The Fall of Rafael Nadal

[ClayDeath]

I think we're just beginning to see a new dawn - players like Thiem, Kyrgios, Zverev and Fritz are beginning to break through.

agreed. the first 3 have a bright future but they will win absolutely nothing of any significance since djokovic stands at the door of all the slams and all the masters events.

only rafa had a chance to slow down djokovic but he ran away 2 years ago.


now everybody needs to get ready for 20-21 slams for djokovic and every single event he enters.

he works so hard on his game and his fitness and is so focused and so driven that he has made sure he has no competition.


it does help his cause that rafa is irrelevant in the sport and will be out of the sport altogether soon and roger is 50 years old.

and poor andy does not have a dominating forehand to compete effectively with djokovic.

 

[Carol]

With all due respect to Carol, Nadal is not physically better than ever. Not even close. I of course also disagree with Samson's doom and gloom assessments of Nadal not caring to win but you all knew that already.

Rafa was playing for long time with pain in his knee, according to the ones close to him many times he couldn't walk downstairs and that's why I say that now he his physically better than ever.
It's not his fault that he got some kind of virus, or been dehydrated or got food poison, or when he had appendicitis, that can happen to anyone. Maybe not his "head" but the rest of his body is healthier
He has retired six times before due to injuries, this time because he got sick which is much better than an injury like Brad Gilbert says

http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/i...ael-nadal-roger-federer-host-questions-answer

 

[Federberg]

I agree you can't say that Rafa is the most popular, but neither can you say Roger is "by a long shot." Rafa does better on social media. A little better on Facebook, but 2:1 on Twitter. Both are very popular in the stadiums, and both sell a lot of tickets. Tennis will survive when they're gone, but it will be looking for another rivalry, and guys that are box office like they are. Even Djokovic will be near-done when they hang 'em up, so the men's game will be looking for stars that can captivate internationally. I think there will be an interest-vacuum in a couple of years unless legitimate stars come up in the next 2 years. Once the big 4 are past their prime or out, which is all coming fast, and with most of the rest of the best aging out, as well, there need to be some real stars emerging, or we will lose viewers and revenue, for a while.

Lol! Has it come to this?? My guy is loved more than yours! ::sw1::

 

[Moxie]

Lol! Has it come to this?? My guy is loved more than yours! ::sw1::

LOL...it came to that a long time ago.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Rafa was playing for long time with pain in his knee, according to the ones close to him many times he couldn't walk downstairs and that's why I say that now he his physically better than ever.
It's not his fault that he got some kind of virus, or been dehydrated or got food poison, or when he had appendicitis, that can happen to anyone. Maybe not his "head" but the rest of his body is healthier
He has retired six times before due to injuries, this time because he got sick which is much better than an injury like Brad Gilbert says

http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/i...ael-nadal-roger-federer-host-questions-answer

Just because he has healthier knees, supposedly, doesn't mean he's physically better than ever since you have to account for years of wear and tear, a decline in fitness, stamina, endurance, etc... Factors that are very clearly affecting his game.

 

[ClayDeath]

djokovic may not lose another match all year.

such is the value and benefit of immense work ethic, relentless drive to win, and endless hunger to improve fitness and the game.

take your pick: you can either cry and weep about the game being fast and players hitting winners from all over the place while you fart around and do absolutely nothing about your game and your fitness or you can do what djokovic does.

all djokovic does is outwork everybody. he stands for progress, innovation, and continuous improvement.


he does not stand for pathetic fitness levels so you cant fight for much more that 40 minutes.


and who the hell said rafa and his uncle are crying and weeping anyway. it is an act. lip service.

all for public consumption. rafa retired from the sport over 2 years ago.

that is why I cant call his losses real losses. now players ranked near top 100 can run him off the court.

rafa won when he needed to win and wanted to win.

now he has no need to win and does not want to win. his heart is not in it.

but it does damage his brand.

 

[Rides]

Lendl set the bar years ago for fitness, innovation and improvement. Nole is not breaking new ground here.

I really was a big fan of Lendl back in the day. I feel like Djokovic is largely channelling the Lendl approach. Making the most of your talent through drive and determination.

All athletes, sooner or later, will fade.

Nadal's brand is hardly damaged. His records stand.

I cannot figure out why this thread is still going. ClayDeath doesn't add any new insight or information, just vitriol and bitterness.

 

[Carol]

My goodness, and again and again the negative comments about Nadal after his early exit in Miami due to a sickness. He was playing much better but that was simply bad luck.
Novak retired in Dubai due to a bad eye and I haven't read too much about it, no big deal......isn't?

Meanwhile Muzz losing to Dimitrov, come on!, Tsonga to Bautista, come on! Ferru to whoever, etc etc.
Now who can tell me that tennis is getting more interesting? what a mess!

 

[ClayDeath]

My goodness, and again and again the negative comments about Nadal after his early exit in Miami due to a sickness. He was playing much better but that was simply bad luck.
Novak retired in Dubai due to a bad eye and I haven't read too much about it, no big deal......isn't?

