Is Rafa in Decline?

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal fans are happy at how far the thread has gone off topic.

Give me WTA GOAT discussions over ridiculous denials any day of the week, so yes.

I'm the biggest Nadal fan in the world, and I know Nadal peaked on clay/grass in 2008.

So?

 

[auto-pilot]

^ In other words, Nadal has been declining on clay/grass since 2008.
So there is no denial from me.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Nadal fans are happy at how far the thread has gone off topic.

Give me WTA GOAT discussions over ridiculous denials any day of the week, so yes.

I'm the biggest Nadal fan in the world, and I know Nadal peaked on clay/grass in 2008.

I'm the biggest Nadal fan in the world Hey auto-pilot there is a poster that goes by the name cutelilasiangirl who may trump you as Nadal's biggest fan. She is a walking Rafapedia of very detail info on Rafael but for some reason she doesn't post on this board anymore which is a shame.. Very intelligent young lady with some very passionate with some very knowledgeable insight on the game of tennis. Kieran and I just love her :heart: . Maybe this post will inspire her to change her mind and join the board.

 

[brokenshoelace]

^ In other words, Nadal has been declining on clay/grass since 2008.
So there is no denial from me.

Wasn't referring to you.

 

[britbox]

Give me WTA GOAT discussions over ridiculous denials any day of the week, so yes.

I'm the biggest Nadal fan in the world, and I know Nadal peaked on clay/grass in 2008.

I'm the biggest Nadal fan in the world Hey auto-pilot there is a poster that goes by the name cutelilasiangirl who may trump you as Nadal's biggest fan. She is a walking Rafapedia of very detail info on Rafael but for some reason she doesn't post on this board anymore which is a shame.. Very intelligent young lady with some very passionate with some very knowledgeable insight on the game of tennis. Kieran and I just love her :heart: . Maybe this post will inspire her to change her mind and join the board.

auto-pilot is a Rafa fan?

 

[auto-pilot]

Give me WTA GOAT discussions over ridiculous denials any day of the week, so yes.

I'm the biggest Nadal fan in the world, and I know Nadal peaked on clay/grass in 2008.

I'm the biggest Nadal fan in the world Hey auto-pilot there is a poster that goes by the name cutelilasiangirl who may trump you as Nadal's biggest fan. She is a walking Rafapedia of very detail info on Rafael but for some reason she doesn't post on this board anymore which is a shame.. Very intelligent young lady with some very passionate with some very knowledgeable insight on the game of tennis. Kieran and I just love her :heart: . Maybe this post will inspire her to change her mind and join the board.

She/he sounds a bit full of herself/himself judging by the username.
Anyway I have it covered.

 

[Busted]

Well Rafa isn't in his prime years anymore,I also think if Rafa isn't winning tournaments and playing to his best competitive level he will retire,he wont stick around for the love of tennis,just my opinion.It would not surprise me if he retires after the Olympic year in 2016.Rafa has said many times his wish is to play at the Olympic in 2016 and he will then revise his situation.

I found it interesting toward the end of last year when Nadal said he was trying to take better care of his body for "career longevity". The other day I saw a quote from Fed saying that in 2004, in the midst of owning the tour, he was looking at career longevity. He as 22 and planning to play well into his 30s. Rafa's 28 and just now thinking about it? He should have been thinking about it when he was grinding out all of the 5 hour matches on clay. Too late now. He's got a bad back, 2 bad knees, keeps coming up with weird stuff like appendicitis and who knows what's next.

 

[Moxie]

Well Rafa isn't in his prime years anymore,I also think if Rafa isn't winning tournaments and playing to his best competitive level he will retire,he wont stick around for the love of tennis,just my opinion.It would not surprise me if he retires after the Olympic year in 2016.Rafa has said many times his wish is to play at the Olympic in 2016 and he will then revise his situation.

I found it interesting toward the end of last year when Nadal said he was trying to take better care of his body for "career longevity". The other day I saw a quote from Fed saying that in 2004, in the midst of owning the tour, he was looking at career longevity. He as 22 and planning to play well into his 30s. Rafa's 28 and just now thinking about it? He should have been thinking about it when he was grinding out all of the 5 hour matches on clay. Too late now. He's got a bad back, 2 bad knees, keeps coming up with weird stuff like appendicitis and who knows what's next.

