Nadalites – Rafa Nadal Talk

[Moxie]

He intimidated them into giving him a rise, the chickenshit bastards.

By the way, I’m sure you’ve all seen it but tennis.com are running an article by Steve Tignor each day, the ten matches that made Rafa the king of clay.

Todays article is about the Davis Cup final, 2004, Rafa v Roddick…

Thanks for putting me onto the Tignor series. I always did think this DC tie v. Roddick was huge for him. Roddick said of it, though I don't know how much in retrospect, "I felt like I'd awakened a sleeping giant." Even if in 20/20 hindsight, he was right.

Tignor doesn't say this, but Ferrero was at least a bit injured, I think, which was part of the decision to use Nadal. I happened to be in Spain at the time, so it was a feature in the papers. There was a lot of objection to picking the kid over JC Ferrero for that match. Nadal had reason to be nervous...a lot of people thought it was an unwise move by the coach to play him. And just to put the whole time in context, when Spain won, it was all about Moyà's victory over the US, on the Monday, and Rafa was just another player in the picture. Everything changed the next year.

Surely, Nadal was destined for greatness, but I always think this huge win in front of a gigantic Spanish crowd helped make his 2005 possible. He was ready to be very, very good, but would he have been otherwise so ready to be great? I think this particular match was huge for him.

Looking forward to the rest!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Rafa has officially withdrawn from Madrid tournament
Nadal says that his injury hasn't healed, initial recovery schedule hasn't worked out, and is now attempting different treatment. No timeline for his return

 

[Kieran]

Rafa has officially withdrawn from Madrid tournament
Nadal says that his injury hasn't healed, initial recovery schedule hasn't worked out, and is now attempting different treatment. No timeline for his return

Different treatment? That sounds bad because it implies original treatment failed and he’s gone to plan b?

What injury is this, by the way? I’ve lost count. It’s just hard to keep up. It’s the abdomen?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Different treatment? That sounds bad because it implies original treatment failed and he’s gone to plan b?

What injury is this, by the way? I’ve lost count. It’s just hard to keep up. It’s the abdomen?

All I know he went to see his doctor in Barcelona on Monday, and his current injury hip hasnt healed 100%
At present that is all I know, and he has withdrawn from Madrid, I hope there is more update information, I will post ASAP if I hear anything more.

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

I've kind of accepted that Rafa won't be back until August, if he even comes back this year (don't forget that he took the 2nd half of 2021 off to fully recover from his injuries). I doubt he will go out this way, so expect 2024 to be Rafa's farewell season, centered around the AO, FO, and Olympics.

 

[Nadalfan2013]

I have a bad feeling that Nadal might not come back at all.

 

[the AntiPusher]

All I know he went to see his doctor in Barcelona on Monday, and his current injury hip hasnt healed 100%
At present that is all I know, and he has withdrawn from Madrid, I hope there is more update information, I will post ASAP if I hear anything more.

No No.. Tented @tented and Moxie @Moxie ..& myself have seen this before.. Rafa is just feeling compelled to be brutely honest for skipping Barc and Madrid which he didnt rule out weeks ago. Rafa will play Rome because the conditions there as Margaret @MargaretMcAleer mentioned previously are closer to RG's clay. Toni stated that a warmup or not , Rafa if he is 100 percent healthy and confident he can win RG again.. just my two cents but I have been down this road with Rafa and team Nadal before.. peace and Vamos Rafa

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

No No.. Tented @tented and Moxie @Moxie ..& myself have seen this before.. Rafa is just feeling compelled to be brutely honest for skipping Barc and Madrid which he didnt rule out weeks ago. Rafa will play Rome because the conditions there as Margaret @MargaretMcAleer mentioned previously are closer to RG's clay. Toni stated that a warmup or not , Rafa if he is 100 percent healthy and confident he can win RG again.. just my two cents but I have been down this road with Rafa and team Nadal before.. peace and Vamos Rafa

I understand we have been down this 'road before' with Rafa, as I previously posted he did see his doctor in Barcelona on Monday, hopefully the new treatment will be successful, from the video's I have watched, he cannot be that far off from playing, then again I am not in Rafa's body lol!, I remain positive.

