Finally Some Justice: Nadal engages in gamesmanship

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Chopin

Hall of Fame
Ladies & Gentlemen,

I was quite, quite happy when Federer aced Nadal after the rain delay and sent Nadal and his time-wasting ways packing.

Look, I've played competitive tennis (USTA juniors, coached college tennis), and taking a bathroom break during a set is something that a junior player does. If you have to use the bathroom, you do it after the set. Given Nadal's history of injury timeouts and slow play, what are we to think when Nadal takes a bathroom break down 5-4 in the second set as the rains steadily increases in intensity?

While Nadal is a great champion, his engages in gamesmanship, and I, along with countless other tennis fans, call for the umpires to enforce the rule which state that a player shall take no more than 25 seconds between points.

Best,
Chopin
 
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drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal is a cheat, and bad sport. Nothing new. Only thing surprising is the weak chair umps not putting an end to it.

by the way, 5 star thread! :)
 
C

ChanceEncounter

Professional
What Nadal does is fine. The blame goes for the umpires and tennis associations for not enforcing their own rules. None of the players have any obligation to uphold the rules of some hegemony if they aren't called for violating them.
 
S

Seany

Banned
Not only that...did you see the way he was looking at the umpire on match point, you could read him so easily.

"Pleaaaassseee umpire stop the match, because it hurts my ego so much to lose to this old man, and perhaps this completely unnecessary break will make him choke, because I know I can't beat him when he plays like this !! "
 
A

Atherton2003

Hall of Fame
How the heck can anyone know if he had to go or not? Honestly, I don't understand people complaining about the bathroom break. When nature calls, you can't hold it in. He didn't take that long and came right back out with no time delay. You think it's easy to keep playing if you have to do a #1?
 
Bender

Bender

G.O.A.T.
DjokovicForTheWin said:
Yeah so often that you only have that one incident on your mind :)
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Didn't occur to me that Rafa took bathroom breaks habitually. MTOs though, yeah, sure.

Atherton2003 said:
How the heck can anyone know if he had to go or not? Honestly, I don't understand people complaining about the bathroom break. When nature calls, you can't hold it in. He didn't take that long and came right back out with no time delay. You think it's easy to keep playing if you have to do a #1?
Click to expand...
These people also think they know tennis better than Rafa/Roger themselves; no surprise if they think that Rafa does everything on purpose, which should come as rather contradictory since they also assert that Rafa's as dumb as a rock. Next up: aliens built the pyramids, the US government faked the moon landing and set up 9/11.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Atherton2003 said:
How the heck can anyone know if he had to go or not? Honestly, I don't understand people complaining about the bathroom break. When nature calls, you can't hold it in. He didn't take that long and came right back out with no time delay. You think it's easy to keep playing if you have to do a #1?
Click to expand...

all of a sudden when the other guy is about to serve, the urge to go PP hit him? don't tell me he hasn't been toliet trained, which would explain all the butt-picking. Fact is, if he had to go when he called for the break, he must have already been feeling the urge before he served, or has he not learned to hold it?????? like the rest of the human polulation once toilet trained.


Mommy-I-Have-to-Go-Potty-9780965047715.jpg
 
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A

Atherton2003

Hall of Fame
Who knows if he had to take a pee or not. Maybe he has a bladder problem. It is very difficult to hold it when the urge suddenly hits. He did not take long, nor did it delay the game in any way - so let's move on from this senseless topic.
 
C

canuckfan

Semi-Pro
The bathroom break at 4-5 was a disgrace. Nadal's history with this behavior is crystal clear, he consistently does it before his opponent's serve and not his own. It's an embarassment to the game. Any fan who doesn't see it is the kind of player who would do the same thing in a match. Chopin, I'm with you on this one. There are several great things about nadal's game but the gamesmanship is terrible.

The ITF needs to rewrite the rule so any break (injury, bathroom, whatever) must be taken before a player's own serve, not the serve of the opponent. If you're not fit enough to last one more game until your own serve, it's your own fault and you should have to forfeit one game. Then none of this BS would be possible.
 
