Which retired star could make a comeback into top 20?

[Moxie]

Safin couldn't do it either - he was struggling to make the top 20 for a few years before he retired. I don't think any of them could. They retired because they were done.

At his best, Safin could embarrass anyone; including Sampras! He may have struggled at time, but his problem was between the ears! Same with his sister, Safina! I'll take Safin's game over Rafa's "ugly" one anytime! Watching Darcis take him out of Wimbledon; such a fake! He was ok as long as he was winning points! The limping only occurred with the misses; he's so "FOS!"

Safin was the guy that brought me back to being a full-time tennis fan. He had really a diverse game, power and deftness. He was the beginning of, and, I think, still is the gold-standard for Big Man tennis. And he was, of course, quite the character. I got hooked on Rafa's game, and took the kid on as my back-up...because, let's face it: if you were a fan of Safin, you needed a back-up. To me, they both have/had thrilling games, and enormous amounts of charisma.

Fiero, I know you don't like Rafa's game; it's your prerogative to find it ugly (taste issue,) but I think it goes a bit far to call him a "fake." Safin, while I love him, was actually sanctioned for tanking, (fair or not.) Nadal has had clear injuries issues over the years, but I don't think anyone would call him a "quitter." Like who you like, but consider a few things in terms of glass houses and stones before you disparage a player, when you revere another.

strange you like them both, as Safin was mostly the opposite of what Nadal is. Nadal trains hard, Safin parties harder, Nadal grinds out a win while Safin goes for winners whenever possible, Nadal is a small-ish (at 6"1' he is below average) agile guy while Safin is big and heavy, Nadal fights for every point while Safin was known to catch a serve with his hand, just when he feels like it.

Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose.

I think they both do coincide in charisma. The "it" factor. Somehow, I can both love the fact that Nadal is so seriously committed to his game, and Safin was seriously committed to his own madness. But since they both play/played amazing tennis, I don't see why it's that inconsistent.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Safin/Nadal are entertaining.
Federer/Djokovic are boring.

 

[Moxie]

Safin/Nadal are entertaining.
Federer/Djokovic are boring.

As I said above...there's no accounting for taste. (But it can be said that it "is a matter of....")

 

[Kieran]

Exactly! Federer and Djokovic are "boring?" Then tennis is boring!

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Its interesting how Federer and Safin both hit loads of unforced errors, yet even when Safin is hitting unforced errors he is entertaining.

The difference is, most of Safin's errors are actually well-timed shots, just ill-directed (poor shot-selection).
Whereas a good portion of Federer's errors are the result of shanks, and are just plain ugly.

And the reason why I find Djokovic is boring, is because he doesn't vary his game enough. His pace, trajectory and pattern of play lack variation. Maybe his coach isn't giving him enough fresh ideas. Or maybe Djokovic's skill-set is not conducive to change. Whereas Nadal/Murray change their pace a lot, and Nadal changes his pattern of play when necessary (and commits heavily to the slice-backhand vs certain opponents). Although Murray recently has played too one-paced. Murray is at his best when he's playing with finesse and throwing in the occasional bullet (he generates more pace than most).

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

And the reason why I find Djokovic is boring, is because he doesn't vary his game enough. His pace, trajectory and pattern of play lack variation. Maybe his coach isn't giving him enough fresh ideas. Or maybe Djokovic's skill-set is not conducive to change. Whereas Nadal/Murray change their pace a lot, and Nadal changes his pattern of play when necessary (and commits heavily to the slice-backhand vs certain opponents). Although Murray recently has played too one-paced. Murray is at his best when he's playing with finesse and throwing in the occasional bullet (he generates more pace than most).

no one cares why you find djokovic boring..

you are boring.

you have derailed another thread with your irrelevant witless dribble despite being told before not to..

so not only are you boring..you are stupid as well.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

And the reason why I find Djokovic is boring, is because he doesn't vary his game enough. His pace, trajectory and pattern of play lack variation. Maybe his coach isn't giving him enough fresh ideas. Or maybe Djokovic's skill-set is not conducive to change. Whereas Nadal/Murray change their pace a lot, and Nadal changes his pattern of play when necessary (and commits heavily to the slice-backhand vs certain opponents). Although Murray recently has played too one-paced. Murray is at his best when he's playing with finesse and throwing in the occasional bullet (he generates more pace than most).

no one cares why you find djokovic boring..

you are boring.

you have derailed another thread with your irrelevant witless dribble despite being told before not to..

so not only are you boring..you are stupid as well.

