Nadal Interview with marca,com

[Moxie]

he is done. this is not rocket science. I am also not into blind worship. I am his greatest fan on the planet but I am not going to blindly worship him. he brought about his own demise. and now the window is just about 97% closed. only about 3% chance that he can catch the horses out in the front. only difference between him and borg at this point is that he left without leaving and borg actually exited the sport. both put a lot on their plate but borg’s burn out was mental. he stayed fit to his last day. there were no endless and recurrent injury issues with borg. endless injuries took their toll on Rafa but in the end he simply decided to give up the hunt. Rafa is the greatest physical specimen our sport has ever seen so he could have easily overcome his injury issues. he chose to just walk away from the sport. no other all time great has ever suffered such heavy casualties on their very best surface right in their primes. he flat gave up the fight and the hunt just about right in his prime. he walked into Paris and said he does not want to win 15 RG titles. he also said it does not matter if he doesn’t win since he has already won it so many times. the greatest clay court player of all time gave up on his own home turf. these are the facts and my eyes don’t lie: numbers don’t lie either. numbers are cold as death itself.

1. he is at about 30% capacity with his ground game. you saw him take just 10% of the rallies against berdych in Melbourne. berdych? really? since when he had not owned berdych on every surface known to mankind except when he was a kid. he owned berdych.
2. fitness is not there to compete with the best. he cramped badly and threw up after his straight sets win over fognini in hamburg. and it was actually relative cool in hamburg. that is after just sets. he also had a very easy semifinal win.
3. dramatic loss in physicality. he does not have the physical strength he once had. about 1/2 of it is gone. roger and djokovic are stronger than ever because they never miss a single day with their work on fitness. they are hitting the gym more than ever to maintain their physical strength and to even improve it.
4. the fire from within no longer burns. it is what it is but the true insiders of the sport see all this. it is his life and his career so he is doing what he wants to. and he wants to do it his way.

this is not a new revelation. he dropped his work on his game and his fitness after the win at flushing meadows in 2013. this has been going on for a while. exactly why he backed off the hard work after the title win in new york is not clear. perhaps the mental and physical capital expenditure but he backed off a little bit. and then he would go screw around with djokovic in south America doing a series of exos for $10 million. I believe that is where he made a mistake. he should have managed his time better and prepared for the title run in Melbourne. that title had his name written on it if only he could manage this training and fitness which he failed to do. so he showed up in Melbourne with less than optimal training and fitness and sure enough it would cost him. he won because of his lethal topspin based on superior movement and superior physical strength. and it was all backed by his relentless will to win. uncle tony called his relentless will his greatest asset. more on this next time. he and his team has to say the right thing for their millions and millions of fans and all those sponsors. and they have to try to put a positive spin on the state of affairs. what is clear is that he cant win any titles on any surface given his current levels. he cant catch the top players unless he goes and gets on clay and find his ground game again and also starts putting in massive effort on the fitness front. in these depleted levels of fitness and physicality the chance for injury is great right now and he knows that. more on this later.

I believe you're repeating yourself.  You're also negating what Nadal himself says, which that he is working hard.  It's takes some brass ones to assume that you know better, I'd say.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Wait, Clay Death you serious about denying that prediction? The last 4 months of 2013 on the Tennis Frontier virtually consisted of nothing but us taking digs at your silly prediction.

 

[brokenshoelace]

By the way Clay Death, you also spammed the forums about how Andy Murray was going to dominate the tennis world. Still waiting on that one.

 

[ClayDeath]

a suggestion that it was time to back off a little from the hard courts after the title run at flushing meadows in 2013 was not a prediction.

it was plain and clear logic. he did not back off and he also screwed around with exos for in south America for pocket change when he could have managed his training and his fitness better. he did not need the money.

his 9 RG crowns and his total of 14 majors are worth about $1 billion over his lifetime. so money is the last thing he needed. he had to a chance to stare down history. he blew it.

and now he does not have the game, fitness, and the hunger for it.

he made $41 million last year. he chased $10 million foolishly and cost himself a couple of slams. that is a lot to leave on the table and that is 2014 alone. he could have taken the first 3 slams.

