The Mystery And The Magic of Rafael Nadal

[ClayDeath]

did I mention that I am not happy with the clay warrior?

 

[Kieran]

did I mention that I am not happy with the clay warrior?

Yeah, just before the semi-final in Montreal...

 

[ClayDeath]

did I mention that I am not happy with the clay warrior?

Yeah, just before the semi-final in Montreal...

did you pick him to win at the china open too?

now do you know why he leads nadal 12-7 on the hard courts?


I keep telling you folks this: best of 3 sets format is where nadal is most vulnerable on the hard courts.


if a clown like fog can almost destroy nadal on the hard courts then so can a man with 6 slams.


nole is a beast in best of 3 sets formats on the hard courts.

 

[Kieran]

You're very negative about Rafa, Clay, but you've been wrong all summer...

 

[DarthFed]

He is 12-7 in large part because he is better on hard courts than Nadal. And if it was up to you Rafs would completely dodge Novak and hard courts in general.

 

[ClayDeath]

You're very negative about Rafa, Clay, but you've been wrong all summer...

what is this rubbish "all summer"?


1. name one normal person who thought nadal was going to have the kind of year he has had. he took home 10 tournaments. 2 slams on 2 completely different surfaces and he took home 5 masters titles.

2. I did NOT predict that he would monte carlo and he did not. it had to do with his form. he got going after that. I did expect him to do a little better at Wimbledon but the man showed up very spent from the clay campaigns. his form was relatively shaky at RG too but we knew he was going to take that crown anyway. at least I knew.


3. only a complete idiot would have picked nadal to beat nole at montreal. vast majority of you here if not nearly all picked nole to win that match.

4. once nadal pocketed cincy, his form looked good enough to bag the u.s. open and I picked him to win the open. you call that "negative"? what the hell are you smoking.

bokkies had nole as the favorite at flushing meadows and I went against the bookies. I knew nadal was going to win.


it is a bloody problem you folks have here. some of you just cant stop taking cheap shots at some people.

darth is just blinded by blind hate for nadal so we know he cant think clearly. the rest of you have to stick together like hedge hogs and constantly holding each other`s hand 24 hours a day.


you want to call baron negative about nadal too? he also picked nadal to lose that match to nole in cincy?

I did NOT pick nadal to win the other night. his form was horrible. he should have lost to fognini.


it is called being realistic.

only a blind worshiper would pick nadal to win shanghai masters and the wtf. the man is worn out.

you talk a big game but you don't have any guts to make a prediction.

make a prediction and lets see what you got.

 

[Kieran]

Hey, calm yourself down, Clay. Don't be getting your knickers in a knot. You're the one who said he should do what he did last year (take 7 months off? You never told us!) and were moaning about his summer HC schedule.

Fact is, I very rarely back against Nadal, no matter where or when, because he can beat anyone, no matter where or when. But he won't win everything. And he'll lose sometimes.

But I totally backed him on the summer HC - with a small reservation about Cinci, thinking maybe he'd peaked too soon. But you? Come on, you were off the scale with your negativity and I'm not the only one who noticed...

 

[DarthFed]

Nothing like someone who comes on board after the match and says "I am a genius for not picking Rafa to win." Kieran probably grows tired of dealing with children. Everything he has said was true, you picked Rafa to win 3 games in Montreal around the same time you picked Murray to storm through the US Open, around the same time you said Rafa should pretty much stay away from hard courts. Then Rafa proves you horribly wrong and you changed your predictions after seeing Rafa's draw and are now trying to act like you are a genius. No one hear is buying your garbage pal, and I doubt anyone did.

 

[ClayDeath]

Hey, calm yourself down, Clay. Don't be getting your knickers in a knot. You're the one who said he should do what he did last year (take 7 months off? You never told us!) and were moaning about his summer HC schedule.

Fact is, I very rarely back against Nadal, no matter where or when, because he can beat anyone, no matter where or when. But he won't win everything. And he'll lose sometimes.

But I totally backed him on the summer HC - with a small reservation about Cinci, thinking maybe he'd peaked too soon. But you? Come on, you were off the scale with your negativity and I'm not the only one who noticed...

lies and misinformation take away from your credibility. you are better than that.


produce a post where I said he should take 7 months off.


I am just not into blindly worshipping anybody. I was very unhappy with nadal when he took all that time off.

in fact general masterclass and I talked about it nearly daily at tennis4you.


there has never been anything negative about nadal from my side. I am just more realistic and objective than most.


I think I know what you people are doing here: you are holding each other`s hands and banding together in taking cheap shots at me.

that is not very cool. I just commended baron on his success with this forum the other day.

now I come here and see the same damn madness I saw a few months ago.


don't ruin his board. don't take cheap shots at people when you don't have any evidence to back it up.

and you should not be taking cheap shots at people anyway.

now I see this idiot nadalrg2005 making personal attacks. what a damn fool and I supported him. I even brought him here.

this is how he pays me back. maybe huntingyou was right: he is a nothing more than a hapless troll who cant stop talking about nadal.



anyway this is a great forum but you have got to learn to be objective and reasonable.

going after somebody like me who has done so much for your forum is pretty pathetic if you ask me.

 

[Kieran]

:lolz: Are you for real?

First off, go back through your own posts and you'll find first me and then Broken Shoelace ask you if you meant Rafa should take seven months off every year and just concentrate on clay, since you were so against his hard courts schedule. You said he should have immediately gone and played 2 clay court events after Wimbledon.

Buddy, you've been wrong all summer, from being "not happy with the clay warrior" back in Montreal, to picking Murray to win the US Open. When you're in a hole - stop digging!