I was replying to a poster who spoke about Safin, and charisma and the reasons why a person would find Nadal/Safin entertaining (despite their opposite playing styles, whereas many have grouped Murray/Djokovic/Nadal in a category of grinding baseliners, yet I only find 2 of them entertaining). This was a subject I did not bring up. I was giving my opinion on the subject. Sorry if I hurt your feelings by replying.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

And the reason why I find Djokovic is boring, is because he doesn't vary his game enough. His pace, trajectory and pattern of play lack variation. Maybe his coach isn't giving him enough fresh ideas. Or maybe Djokovic's skill-set is not conducive to change. Whereas Nadal/Murray change their pace a lot, and Nadal changes his pattern of play when necessary (and commits heavily to the slice-backhand vs certain opponents). Although Murray recently has played too one-paced. Murray is at his best when he's playing with finesse and throwing in the occasional bullet (he generates more pace than most).

no one cares why you find djokovic boring..

you are boring.

you have derailed another thread with your irrelevant witless dribble despite being told before not to..

so not only are you boring..you are stupid as well.

I was replying to a poster who spoke about Safin, and charisma and the reasons why a person would find Nadal/Safin entertaining (despite their opposite playing styles). This was a subject I did not bring up. I was giving my opinion on the subject. Sorry if I hurt your feelings by replying.

stop lying ..no mention of safin at all you lying dimwit. :laydownlaughing

 

[Kieran]

Hey Borgie, are you awake, or are you typing in your sleep...again?

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

Hey Borgie, are you awake, or are you typing in your sleep...again?

no i'm asleep..

its a bit of a surreal snooze, I am chomping on an inflatable ommlette while floating 3 miles above a slightly quiet cloud.

 

[brokenshoelace]

And the reason why I find Djokovic is boring, is because he doesn't vary his game enough. His pace, trajectory and pattern of play lack variation

This applies to Nadal more than Djokovic actually.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

And the reason why I find Djokovic is boring, is because he doesn't vary his game enough. His pace, trajectory and pattern of play lack variation

This applies to Nadal more than Djokovic actually.

Nadal looked like the master of slice at 2013 US Open final. Also the master of spin. Hard to beat that for variation. Djokovic was....the master of flat?

 

[brokenshoelace]

And the reason why I find Djokovic is boring, is because he doesn't vary his game enough. His pace, trajectory and pattern of play lack variation

This applies to Nadal more than Djokovic actually.

Nadal looked like the master of slice at 2013 US Open final. Also the master of spin. Hard to beat that for variation. Djokovic was....the master of flat?

But Nadal has a far more repetitive pattern of play (and I don't mean that in a bad way) than Djokovic, with cross court forehands being the key. There's nothing wrong with that, and most players have a pattern anyway. I don't think Djokovic is boring, especially given the fact that he changes directions better and far more effortlessly than anyone else on tour at the moment.

 

[DarthFed]

Nadal is the master of slice now? Lol, I think even the most hardcore Rafa fans think that slice is poor at best. Well, I guess all but 1...

 

[Front242]

This thread went from discussing which retired player come make a return to the top 20 (none by the way) to Nadal's slice. Is Nadal retired and making a comeback? How did we get 4 pages on this? No retired ATP player has any hope of returning to top 20. Now WTA...that's a different story altogether. Maybe this thread should be discussed in the WTA section.