Luckily, appendicitis can only happen to you once, if they take the appendix out, and I don't think your style of play brings it on.

You are like so many that "blame" Rafa for his way of playing and subsequent injuries. Well? His way of playing has served him. That he decides now to be more careful...also, why not? Good decision. If he had been more cautious earlier, would he have 14 Majors? Who knows? The rest is all to be seen, moving forward.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Luckily, appendicitis can only happen to you once, if they take the appendix out, and I don't think your style of play brings it on.

So, true.

 

[Front242]

Well Rafa isn't in his prime years anymore,I also think if Rafa isn't winning tournaments and playing to his best competitive level he will retire,he wont stick around for the love of tennis,just my opinion.It would not surprise me if he retires after the Olympic year in 2016.Rafa has said many times his wish is to play at the Olympic in 2016 and he will then revise his situation.

I found it interesting toward the end of last year when Nadal said he was trying to take better care of his body for "career longevity". The other day I saw a quote from Fed saying that in 2004, in the midst of owning the tour, he was looking at career longevity. He as 22 and planning to play well into his 30s. Rafa's 28 and just now thinking about it? He should have been thinking about it when he was grinding out all of the 5 hour matches on clay. Too late now. He's got a bad back, 2 bad knees, keeps coming up with weird stuff like appendicitis and who knows what's next.

Since when has he had a bad back and 2 bad knees? His knees haven't been an issue for ages now and even then it was just one knee and his back is apparently fine too. He just lacks match play and more so against the top players.

 

[Fiero425]

Well Rafa isn't in his prime years anymore,I also think if Rafa isn't winning tournaments and playing to his best competitive level he will retire,he wont stick around for the love of tennis,just my opinion.It would not surprise me if he retires after the Olympic year in 2016.Rafa has said many times his wish is to play at the Olympic in 2016 and he will then revise his situation.

I found it interesting toward the end of last year when Nadal said he was trying to take better care of his body for "career longevity". The other day I saw a quote from Fed saying that in 2004, in the midst of owning the tour, he was looking at career longevity. He as 22 and planning to play well into his 30s. Rafa's 28 and just now thinking about it? He should have been thinking about it when he was grinding out all of the 5 hour matches on clay. Too late now. He's got a bad back, 2 bad knees, keeps coming up with weird stuff like appendicitis and who knows what's next.

Since when has he had a bad back and 2 bad knees? His knees haven't been an issue for ages now and even then it was just one knee and his back is apparently fine too. He just lacks match play and more so against the top players.

Well when he loses to the likes of a Fabio or Rosol, be assured it'll get out something's wrong! lol!

 

[Moxie]

Well Rafa isn't in his prime years anymore,I also think if Rafa isn't winning tournaments and playing to his best competitive level he will retire,he wont stick around for the love of tennis,just my opinion.It would not surprise me if he retires after the Olympic year in 2016.Rafa has said many times his wish is to play at the Olympic in 2016 and he will then revise his situation.

I found it interesting toward the end of last year when Nadal said he was trying to take better care of his body for "career longevity". The other day I saw a quote from Fed saying that in 2004, in the midst of owning the tour, he was looking at career longevity. He as 22 and planning to play well into his 30s. Rafa's 28 and just now thinking about it? He should have been thinking about it when he was grinding out all of the 5 hour matches on clay. Too late now. He's got a bad back, 2 bad knees, keeps coming up with weird stuff like appendicitis and who knows what's next.

Since when has he had a bad back and 2 bad knees? His knees haven't been an issue for ages now and even then it was just one knee and his back is apparently fine too. He just lacks match play and more so against the top players.

You are right. It seems he's just getting back to match form, no other issues.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Well Rafa isn't in his prime years anymore,I also think if Rafa isn't winning tournaments and playing to his best competitive level he will retire,he wont stick around for the love of tennis,just my opinion.It would not surprise me if he retires after the Olympic year in 2016.Rafa has said many times his wish is to play at the Olympic in 2016 and he will then revise his situation.

I found it interesting toward the end of last year when Nadal said he was trying to take better care of his body for "career longevity". The other day I saw a quote from Fed saying that in 2004, in the midst of owning the tour, he was looking at career longevity. He as 22 and planning to play well into his 30s. Rafa's 28 and just now thinking about it? He should have been thinking about it when he was grinding out all of the 5 hour matches on clay. Too late now. He's got a bad back, 2 bad knees, keeps coming up with weird stuff like appendicitis and who knows what's next.