 

and I believe he left 2 more slams on the table in 2015. you don't walk away from staring down history right in your prime but he did.

I am saying what the history will say and what some of the true insiders of the sport are saying. they say the same thing about Borg. they say he is the ultimate x factor because he walked away too soon. no telling how many more slams he could have won.

 

finally as I have suggested no other all time great has suffered and brought about his own demise so dramatically on his very best surface. and Rafa was the greatest of all time ever on his best surface. he walked away.

he gave up the fight and the big hunt.

you want a prediction? I will give you a few. zero titles for the rest of the year and zero-1 title in 2016. he might be able to snag the Rio title but it depends on who shows up there.

unless he gets on the red clay and start making some serious inroads with his ground game he is not beating the top players.

no work = no results. that is how it works in tennis.

Gilles Simon saw him up close after playing him a couple of times. He said Rafa looks horrible physically. he is not wrong. Rafa is horribly unfit these days. he simply refuses to put in the very hard and long yards required to challenge the very best.

 

 

[ClayDeath]

he took those hard court titles in 2013 because he was able to win on clay in 2013.

he showed up fresh for the north American hard court circuit in 2013 and got on a bit of a roll. the other big 3 were a little bit off and he simply capitalized. he played one of this best hard court matches against Djokovic in the final.

clay is the wellspring from which he flows folks. he has to go dominate them on clay if he is to have a chance against them again.

 

but as I said, I do believe he is done. it was an amazing career.

 

[ClayDeath]

Wait, Clay Death you serious about denying that prediction? The last 4 months of 2013 on the Tennis Frontier virtually consisted of nothing but us taking digs at your silly prediction.

 

I said he should back off the hard courts after he took the title in flushing meadows. which was plain common sense. he was prone to injuries with extended play on the hard courts.

how is that called a prediction?

 

also go ahead and produce a link to where I specifically said that he should take the rest of the year off after losing early at Wimbledon in 2013.

 

go ahead and produce that link. I want these people here to know that you know little about tennis but a lot about lying and taking shots at people.

that link better be here by tonight.

 

also I think it is a good idea to just stay on the subject of tennis. why go out of your way to look like an idiot by lying to people and taking shots at them.

also you are not doing this forum any service by arguing like a lunatic.

I came here at the request of general britbox. and I came here specifically to help him grow. how long do you think I can put up with your lies?

nobody has the time for people who just want to argue. learn the damn game and the sport and then just stay on the subject.

 

 

stay on the subject.

 

[britbox]

I don't think Nadal is done, he'll win more tournaments. Didn't he make about 6 finals this year? and this year has been his nadir.

The bigger question is, will he win more majors?  Right now, I think it's looking bleak but things can turnaround quickly in tennis.

But, as for predictions, I'm no barometer when it comes to Nadal, as @huntingyou will attest.  I thought he'd win about 8 majors, be done at 26 and never win the US Open.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Oh please, you were asking him to dial down on hards before he won the US Open. In fact, after he won Montreal, you told us all "not to be fooled" and that Nadal will not win in New York.

But keep making up stuff that makes you look good despite the fact that nobody buys it.

 

[ClayDeath]

Oh please, you were asking him to dial down on hards before he won the US Open. In fact, after he won Montreal, you told us all “not to be fooled” and that Nadal will not win in New York. But keep making up stuff that makes you look good despite the fact that nobody buys it.

Then it is simple. Just produce those posts. provide the links or shut the hell up. How much can you lie on any one given day and for what?

this does not make you look any smarter.

i actually predicted that he would go on to win the U. S. Open.

now get busy. Go and provide the links and posts where I said that he should skip the rest of 2013 after the early loss at Wimbledon.

you don't have any credibility but assuming that you have just an ounce of it then produce the post and the link.

dont keep these people waiting.

 

[ClayDeath]

Nobody gets all the predictions right as far predictions go.

brad Gilbert said Roger had the 2009 Australian open in the bag.

patrick rafter and I said it would be Rafa. So we got one right.

sampras assured the tennis world that Andy Murray would snag the U. S. Open in 2013.

admittedly my prediction came a bit late but I said that Rafa was going to take  the U. S. Open title after  he took Cincy with the right draw. It worked out for him.

becker and Borg have been wrong a number of times about Rafa.

predictions are a funny business. even the best minds in the sport are going to get a few of them wrong.

that being said, since when does saying that Rafa needs to back off a little bit from the hard courts after the title run at flushing meadows in 2013 become a prediction.