Meanwhile Muzz losing to Dimitrov, come on!, Tsonga to Bautista, come on! Ferru to whoever, etc etc.
Now who can tell me that tennis is getting more interesting? what a mess!

nothing negative here.


it is just tennis talk. people can obviously take it anyway they like. that is their right.


you people need to stop making excuses for Rafa. he is not even top 100 level player at the moment.


also uncle tony and rafa make enough excuses daily as it is.

just how do you think rafa got this way. he simply wont work.





rafa can change his stars but it is one blunder after another. there was absolutely zero need to go to Miami unless it was to go there to collect the under the table appearance money.

he wasted good 10 days that could have been spent on the clay.

I just call it like it I see it. I understand the reality on the ground.

 

[ClayDeath]

Lendl set the bar years ago for fitness, innovation and improvement. Nole is not breaking new ground here.

I really was a big fan of Lendl back in the day. I feel like Djokovic is largely channelling the Lendl approach. Making the most of your talent through drive and determination.

All athletes, sooner or later, will fade.

Nadal's brand is hardly damaged. His records stand.

I cannot figure out why this thread is still going. ClayDeath doesn't add any new insight or information, just vitriol and bitterness.

how about you providing some "new information" then?

you do hurt your brand when you hang around while being a punching bag for everybody.

there is a small hit to the legacy.

some of rafa's records will stand but the 2 that count quite heavily will fall: his slam record will fall to djokovic. and his 27 masters titles will fall soon to djokovic as well.

djokovic has swatted rafa aside like a hapless, legless mosquito in 10 of the last 11 times. but djokovic is not the only one. now anybody can run over rafa. he is unable to win even a 250-500 level events on clay.


would you not be upset if you were a fan?


rafa simply refuses to do anything about it. each day what little hope I wake up with just vanishes.

I knew the road he was on over 4 years ago. I expected all this and still I hang on a tiny bit of a hope that he will decide to fight back and try to be competitive again.

 

[ClayDeath]

the main objective of this thread is to continue to shed some light on Rafa's dramatic decline.

everybody is welcome here. everyone is welcome to share their own insights and their own opinions.

 

[Moxie]

Lendl set the bar years ago for fitness, innovation and improvement. Nole is not breaking new ground here.
I really was a big fan of Lendl back in the day. I feel like Djokovic is largely channelling the Lendl approach. Making the most of your talent through drive and determination.
All athletes, sooner or later, will fade.
Nadal's brand is hardly damaged. His records stand.

And, in fairness, Rafa has always tweeked his game over the years, as well. Also been very fit, physically and mentally, until the recent drop-off. I agree with you totally, @Rides, that you don't damage the "brand" or the legacy by continuing to compete for it, to strive for a return to a greater level. The records don't go away, even if short-term memories like to change the equation. In the end, you will always have what you accomplished.

 

[ClayDeath]

Happy Easter to everyone that celebrates it!

Train where the conditions are the worst, and playing won't be as difficult.
Let's see, I think Murray trained in the heat, humidity, and windy Miami, I think Federer in the deserts of Dubai.
I'm not sure where Novak trains, but I bet it is somewhere not comfortable, and I bet he does a lot of it.

As far as I know, Rafa trains on his indoor hard court in Manacor (since 2011 or 2012, I believe) where the conditions can't be too brutal..
We can confirm with general Clay on the date.
I'm guessing the court is air-conditioned as I see Toni wearing a long sleeve shirt or jacket, but I don't know for sure.

Anyway, we know he also cross trains on the golf course, swims a bit, and plays poker (for mental training).

I think I said it before. These days It looks like he has 1 good set in him, maybe two if the first went quickly, or in nice conditions, and then his lack of fitness starts affecting him.
After being almost invincible in deciding sets, in the last couple of years he's losing deciders left and right to guys that should never beat him.
Maybe he and Uncle Toni should try to arrange more night matches for him, but at night it's usually more humid.

This, while nearly 34 yr old (Apr 2) David Ferrer is out there beating the good up and coming younger players into submission.
What did he just do against hotshot 18 year old American Taylor Fritz? 7-6, 6-1?
Ferrer was like a wall out there in the Miami heat, and I think the 1 game he lost in the second set was out of pity.
Tall (6' 4"/1.93 m) Teen Fritz was out of gas at the end of the first set and little beast Ferrer was like the energizer rabbit.
But we know Ferrer's routine. Gym, practice twice a day - maybe 5-6 hours.
And he revealed his secrets for practicing one of the best returns of serve in the game (the best according to Federer).

“The return of serve was something that I practiced a lot as a young player with my first coach,” reflected Ferrer.
“My coach would serve to me from the middle of the court, and I tried my best to react as quickly as possible.
I’m trying to improve it every day because it’s an important weapon for my game. It’s taken a lot of work over the years to get it to this point.”​

That is a prime example of the kind of work one needs to do when the game gets faster.

