Rafa says that it was strained, and the doctor said that if he continued to play, he could "break" it, (by which he means "tear.) So the withdrawal is preventative. I still hope he can play the WTF, but if he closes down the season, so be it. (Then he could and should skip that stupid exhibition.)
He felt the strain during training only this week. From what I understand, he didn't carry it to Paris, so withdrawing earlier wasn't an option.If only Rafa was gracious enough to withdraw before the tournament commenced (even if he did after the draw was made), they would have rebalanced the draw and Federer and Novak would be on the opposite sides.
:whistle: 
Are you happy with yourself slathering on boast when your guy just got #1 due to the injury of another?Congrats to Nole holding onto the #1 ranking for the foreseeable future! He has almost no points to defend early on next season so he can pump up his numbers without much effort; just get out of the 1st couple rounds!
#1 has changes hands this year mostly by way of the other falling short. It's a points game.
What a gloat-fest for you. Congratulations. Funny how you Djokovic fans disappear for long periods of time, and then show up when the going gets good again. Why is that? #askingforafriendHo-ho-ho! Merry Halloween!
It may be Halloween to you, but it is Christmas come early for me; No1e is back to where he belongs - number one.
It's funny how neither Fedal played on the day even though they were both scheduled. After beating Tsonga, Raonic didn't even want to play his next match. Anyway, that gives Fed another day for rest after he won that Basel challenger.
No1e is playing Damir next. That's a dude from Bosnia who fell in love with a girl from Belgrade, so he shifted his parents from Sarajevo to Belgrade where they live now.
When I mentioned that, I also read several times recently that Berankis is in Belgrade in between tournaments. They don't say why, does anyone know, is his coach from there?
Anyway, I think all the Thursday matches are interesting and I hope I'll be able to see some of the last two.
Hypocritical bitter sour grapes my friend. I thought Nole was #1 because he won two slams and a Masters 1000, and had no points to defend for the rest of the year. Nadal was invariably going to lose #1--abdominal strain or not. Between you and Carol who has been sowing a thread of "there is no one good uninjured so Nole regaining #1 is against weak competition", you both sound like you need to lighten up and accept the ups and downs of the game more graciously.
Read my post. It was a straight-forward truth...#1 is a points game. That's what I said.
How am I hypocritical? I know why Nole is #1. I also recognize gloating when I see it. Two different things. Don't mistake me for Carol or Nadalwhateverthenumber. I just think it's cheesy from those who would dance on the misfortunes of another.
:cuckoo: 
