Rafa admits he may not play

[Kieran]

He's been great for the sport. He's missef terribly when he's not there, it isn't the same without him. Let's hope he plays Oz and does well there...

 

[Fiero425]

He's been great for the sport. He's missef terribly when he's not there, it isn't the same without him. Let's hope he plays Oz and does well there...

Whatever! :nono :cover uzzled :-/

 

[mrzz]

Is this the beginning of the end? :nono :angel: :dodgy: :cover

If this "beginning of the end" is anything like Roger's, we will wait at least 6-7 years.

They are fighting to see who has the longest "end of career", as you can see on the WADA secret service tapes transcripts that leaked some time ago:

The following conversation took place some days after the 2014 French Open.

-- Uncle, I can't stand it anymore, people just talk about how Federer is never going to retire, that he is prolonging his career so much. No matter how much I beat him, they just talk about him, no?
-- Easy, sobriño. It will soon pass, as all things must pass.
-- He is envious, envious...
-- I know, Rafa, but his time will come.
-- You are saying this for ages! You said it in 2011! You said it in 2012, in 2013... You say this everyday!!! I want them talking about ME! I will retire FIRST than him, than they'll see. That's what I'll do.
-- Hmmm, Rafa, I just had an idea. Why don't we... you know, fake some more injuries, skip some useless tournaments and pass time doing video clips... and say that you are fighting retirement! You could colapse on an interview again, those sort of things... it will always seem that you're prolonging the end... and then, the end of your career may be longer than his... we can even say that you have to remove your apendices, than one of your kidneys... what you think? Isn't it genious???
-- YES, YES... he will see, that old envious bastardo!!! I will beat him on this too!

 

[TsarMatt]

 

[kskate2]

Borg, Laver etc, were never so injured as Rafa. Are you struggling with simple logic here? He wouldn't miss so many majors if he was healthy.

Anyway, you're a Fedfan, you should be happy Rafa has missed so much tennis. Your bloke has done quite well out it...

He's just been a rotten representative of #1 IMO! His whole act is repugnant; his play, the stalling, coaching, running game with constant challenges that are wrong, and more! Nole and Roger have been a class act from the beginning while Rafa has his routine and even for a coin toss will make a little girl in a wheelchair cool her heels while he towels off and arranges his water bottles just so! He's a jerk in so many ways! :nono uzzled :cover

You sure spend a lot of time and energy on someone you don't like.

 

[MartyB]

There are aspects to Rafa's game, tactics, etc. that bother me. However, I have a great deal of respect & admiration for the man. The sport is definitely not the same without him while he has been sidelined. He brings an air of anticipation, energy & star power every time he walks onto the court. There is only one other man that can match that and IMO even higher & that is Fed.

 

[brokenshoelace]

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/01/rafael-nadal-determined-come-back-my-best/53555/#.VK636yuUcUy

Rafa's playing.

 

[tented]

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/01/rafael-nadal-determined-come-back-my-best/53555/#.VK636yuUcUy

Rafa's playing.

:woohoos

Go Rafa! Go Rafa! Go Rafa!

:woohoos

 

[TsarMatt]

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/01/rafael-nadal-determined-come-back-my-best/53555/#.VK636yuUcUy

Rafa's playing.

Rafa always playing with my emotions. I'm over-the-moon.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

^ Sometimes not in a good way.

 

[Fiero425]

There are aspects to Rafa's game, tactics, etc. that bother me. However, I have a great deal of respect & admiration for the man. The sport is definitely not the same without him while he has been sidelined. He brings an air of anticipation, energy & star power every time he walks onto the court. There is only one other man that can match that and IMO even higher & that is Fed.

Who you tellin'? I'm starting to get over it though! I think of this as Nole's time, but no matter how much he wins, even his 2011 wasn't enough to overtake the "talk" about Rafa and Roger! Federer had legitimately dropped to #3, but you would have thought he was #1 with the interviews, magazine covers, tv advertisement, and more! He's #2 now, but I can't say it's a legit #2; Nadal fell off, then took injury time away! The rest of the top echelon is still trying to find themselves! I don't think Roger's going to be able to hold on much longer, but he keeps getting new life with the sad state of affairs on tour; injuries and head cases abound! Kei is representing well, but he's so fragile; always working too hard and having to retire by tourney's end! I think Cilic waited too long and he'll fall off eventually! There's no place else to go but down since Stan also waited until the twilight years of his career to make his mark with an AO and Davis Cup win; AT LAST! We can only hope the new crop matures eventually and overtakes the "geezers" on tour! :clap :angel: :dodgy: :ras:

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It's different to 2013 because back then his training was interrupted fatally by a virus, so he was in no condition to play. Unless he's carrying an injury that could hinder his whole season, then his only trouble now is lack of match practice, and as you say, he only gets that by playing matches...

While Rafa had a stomach virus early in 2013, he was cured of his illness caused by virus in time to play at AO if he so choose. But, Rafa felt that he is not competitive enough to play and so did not.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/01/rafael-nadal-determined-come-back-my-best/53555/#.VK636yuUcUy

Rafa's playing.

I saw this article on the same day that he lost. Hence, I thought the news in this thread
was more recent than this article. So, I tried to look up the link in the OP and unfortunately,
it did not work for me. Did the link in the OP work for anyone else?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Oh, it looks like Rafa's comments were misinterpreted or wrongly translated and he fully
intends to participate in AO. Here are the excerpts from another source.

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I also want to play in the Australian Open, which is a tournament I like a lot. I don't know if that will be the case either, but I am going to work for it. If not I will be playing at Rio and the Buenos Aires."

A spokesman of the Nadal camp said Thursday that he would definitely play in Melbourne but was unlikely to play in a warm-up tournament in Sydney a week before the Slam which begins on January 19.

If you read what he says and put it in Spanish, what he says is that he wants to play well at the Australian Open, but if that is not the case (that he plays but not well) that then you have the other tournaments in the year."

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[Fiero425]

Oh, it looks like Rafa's comments were misinterpreted or wrongly translated and he fully
intends to participate in AO. Here are the excerpts from another source.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I also want to play in the Australian Open, which is a tournament I like a lot. I don't know if that will be the case either, but I am going to work for it. If not I will be playing at Rio and the Buenos Aires."

A spokesman of the Nadal camp said Thursday that he would definitely play in Melbourne but was unlikely to play in a warm-up tournament in Sydney a week before the Slam which begins on January 19.

If you read what he says and put it in Spanish, what he says is that he wants to play well at the Australian Open, but if that is not the case (that he plays but not well) that then you have the other tournaments in the year."

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After all this time and he's still struggling? He can't even be trying! Hire a freakin' tutor! :cover