 

and I am still waiting to see the specific post where I said he should take the rest of the year off after that early loss at Wimbledon in 2013.

i never said that. I don't know of anybody who did.

 

 

 

 

[Moxie]

Broken_shoelace wrote:
Oh please, you were asking him to dial down on hards before he won the US Open. In fact, after he won Montreal, you told us all “not to be fooled” and that Nadal will not win in New York. But keep making up stuff that makes you look good despite the fact that nobody buys it.

Then it is simple. Just produce those posts. provide the links or shut the hell up. How much can you lie on any one given day and for what? this does not make you look any smarter. i actually predicted that he would go on to win the U. S. Open. now get busy. Go and provide the links and posts where I said that he should skip the rest of 2013 after the early loss at Wimbledon. you don’t have any credibility but assuming that you have just an ounce of it then produce the post and the link. dont keep these people waiting.

No, you predicted that Murray would win the USO in 2013:

http://www.tennisfrontier.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=592&page=2  (See post #31)

And you started campaigning for Nadal to back off of the HCs before the USO in 2013, saying that he would likely never win another HC Major, and that his best chances remained on natural surfaces:

http://www.tennisfrontier.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=802&pid=24947#down

I'm not a huge fan of raking over old forums, but you did ask.  And if you're going to bluster about how correct all of your past predictions are, then you deserve to have to defend them correctly.  And if you're going to rail about how Rafa is not working hard, and how he's cooked, I'm going to debate that with you.

Apropos of that, here is Rafa interviewed in English about the hard yards he's putting in, and what he's hoping to get out of Basel:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/nadal-looking-to-build-momentum-in-basel

 

[ClayDeath]

did I not mention earlier in the post above that "admittedly I made my prediction for Rafa a bit late". I said very specifically that he was going to get it done with the right draw after he took cincy also.

 

also Sampras made the same prediction earlier just as I did: we both had andy winning the u.s. open. nobody on the planet picked Rafa early on to win montreal, cincy, and the u.s open. nobody.

I changed my prediction after seeing him take Cincy. I thought he could take the Open with the right draw.

 

I see you are trying to help your buddy broken shoelace but are you just as dense as he is? or are you more dense?

produce the bloody post where I said that Rafa should skip the rest of the year in 2013 after his early loss at Wimbledon.

 

and once again is it that hard to stay on the subject of tennis? I guess it is if you are not really the master of the sport and also if you have not played it at a high level yourself.

 

this is not about predictions. they all get them wrong. even the best of the best get them wrong. becker has been wrong about rafa and roger about 5 times that I know of. borg has been wrong about quite a few.

brad gilbert almost always gets it wrong. Rafter usually gets them right.

 

the whole world picked djokovic to win RG this year and the last. and the whole world was wrong.

 

no way anybody picks Rafa this year and I understand that. I did not pick him either for RG. he was in shambles.

but I did pick him to take RG in 2014. he barely managed it while not playing his best tennis and not having his optimal fitness.

 

either stay on the subject of tennis and forget about me and anybody else that is just a tennis poster or produce the post where you people claim that I said that rafa should skip the rest of the year in 2013 after losing early at Wimbledon.

stop trying to compete with me. you are  not in my league.

 

just discuss tennis and the sport of tennis. that is the title of this forum: discuss tennis.

 

 

 

[Moxie]

I'm perfectly happy to Discuss Tennis, and stay on that subject, if you're happy to get off the subject of yourself, and how fantastic your predictions are.  Fair enough?

 

[ClayDeath]

just get with your buddy broken shoe and go find the post where you claim that I said that Rafa should skip the rest of 2013 after his early loss at Wimbledon.

now together the two of you can surely come up with something. go ahead fabricate some more stuff. it is amusing anyway.