Alternatively, one has to stand back further and further, till the stands and line umpires are hitting the behind.

But this strategy sends the wrong message to the opponent, and half the returns don't make it to the opponents service line.

Respectfully,
masterclass

that is a great post general.

that game is fast today and getting faster with each passing year. it is the natural evolution of the sport and the athlete.

that being said, inactivity would kill you even if the game was not faster today than yesterday.

one simply has to keep up. it is like that in life and in business too. also not a single other player on the planet on the tour is complaining about the faster game today. you have to keep working and you have to stay in the game. the game looks mighty fast from the golf course or from endless other outside activities.

if you just stand in the road while doing absolutely nothing, sooner or later you are going to get run over.


rafa had a very unique competitive advantage. nobody in the history of mankind has been blessed with such heavy and powerful topspin.

it was like a gift from the gods. he perfected it and took it up a few levels to a point where it allowed him to capture 9 RG crowns and also allowing him to dominate the planet on the red clay for a decade.

all he had to do was maintain his game and his fitness and he could have taken 2 more RG crowns. he did not even have to improve, progress, and innovate.

he was armed with enough of a competitive advantage. there has never been that much and that unique competitive advantage ever before. he took down the whole planet with it. he would record winning records against 100% of the top 30 players. he ruled the red clay for a decade with it.


I played with a similar heavy topspin game. I too was gifted by the gods with a sensational and deadly topspin forehand. only I had a single handed topspin backhand.

I also started too late in the sport. injuries forced me out to take up long distance cycling and now weight lifting also. so I know a thing or two about the heavy topspin game. I have never lost a singles match on clay.

it did require immense fitness and endurance. I often went for 10-15 mile runs after practicing 6 hours a day or more. I also hit at least 2 hours a day against the wall before even starting my practice sessions.

we know that muster, vilas, rafa, and borg have been called the iron men of tennis. that is the kind of fitness and physicality that is required to dominate with heavy topspin on the red clay.

you also need great timing if you want to hit effectively with heavy topspin. that, invariably, means constant practice. hitting endless hours on the practice courts.

so that is the catch: you need superhuman fitness and significant physicality. and you need endless hours of hitting on the practice courts.

muster was known to go for 20 mile runs after 6 hours of practice. lendl often rode his bike for 30 miles or more on off days to get some added endurance work done. and so on.

you have to go out there and produce monster blocks of work on fitness and on the practice courts.

 

[ClayDeath]

Who wants to fire up a thread for Monte Carlo?

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

monte carlo is closer than we think..soon the clayfest will begin. I hear those distant drums starting up.

 

[masterclass]

Well it seems Nadal went almost straight from Miami to Barcelona.
Something has happened with Nadal's left hand/wrist, but nobody is saying much at this point and are playing it down.

Nadal went to the Clinica Mapfre de Medicina del Tenis in Barcelona and saw his good doctor Dr. Ángel Ruiz Cotorro.


Health check for Rafa...all is in order now and ready to start the clay season.

Nadal leaves Barcelona clinic with bandage around hand and wrist

Later, Rafa walking near Real Club de Tenis with wrist under wraps

Hopefully it is nothing.
The last thing he needs is to be injured. I don't know why he bothered to play on the hard courts in Miami.
When one tries to compete at a high level and one is not completely fit, I fear injuries are more likely, and one thing I've been afraid of for awhile.

But we're going to see what's going on in Monte Carlo.

Respectfully,
masterclass

 

[ClayDeath]

Could be blisters.

We know he doesn't play and practice much.

He hates practice and he certainly does not last long at the tournaments.

he had absolutely zero business going to Miami other than to collect his appearance fee.

increased incidence of injuries over the last 5 years is a direct result of reckless disregard for optimal and supreme fitness.

It has cost him in a very big way.

next injury will put him out of the sport for good.

 

[ClayDeath]

Rafa has basically spelled this out but evidently very few are willing to listen.

He has said at least 20 times now that he doesn't care if he wins or loses.

 

[Ricardo]

Rafa has basically spelled this out but evidently very few are willing to listen.

He has said at least 20 times now that he doesn't care if he wins or loses.

but he is making enough money for us to drool over no?

if he is happy, that's all it matters. now he loses often so what? its his life.

 

[Ricardo]

Could be blisters.

We know he doesn't play and practice much.

He hates practice and he certainly does not last long at the tournaments.

he had absolutely zero business going to Miami other than to collect his appearance fee.

increased incidence of injuries over the last 5 years is a direct result of reckless disregard for optimal and supreme fitness.

It has cost him in a very big way.

next injury will put him out of the sport for good.

i bet it won't, he'll play on as long as he likes. Some players do, and they have injuries everyday.

He'll go out and play, practice doesn't pay money only matches do. He has accumulated too much mileage to practice like he used to, so good on him for saving unnecessary energy waste.