 

[Kieran]

You go through this thread and you find General Clay suggesting Rafa should stick to natural surfaces, he's not gonna win the US Open and his best shot is to stick to clay and prolong his career. Anything from this period will find you posts by General Clay saying negative things about Rafa.

Here he is in Montreal, really not happy with the Clay Warrior.

Here he tips Andy to take the US Open.

I mean, it's all over that period of time, not hard to find. Clay knows this - and I like Clay - but don't attack others when you're called on it, general!

 

[ClayDeath]

I have never said that he should take 7 months off. that had to be somebody else.

now nadal himself and his uncle have said repeatedly that hard courts are killing his knees and contributing to his injuries.

I think they are right. nadal even admitted that he needed to make some adjustments for softer surfaces.

all I said was that he needs to curtail some of the hard court activity.

that means practicing a little more on year around basis on the red clay and playing fewer matches on the hard courts.


he did the same thing in 2008 when he was a lot healthier. he played more matches on the hard courts than anybody on the tour. it helped him win the Australian open but he left RG and Wimbledon on the table.

basically it cost him pretty much the whole year. he could not help spain win davis cup either.

so this is not new. he does it all the time. the man has spent at least 2 years of his prime years on the sidelines.

so of course I am not happy with him. he is overdoing it again.

 

[ClayDeath]

lets just say that he is taking way too much risk at the moment.


and now he is clearly spent so that is when he is most vulnerable to injury.

lets hope it works out for him because he is finished if he has to spend even more than 7 months on the sidelines next time around.

he is too close to making his own history. he is staring down history now.

I would not take monumental risks now for the sake of #1 ranking.

lets show up healthy, fit, fresh, and ready to take the Australian open and escape from there injury free.

and then we can worry about the #1 rank. it will take care of itself.

 

[ClayDeath]

:lolz: Are you for real?

First off, go back through your own posts and you'll find first me and then Broken Shoelace ask you if you meant Rafa should take seven months off every year and just concentrate on clay, since you were so against his hard courts schedule. You said he should have immediately gone and played 2 clay court events after Wimbledon.

Buddy, you've been wrong all summer, from being "not happy with the clay warrior" back in Montreal, to picking Murray to win the US Open. When you're in a hole - stop digging!

I m on the top of the mountain general Kieran.


:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing

 

[Kieran]

I m on the top of the mountain general Kieran.


:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing

Good for you, brother! Bear in mind, Rafa won the US Open when many advised caution, but now I think he should tone it down and have a good Christmas.

He's rich enough to!

 

[ClayDeath]

I m on the top of the mountain general Kieran.


:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing

Good for you, brother! Bear in mind, Rafa won the US Open when many advised caution, but now I think he should tone it down and have a good Christmas.

He's rich enough to!

everything has worked out for him. with just 2 exceptions.

he probably should not have lost to zeballos early on and then to nole at monte carlo. but that is what those 7 months off can do.


I never picked him to win monte carlo this year after seeing him against zeballos. he looked heavy, slow, and rusty.

I thought indian wells was an outlier: roger had a terrible back. no nole and murray around.

and he got a worn torn del potro in the final.


at any rate it all worked out. now I think he has done more than enough.

I am just worried that by taking too much risk now, he could compromise the possibility of 2-3 slams next year.

that to me and to history is far more critical.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

If 2013 taught yall one thing.....its that nobody on a tennis forum knows a thing about what is best for Nadal (that's why I've never disagreed with Nadal's scheduling, I always knew he knew best). Only Nadal knows best (hence the domination of Montreal, Cincy, US Open). That's why he's the only man ever to win slams for 9 years in a row (and more years to come obviously). Even the ungrateful Nadal 'fans' who want Nadal to play less didn't recommend him to take 7 months off, yet he did, and it was another master stroke from the only man who knows best.

 

[ClayDeath]

just about 97 days to go for the Australian open.

this slam may go down in history as the single most important slam in history if nadal is able to capture it.


he really will be staring down history if he pulls it off.


and I am going on record right here and right now by saying that nadal is going to win the Australian open.

 

[Moxie]

I m on the top of the mountain general Kieran.


:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing:laydownlaughing

Good for you, brother! Bear in mind, Rafa won the US Open when many advised caution, but now I think he should tone it down and have a good Christmas.

He's rich enough to!

everything has worked out for him. with just 2 exceptions.

he probably should not have lost to zeballos early on and then to nole at monte carlo. but that is what those 7 months off can do.
I never picked him to win monte carlo this year after seeing him against zeballos. he looked heavy, slow, and rusty.
I thought indian wells was an outlier: roger had a terrible back. no nole and murray around.
and he got a worn torn del potro in the final.
at any rate it all worked out. now I think he has done more than enough.
I am just worried that by taking too much risk now, he could compromise the possibility of 2-3 slams next year.
that to me and to history is far more critical.

I don't begrundge Zeballos his moment in the sun. Rafa was fresh back, the world was watching, and Zeballos played the match of his life. If I'm not wrong, career highlight for Horacio, and something to tell the grandkids.

As to Monte Carlo, it was his first time facing Djokovic, and I know that Novak wanted to send the shot across the bow to set up RG. Heavy conditions didn't favor Rafa, but Nole was committed.

So what were your 2 exceptions?

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Its amazing how Djokovic had almost everything going for him at Roland Garros this year. Nadal hadn't played a 5-setter since 2012 Wimbledon and in early 2013 it was not clear whether Nadal was physically 'there' yet. Nadal lost to Djokovic at Monte Carlo (an event Nadal had dominated even more than Roland Garros). Yet none of that helped Djokovic when he was up a break in the 5th set. Nadal still got him. The mental edge Nadal has at Roland Garros, is now greater than ever.