Since when has he had a bad back and 2 bad knees? His knees haven't been an issue for ages now and even then it was just one knee and his back is apparently fine too. He just lacks match play and more so against the top players.

It was never just one knee, and if you think they haven't been an issue then you're being ridiculous. Please, stop posting about Nadal's health, for the sake of accuracy, transparency, and objectiveness. These posts are legitimately terrible.

Carry on.

 

[Surfingp]

Rafa Nadal is definitely in decline but it should come as no surprise
with the career he's had up to date. His body has taken a pounding over the past decade, he's been riddled with injuries and currently there is only a 650 point gap between Nadal's #3 World Ranking to that of #6 Milos Raonic. That being said, on any given day Nadal is a lethal player who can beat anybody in the world. I expect a big showing from Rafa at this week's Miami Open where oddsmakers have Nadal +550 as third favorite for the title after Andy Murray and
Novak Djokovic +450 and -125 respectively (source:http://topbet.eu/sportsbook/tennis/miami-open-men). Could Nadal possibly resurrect and prolong his career by taking on a less grueling ATP schedule in the same manner that Federer is doing right now?

 

[Front242]

I found it interesting toward the end of last year when Nadal said he was trying to take better care of his body for "career longevity". The other day I saw a quote from Fed saying that in 2004, in the midst of owning the tour, he was looking at career longevity. He as 22 and planning to play well into his 30s. Rafa's 28 and just now thinking about it? He should have been thinking about it when he was grinding out all of the 5 hour matches on clay. Too late now. He's got a bad back, 2 bad knees, keeps coming up with weird stuff like appendicitis and who knows what's next.

Since when has he had a bad back and 2 bad knees? His knees haven't been an issue for ages now and even then it was just one knee and his back is apparently fine too. He just lacks match play and more so against the top players.

It was never just one knee, and if you think they haven't been an issue then you're being ridiculous. Please, stop posting about Nadal's health, for the sake of accuracy, transparency, and objectiveness. These posts are legitimately terrible.

Carry on.

The best thing here is Moxie agreed with my post above and then liked yours. :cover Who needs to watch any comedies. This place is pure gold.

 

[Moxie]

Since when has he had a bad back and 2 bad knees? His knees haven't been an issue for ages now and even then it was just one knee and his back is apparently fine too. He just lacks match play and more so against the top players.

It was never just one knee, and if you think they haven't been an issue then you're being ridiculous. Please, stop posting about Nadal's health, for the sake of accuracy, transparency, and objectiveness. These posts are legitimately terrible.

Carry on.

The best thing here is Moxie agreed with my post above and then liked yours. :cover Who needs to watch any comedies. This place is pure gold.

No need to be snide, Front. I was going with the "no excuses" position in agreeing with you that Nadal needs match play at this point, but his health in currently good. Broken is not wrong to remind you that there have always been issues with both knees, which I had demurred from getting into. Broken would call that being too "PC" on my part, I suspect. Both things can be true, you know. And let's be honest, you aren't the best judge of Nadal's health...current or past issues.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa is definitely in decline. He even fell down in Miami practice. :snicker

 

[brokenshoelace]

Since when has he had a bad back and 2 bad knees? His knees haven't been an issue for ages now and even then it was just one knee and his back is apparently fine too. He just lacks match play and more so against the top players.

It was never just one knee, and if you think they haven't been an issue then you're being ridiculous. Please, stop posting about Nadal's health, for the sake of accuracy, transparency, and objectiveness. These posts are legitimately terrible.

Carry on.

The best thing here is Moxie agreed with my post above and then liked yours. :cover Who needs to watch any comedies. This place is pure gold.

Yeah, you provide some awesome content too.

 

[Federberg]

Rafa is definitely in decline. He even fell down in Miami practice. :snicker

Oh dear! Was it a bad fall? I hope there's no injury that comes from it otherwise we'll all have to spend a lot of time at the Fedal thread when he loses unexpectedly! :nono

 

[britbox]

He turned his ankle but is still expected to play:

http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/12552722/ankle-injury-keep-miami-open