 

[Moxie]

This thread went from discussing which retired player come make a return to the top 20 (none by the way) to Nadal's slice. Is Nadal retired and making a comeback? How did we get 4 pages on this? No retired ATP player has any hope of returning to top 20. Now WTA...that's a different story altogether. Maybe this thread should be discussed in the WTA section.

Too true. The closest we got was to Haas's great comeback from a long injury lay-off, and the hopes that Soderling can do something similar. Neither has ever officially retired. Ironically, it was Nadal2005RG who started this thread, and was the first to derail it towards a conversation of Nadal.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Nadal is easily the best guide for this topic, because he was out for 7 months (which many speculated may be his retirement) and returned to win 60 of 63 matches. Nadal also has been told for many years by fans and the media (not directly but in print/internet) that he has the body of a 30+year-old (and that was back in 2009). So if a player with the body of a 30-34-year-old can return from a 7 month break and have some success, a player retiring for one-year and returning successfully is a comparable situation

I'm not saying every top 40 player who retires for a year will return better than ever, but I'd say with niggling injuries having time to recover even slightly, there is a chance of that player returning to the top 20 (seeing as those niggling injuries would have played a big role in the player slipping from 20 to 40), and Roddick probably would have achieved top 20 IF he had the mental strength (or really the motivation) to return a year after retiring. The impact of going from a player carrying injuries for a decade to suddenly not carrying as many injuries (let's say you retired with 60% health and made a comeback a year later with 70% health) is underrated. Of course, those niggling injuries will return, but there is a good chance you will have a year to attack the rankings and rise (see Hingis 2006, coming out of retirement to reach the #6 ranking by year's end, before injuries returned in 2007). Don't confuse Hingis with what I'm suggesting on the ATP. I'm not saying Roddick would return to #6. But around #20, yes.

Now we just have to wait for Federer, Murray, Djokovic, Ferrer, Berdych, Wawrinka, Del Potro to retire and see if a one-year break can help with their niggling injuries significantly (if they choose to return a year after retiring). Of course, if the player has a long history of back complaints (Murray, Djokovic, Federer), its a lot more likely to be curtains, as that is the main cause of tennis retirement. So actually I'd say the players with non-back ailments would have a much better chance. Players with tendinitis issues (including the unconquerable Serena Williams), always more likely to have long careers, than players with back issues, because tendinitis flares up and flares down depending on rest and workload. Back injuries are less predictable and often play-up without rhyme or reason.

 

[Ilovetennis2]

Nadal is the total opposite of the best guide because he did not retire. Nothing close to it. He was away from the game due to an injury, with full intent on coming back to tennis.

How is this guy still allowed to post?

 

[Front242]

Nadal is the total opposite of the best guide because he did not retire. Nothing close to it. He was away from the game due to an injury, with full intent on coming back to tennis.

How is this guy still allowed to post?

Yeah and talking about Murray and Djokovic and mentioning the word retirement when both are in their prime is well....not clever. Nadal was out less than Haas, less than Del Potro, far less than the imminently hopefully returning Soderling and yet somehow he is the benchmark example for players coming back after "retirement". Sigh.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Nadal is the total opposite of the best guide because he did not retire. Nothing close to it. He was away from the game due to an injury, with full intent on coming back to tennis.

How is this guy still allowed to post?

Yeah and talking about Murray and Djokovic and mentioning the word retirement when both are in their prime is well....not clever. Nadal was out less than Haas, less than Del Potro, far less than the imminently hopefully returning Soderling and yet somehow he is the benchmark example for players coming back after "retirement". Sigh.

I didn't say Murray and Djokovic will retire next year, but you are now witnessing Murray going for back surgery. The ball-game changes when an athlete requires surgery. I have something to say regarding a problem in the 2nd half of your post, but I know using the Na-word is like carrying a time-bomb around here (perhaps because of the US Open), so I won't risk it anymore. Plus, here's your chance to prove you don't want to post about Nadal.