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A

Atherton2003

Hall of Fame
Fact is, when we all become pro tennis players and have the urge to take a pee and have to somehow continue on without being allowed to relieve oneself, then we can all talk....until then, I say Rafa's bathroom break was acceptable and it in no way delayed the game.
 
A

Atherton2003

Hall of Fame
why do men pee on trees or wherever they can in public? Do you expect them to wait to get to a bathroom? Sometimes it is quite simply, not possible. Men should know it and understand that nature calls and when it does, you often can't wait. Let's please move on from this inane topic.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Atherton2003 said:
Who knows if he had to take a pee or not. Maybe he has a bladder problem. It is very difficult to hold it when the urge suddenly hits. He did not take long, nor did it delay the game in any way - so let's move on from this senseless topic.
Click to expand...

Depend_Protective_Underwear-sm.JPG
 
N

Nathaniel_Near

Guest
phnx90 said:
Didn't occur to me that Rafa took bathroom breaks habitually. MTOs though, yeah, sure.


These people also think they know tennis better than Rafa/Roger themselves; no surprise if they think that Rafa does everything on purpose, which should come as rather contradictory since they also assert that Rafa's as dumb as a rock. Next up: aliens built the pyramids, the US government faked the moon landing and set up 9/11.
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Bingo!


.....
 
C

ChanceEncounter

Professional
DjokovicForTheWin said:
Come on, it's not fine. Just because the umps are pussies doesn't mean he should take advantage of it. Yes he can take advantage of it, but it's not fine and it makes him an A hole.
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Everyone would take advantage of it if they knew the umpires wouldn't call it. The umpires need to come down on the rules more regularly, then players will regulate themselves out of fear of it being called.
 
sbengte

sbengte

G.O.A.T.
phnx90 said:
Doesn't Roger take bathroom breaks in the middle of sets too?
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I don't know. Please enlighten us when was the last time Fed took a bathroom break in the middle of a set ? I remember Nadal took one between games in his WTF 2011 RR match against Fish.
 
P

pvaudio

Legend
ChanceEncounter said:
Everyone would take advantage of it if they knew the umpires wouldn't call it. The umpires need to come down on the rules more regularly, then players will regulate themselves out of fear of it being called.
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No, they don't. Nadal, however, consistently does. The people who claim that all of this is legitimate are either ignorant or simply bitter that their favorite player is a gamesman. He's been doing this for years.
 
P

pvaudio

Legend
forthegame said:
Missed the incident but what's wrong with going to the loo if you're in the middle of a rain delay?
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1. How often do you see players take bathroom breaks?

2. It was before his opponent was to serve, not his. He only ever does it this way on purpose.

3. It was not in the middle of a rain delay.
 
DjokovicForTheWin

DjokovicForTheWin

Banned
ChanceEncounter said:
Everyone would take advantage of it if they knew the umpires wouldn't call it. The umpires need to come down on the rules more regularly, then players will regulate themselves out of fear of it being called.
Click to expand...

That's the point isn't it? Fed is 5 years older than Nadal and I'm sure he could use more time between points and he knows umps don't call it. Hell he was just complaining about that. Yet he consistently takes less time between points than most of the top guys. So there you go, not everyone does.
 
sbengte

sbengte

G.O.A.T.
DjokovicForTheWin said:
I presume he was thinking about the one against Davydenko at the AO2010.
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Why this urban legend being propagated by Fed fans themselves about that legal , non-disruptive bathroom break taken between sets in the Davy match is beyond me. Fed was back before the umpire called time so it is dumb to compare it with disruptive breaks taken *between* games in the middle of a set.
 
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D

Don Felder

Semi-Pro
It was sweet to see Fed punish this crap with that resounding ace.

My buddy and I were texting back and forth. I told him I guarantee if this gets close again, Nadal is calling the trainer or taking a bathroom break. And he did not disappoint. It was patently obvious he was hoping to buy time to get the rain delay. He knew Fed was tightening up. The begging for the delay at 40-30 after Fed won the brutal 30-30 point at 5-4 was merely the cherry on top. Pathetic. Any man finishes that point.

I think the best solution is to allow mid-set bathroom breaks, injury TOs etc only before your own service game. Good solution whoever posted that earlier.
 
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