 

[Jelenafan]

We sometimes forget that many think the French Open is the most physically challenging of all the Majors. Nadal has said you need to suffer to win, especially on the slow red clay. When Rafa wins a match in straight sets, many times he's physically worn out his opponents so it's never that "easy". The difference at the French is that Rafa goes into a match knowing he is the physically superior player who will die on the court before the match is over. He knows it, his opponent knows it, the crowd knows it, and it's this "aura" that make him so special at Roland Garros.

Look at last year, he had that titanic 5 set match versus FAA (who some think actually played the best match of his career) and then the draining match with Novak that very easily could have gone 5 sets, and THEN still had to to play Zverev and Ruud for the title. About that quarterfinal with Novak last year, I saw parts of it a couple of days ago and I was exhausted with those brutal rally exchanges between the 2 GOATS of our era.

Rafa knows what it takes to win the FO, and if he feels he's not there physically before the tournament starts and opts not to play , I repeat, I'm good with that.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

AP if you are around this is the present post and tweet Rafa has posted regarding his hip injury

"The reality is the situation is not what we expected. I wont be able to play Madrid. I was training, but a few days ago we decided to change course and do another treatment. I can't give a time table because if I knew I would tell you, but I don't know".

This was on his Instagram page, Thursday,

"This injury was supposed to keep me out six to 8 weeks, but I have been out 14 weeks. We have followed all the medical advice, but my recovery has not gone as they said it would, and now find ourselves in a difficult situation"
Nadal did not mention his prospects for being fit for the French Open

 

[Nadalfan2013]

AP if you are around this is the present post and tweet Rafa has posted regarding his hip injury

"The reality is the situation is not what we expected. I wont be able to play Madrid. I was training, but a few days ago we decided to change course and do another treatment. I can't give a time table because if I knew I would tell you, but I don't know".

This was on his Instagram page, Thursday,

"This injury was supposed to keep me out six to 8 weeks, but I have been out 14 weeks. We have followed all the medical advice, but my recovery has not gone as they said it would, and now find ourselves in a difficult situation"
Nadal did not mention his prospects for being fit for the French Open

This is the worst news I have heard since when Australia lifted the 3-year ban on Djokovic.

Get well soon dear Rafa.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

This is the worst news I have heard since when Australia lifted the 3-year ban on Djokovic.

Get well soon dear Rafa.

We have to keep positive, hopefully this new treatment that Rafa is undertaking will finally heal his hip

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Some sad news for Rafa's wife Mery, her father who had been ill for sometime, has passed away Glad that Rafa is at home to be with her.

 

[Kieran]

Some sad news for Rafa's wife Mery, her father who had been ill for sometime, has passed away Glad that Rafa is at home to be with her.

Oh shit, that’s awful! Can’t have been too old either…

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh shit, that’s awful! Can’t have been too old either…

It is sad news, he would only be in his 50's

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

It is sad news, he would only be in his 50's

Just had confirmation of the age of Mery's father he was 63,

 

[Kieran]

Reading the Tignor series of reminiscences on tennis.com, it kind of becomes clearer why Rafa is unique among the Big 3. I just finished reading about his 2007 Rome final against Roger, where he saved match points to win - and the 2009 Madrid semi against Novak, where he saved match points to win. But what really struck me was how real his rivalry with the senior player was, how big Rafa was then in the sport, then battling toe to toe with the much older peak Roger in 2007, easily dispatching Novak along the way, then facing down a nascent Novak in 2009, when Rafa was already number one in the world.

We say it often here, the importance of understanding that Rafa had already pulled an enormous and historic shift on duty from 2004-2010 chasing and overtaking Roger at the top. Being his only rival, despite still being in development, both physically and technically. Novak was sheltered, growing in the shade, without any heat in his formative years, then when he peaked Rafa had to do it all again with him.

We often mention it, but reading Tignor’s articles, especially those two matches, reminds me that this is the single most significant detail of discussions about the Big 3. It’s that one of them was always there, almost from the beginning, to almost the end. And he got no cheap, free years in between…

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Baby steps for Rafa, after having his new treatment he stopped training and is back on the practice court today.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Here's the small array of light piercing thru the dark clouds over Rafa's past few months regarding his participation: https://sports.yahoo.com/toni-nadal-optimistic-over-rafas-121804826.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 

[Jelenafan]

Here's the small array of light piercing thru the dark clouds over Rafa's past few months regarding his participation: https://sports.yahoo.com/toni-nadal-optimistic-over-rafas-121804826.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Thank you i needed that….