Could Nadal have stayed and just lose in the 1st round?

0dividedby0 · Jun 19, 2009

What indication with the Wawrinka match, did that give him, that he himself already knows from the Hewitt match? Ok he's not 100%, or maybe he doesn't want to play if he can't win, but atleast open play. What's an extra couple of days going to do? Being the defending champion and all.

vtmike · Jun 19, 2009

An early exit would be a huge mental & physical blow to his confidence...

veroniquem · Jun 19, 2009

And what would be the point of doing that? Except wreck his knee a little bit more? 0, it would make no sense at all.

rommil · Jun 19, 2009

veroniquem said:
And what would be the point of doing that? Except wreck his knee a little bit more? 0, it would make no sense at all.

That way he can have one more press conference......he seems like he's been liking to do that lately.

IvanAndreevich · Jun 19, 2009

That would have been completely pointless IMO. If he knows he can't go all the way, let someone else in who can. Even a lucky loser.

viva la rafa · Jun 19, 2009

vtmike said:
An early exit would be a huge mental & physical blow to his confidence...

exactly and he doesnt need any more of that

veroniquem · Jun 19, 2009

rommil said:
That way he can have one more press conference......he seems like he's been liking to do that lately.

I love his press conf, I wouldn't mind having one every day but the W one was

TennisandMusic · Jun 19, 2009

vtmike said:
An early exit would be a huge mental & physical blow to his confidence...

If you know you're not going to win and you're playing badly why would it affect that at all? Have you ever competed and known when you're at your best vs. your worst?

Cindysphinx · Jun 20, 2009

Why not just compete?

Pride. If you know you are sub-par, that you have no chance of playing the way you need to play, why just phone it in?

I wish he would just take as much time as he needs to put this behind him.

effervescence · Jun 20, 2009

He was probably of the mindset that, you know, if I'm going to play, I'm going to give it my all. If I have little chance of making it all the way considering my current condition, I'm not going to play at all. I don't think he was as worried about whether he was going to be mentally affected if he lost early because he already knew where his game & physical state was at - it's mostly champion's pride, I think. Lots of people think that way.

Cesc Fabregas · Jun 20, 2009

Nadal plays to win he knew he couldn't win with his knee condition.

malakas · Jun 20, 2009

Yes he could.He could also end up winning rounds and going to the quarters.

Why he didn't?He said it clearly.For him,he wants to participate to win.He saw that he was not 100% and that there was little chance to win the whole thing against the top contenders.So he didn't participate at all.

miyagi · Jun 20, 2009

That makes no sense, do you understand the concept of being injured?

To get better you have to rest, he needs to rest for sometime and let his knees heal.

Whats the point of playing just for the sake of it, he was clearly well below his best - seems pointless to me.

tahiti · Jun 20, 2009

Nadal is not someone who gives 50%.
That's insulting to a champion.
If you're going to do something, do it properly or not at all.

Parabolica · Jun 20, 2009

There is no way Nadal should risk his career. I think his knees are in worse condition than they're letting on. I would be surprised if he came back for USO 2009, as that's only 2 months away. I hope he takes his time and fully recovers, the worst thing would be him coming back too early and causing further damage.

maximo · Jun 20, 2009

It will be interesting to see how well he will play at the USO...

tintin · Jun 20, 2009

I knew as soon as he lost to Hewitt that he was gonna withdraw
I mean with all due respect to Hewitt but in today's game he doesn't have 1 single shot in his arsenal other than sheer will to fight that can hurt the top 5
Hewitt has never and never will be a huge server
he doesn't as much power
he doesn't move as well as he did
he is 2 steps slower

had Nadal made the 2nd week,Murray would drop shot the Spaniard to death and make him look average

might be a brutal USO for Nadal after stay away from the game for a while and hard court putting so much pressure on his knees

janipyt05 · Jun 20, 2009

... and be humiliated, er no best to opt out and its not like he was fit so why risk it to lose in the 1st round

joeri888 · Jun 20, 2009

Nadal should not even have played Wawrinka, probably not even Hewitt. He needs to take all the time necessary, maybe even undergoing surgery if that's helpful, and try to be ready for the next season. He can try to make US Open, but if he's not 110% he shouldn't.

skip1969 · Jun 20, 2009

. . . and it took him two meaningless exhibition matches to figure out that he wouldn't be 100% fit for wimbledon. i would have thought a couple of hours on a practice court and feeling like crap the next morning might have been enough.

Cindysphinx · Jun 20, 2009

skip1969 said:
. . . and it took him two meaningless exhibition matches to figure out that he wouldn't be 100% fit for wimbledon. i would have thought a couple of hours on a practice court and feeling like crap the next morning might have been enough.

Agreed.

Someone in Nadal's camp is doing him a disservice. When a player has an injury like this, you can see in practice that they are not right. Since it is an overuse injury, it is obvious that rest is indispensable. Given his history with this injury, it was quite foolish to play such a demanding clay court season. And then they decide to play not one but two exhibition matches, knowing that Nadal was injured?

Sheez.

matchmaker · Jun 20, 2009

Participating does not make any sense at all if you are not 100%.

Any tennis player knows that if you are just half a step slow, that your game dramatically deteriorates.

Shaolin · Jun 20, 2009

So...play and lose 1st round, thereby:

-hurting his knee further

-losing more confidence

-giving confidence to another player on tour that he can beat Nadal

-lose further intimidation factor over the rest of the tour

-lose valuable recovery time

Not a great idea if you ask me.

Serendipitous · Jun 20, 2009

If Nadal was not at 100% he should not have played. Period.

He made the right decision.

Now he can rest his knees and hopefully finish strongly at the end of the year.

bizarre_opinion · Jun 20, 2009

bottom line is he shouldn't have even come over to the UK. Well, cheerio nadal, heheehe.

aceroberts13 · Jun 20, 2009

Either a player is ready or he is not. I think you should go in to win or don't go at all.

With that said, his participation in exhibition matches and what not confuse me. Why would he have played in those if he was so far away from being fit for Wimbledon. I don't get it, maybe something is afoot...

Federer_pilon · Jun 20, 2009

Cindysphinx said:
Agreed.

Someone in Nadal's camp is doing him a disservice. When a player has an injury like this, you can see in practice that they are not right. Since it is an overuse injury, it is obvious that rest is indispensable. Given his history with this injury, it was quite foolish to play such a demanding clay court season. And then they decide to play not one but two exhibition matches, knowing that Nadal was injured?

Sheez.

err....isn't an exhibition match supposed to be like practice anyway? -.- i don't see anything wrong with the exhibition matches

malakas · Jun 20, 2009

Federer_pilon said:
err....isn't an exhibition match supposed to be like practice anyway? -.- i don't see anything wrong with the exhibition matches

no like practice.Much more tense than practice.It's almost like a match,but the result doesn't count and players don't take it so seriously.But knowing Nadal I think he did take it very seriously.

zapvor · Jun 20, 2009

how many points woudl he have lost to losing 1st round vs. pulling out liek he did?

Could Nadal have stayed and just lose in the 1st round?

New User

Banned

Bionic Poster

Legend

Legend

New User

Bionic Poster

TennisandMusic

Guest

G.O.A.T.

Rookie

Legend

Banned

Professional

Professional

Semi-Pro

Banned

Professional

Professional

G.O.A.T.

G.O.A.T.

G.O.A.T.

Hall of Fame

G.O.A.T.

Serendipitous

Guest

Rookie

Professional

Professional

Banned

G.O.A.T.

Similar threads