 

I also notice that you don't have the courage and the guts to make any predictions at all. go ahead and make a few predictions.

and you will see that nobody gives a damn if you get them wrong. nobody. it is all part and parcel of talking about tennis. it is what people do.

if brad gilbert, borg, Sampras, and becker can get them wrong so can you.

 

I made exactly the same prediction that Sampras did in 2013: he said early on that andy was his man for the crown in new York.

I changed my prediction after Rafa ran the tables at both montreal and cincy. at that point it was clear to see that he had a shot at the U.S. Open with the right draw.

 

at any rate now the predictions should be a lot safer to make: rafa is making his way out of the sport. andy does not have a dominating forehand.

roger is doing great but he is getting old. the coast is  pretty much clear for Djokovic. he could take the next 5 slams.

he has a good chance of snatching a total of 15-16 slams.

I just don't see anybody that can stop him.  he runs through them all like knife through water.

 

[Moxie]

I'm not that interested in making predictions, at least beyond the back and forth of general discussion and specific tournaments or matches.  You do like to take the sweeping view, and you don't like it pointed out where you have been wrong, though you have now owned up to it.  And it's not that I don't admire the boldness.  If you make big-strokes predictions, sometimes you're going to be wrong.  That's what Rafa says about those who count him out.  You'll eventually be right that he's done, but he's saying you aren't, just yet.  I hope he's right on that.

 

[Billie]

I just can't believe that Rafa is not working hard.

What I can believe that sometimes these top players make winning look so easy that when they do start to lose a few matches, some of their fans start panicking and giving up on them.  One thing that helped me out in life is hope, hope that things can't get worse and can only get better.   And they did, even though they could have gotten worse.  So I apply that thinking to sports.  But there is one catch:  we have to be somewhat realistic in what we hope for.    Maybe Rafa will never be #1 again, or win multiple majors in a season, but who is to know that really.  I am pretty sure he will play well again and be a contender for future major tournaments.  If next year is the same as this one, or worse, maybe I'll reconsider my opinion then.

 

[Moxie]

I just can’t believe that Rafa is not working hard. What I can believe that sometimes these top players make winning look so easy that when they do start to lose a few matches, some of their fans start panicking and giving up on them. One thing that helped me out in life is hope, hope that things can’t get worse and can only get better. And they did, even though they could have gotten worse. So I apply that thinking to sports. But there is one catch: we have to be somewhat realistic in what we hope for. Maybe Rafa will never be #1 again, or win multiple majors in a season, but who is to know that really. I am pretty sure he will play well again and be a contender for future major tournaments. If next year is the same as this one, or worse, maybe I’ll reconsider my opinion then.

I would say that one thing we know, whether a fan of Rafa or not, is that he is working hard.  His work ethic is one of the things that defines him.  This is where I don't get Clay Death's opinion on that.  Hopefully hard work bears fruit.  That a bad year, like Roger's 2013 is behind him, and he still has some great tennis in him.  I'm hopeful for that. I don't think getting back to #1 is in the cards, or important.  I'd love him to get at least the one more Major and pass Sampras.  That would put him alone behind Roger on that score.  Rafa is a great champion, and I hope there is a lot of his best tennis yet to see.  Thanks always for you kindness and optimism, Billie.

 

[brokenshoelace]

The notion of Nadal not working hard at any point in his career is ludicrous.

 

[Mastoor]

Hello Samson.  From roadrunner 5 metres behind the baseline, Rafa is trying to change to play inside the baseline. He said in the interview above he played that way in China, but he did it in exhibition in Thailand before Beijing too. That's fundamental change, not only cosmetic.

I think that serve from USO 2010 would come handy, but I think his fans should be happy he's been getting there as far as the change regarding playing inside the lines is considered.

 

 

[Billie]

I don’t think Nadal is done, he’ll win more tournaments. Didn’t he make about 6 finals this year? and this year has been his nadir. The bigger question is, will he win more majors? Right now, I think it’s looking bleak but things can turnaround quickly in tennis. But, as for predictions, I’m no barometer when it comes to Nadal, as @huntingyou will attest. I thought he’d win about 8 majors, be done at 26 and never win the US Open.

You were in for a rude awaking then, buddy :scratch: