh pair of legs will prove to be his nectar when he needs to call on his body reserves to make through to the later rounds.

Personally, though objectively, I don't feel Rafa's chances at this AO are good. Quick surface and ailing 'something' whatever

 

[the AntiPusher]

Personally, though objectively, I don't feel Rafa's chances at this AO are good. Quick surface and ailing 'something' whatever

Well we we know in two weeks

 

[the AntiPusher]

Tomic has decided not to bother playing the Brisbane Qualies... not big news usually other than it is Brisbane which is effectively his home tournament - he lives an hour south on the Gold Coast. We're left with Kyrgios, Murray and Dimitrov headlining the event and like others have said already - Murray might withdraw too.

Sir Andy pretty much destroyed his body trying to chase down Novak and the number one ranking in 2016.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I agree that there is nothing else in the article but the information about the Brisbane withdrawing, but... I agree with the conclusion. He withdrawn from everything possible before the AO (two EXO´s and one real tournament). The only thing left is the AO. Let´s hope he plays but the pattern is not good.

If Rafa misses AO, I am sure it will be due to either common cold or stomach virus (and not knee injuries). Remember 2013 folks.