FearOfTheDark
Rookie
Seemed pretty quick to me too..
Finally Some Justice: Nadal engages in gamesmanship
- Thread starter Chopin
- Start date
Seemed pretty quick to me too..
ThoughtCrime
Rookie
It was quick, the umpire told him to be quick, and he returned back just on time IIRC. People like to spin things waaaay out of proportion here, especially if it's Nadal :neutral:
vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
good that roger ended it with a superb ace ! 
(and please note that tio toni is not in IW... so he did all this without toni's coaching)
poor nadal... all this rain was making him wanting to go to the toilets......
and then they blame you for bashing cheatin'nad whereas you give him props instead !
(and please note that tio toni is not in IW... so he did all this without toni's coaching)
poor nadal... all this rain was making him wanting to go to the toilets......
excellent post.
zacinnc78
Professional
thats like saying its fine to go around stealing stuff from ur neighbors as long as nobody is calling you out for it
nadalwon2012
Banned
Too bad you had to make a fool out of yourself the day Federer beat Nadal. I would think you would be in a good mood. Instead you complain about a bathroom break which didn't even delay the match?
FlamEnemY
Hall of Fame
Why, thank you for noticing.
And to answer your question, maybe his definition of "proper respect for the game" is different than yours or mine. Or maybe he respects his paycheck the most. I don't know. Any way, I think there are many other players who would not do this, even if the umpires would let them.
Well, it's one thing when a dog barks at you, and another when it bites you.
Enforcing the rules doesn't mean making a half-assed warning, it means going through with it, giving penalty points to his opponent, etc.
Then again, when I think about it, even if the umpire is the chief during a match, Nadal certainly has more influence and resources than him outside of the court.
zacinnc78
Professional
Nadal is a cheating little b#$%h ,he would do ANYTHING to beat Rodge ...(including and not limited to 'roids)
Yall say it was a quick break it was no biggie....yea right ,it dont take but just one little b$%%h move like that to get in somebodies head and u know it ,dont matter how long the act took
Yall say it was a quick break it was no biggie....yea right ,it dont take but just one little b$%%h move like that to get in somebodies head and u know it ,dont matter how long the act took
Rozroz
G.O.A.T.
add to that this whole rain delay which Nadal prayed that will happen, so a minute of toilet time might have saved his ass.
Raiden
Hall of Fame
Perfect!
Cast that rule in stone ASAP!
Peeing and pooing allowed only before yer own service game!
zacinnc78
Professional
yea it was not that he had to pee,he was just hoping to delay the match so the rain would would really cause bigger delay,little b#$$%h
jones101
Hall of Fame
It was obvious, Nadal was gaining momentun by winning 2 games on the bounce, knew Fed could be nervous, so tried to stalll before Fed served for the match.
It did not work thankfully. But I must add he was gone about a minute total, so It wasn't a major delay, but I didn't like the tactic nonetheless.
Rafa fans dont need to worry though, Nadal will shake this loss off pretty easily IMO, I do think it could do wonders for Federer's confidence though.
Also, the top 4 are getting closer to each other.
1. Federer gains on Nadalovic and distances himself from Murray.
2. Rafa gains on Nole but Fed/Murray close the gap on him.
3. Murray gains on Nadalovic but is further from Fed.
4. Djokers loses ground to all three.
This CC season could be carnage rankings wise.
It did not work thankfully. But I must add he was gone about a minute total, so It wasn't a major delay, but I didn't like the tactic nonetheless.
Rafa fans dont need to worry though, Nadal will shake this loss off pretty easily IMO, I do think it could do wonders for Federer's confidence though.
Also, the top 4 are getting closer to each other.
1. Federer gains on Nadalovic and distances himself from Murray.
2. Rafa gains on Nole but Fed/Murray close the gap on him.
3. Murray gains on Nadalovic but is further from Fed.
4. Djokers loses ground to all three.
This CC season could be carnage rankings wise.
To be honest, I've been in intense matches, where I've HAD to go to the bathroom. Have you ever tried to play while holding it in??
It sucks, and you can't play properly if you have to take a sh*t, or your bladder is packed full of urine.
It's impossible. It feels like when you hit the ball, you're gunna take a dump in your shorts. So you end up holding back, and playing like crap. It happened to me yesterday, and I just made it to the washroom in time. I came back and ended up winning (was just a practice match, but still intense).
It sucks, and you can't play properly if you have to take a sh*t, or your bladder is packed full of urine.
It's impossible. It feels like when you hit the ball, you're gunna take a dump in your shorts. So you end up holding back, and playing like crap. It happened to me yesterday, and I just made it to the washroom in time. I came back and ended up winning (was just a practice match, but still intense).
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dudeski
Hall of Fame
+1 Couldn't say it better myself.
dudeski
Hall of Fame
Exactly. The length of the delay doesn't matter when you play against Federer who is very prone to total meltdowns when Nadal does his MTOs. It was clearly a mind game. Nadal didn't want to make it a MTO this because that would be too obvious. Nadal is not as dumb as he looks or sounds.
Apun94
Hall of Fame
It's really not Nadal's fault rather it's the umpire's duty to say something. Plus, how can you really know if a person really has to go to the bathroom or not. Cant take the risk of anyone crapping their pants, can we?
If you can't hold in it for a point, you've already waited too long. That's a bs excuse and anyone who doesn't admit it is lying to themselves.
Well duh .. you hold it in, end up playing worse, then at a certain point you just can't hold it in, and HAVE to go to washroom. I ate something iffy, had an upset stomach yesterday and HAD to get there quickly.
I'm not saying this is what happened to Nadal, but before the crucial game at 5-4, I would personally go to the washroom quickly, so I can be at my best. If he took 3 mins, he should have been penalized, but as it stands, he barely took longer than the usual time allowed.
I'm a Federer fan, but it's just ridiculous hating on Nadal for going to the washroom.
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tacou
G.O.A.T.
qf t
Well done that just about sums up this daft argument
Biscuitmcgriddleson
Professional
Possibly, but when you look at Nadal's history of taking MTOs at times that are allowed but somewhat questionable, it makes his need for the bathroom at that time doubtful. Yes, no one will know for sure if he had to use the bathroom, but based on passed actions I'd say there is a reasonable doubt. It took maybe 4 minutes for that game at 3-5. I just wonder why he didn't take it on his serve? Possibly because he didn't want to stop his momentum after he just broke Federer's serve?
So Federer was doing the same sorts of things in the match?
If he wasn't, then the "if everyone else is stealing" argument doesn't hold water, does it?
zagor
Bionic Poster
Well it can be questionable all you like but we can't really know for sure either way, I wouldn't discount the possibility (no matter how remote some people think it is) that he really had to go.
Besides Nadal was on a 2 game winning streak and just started having the upper hand from the baseline, why would he break his own momentum?
Biscuitmcgriddleson
Professional
Ever hear the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf?" France is working on their interpretation called "The Boy Who Cried MTO." Should be out in puppet version shortly. Nadal just has a history of this. Yes we will never know for sure, but I'd say a majority of people would call his choices questionable.
Federer also asked if he could go to the bathroom during the first rain delay while he was serving at 30-15. They told him they thought it was stopping and asked if he could hold it. He decided he could. I have no problem with bathroom breaks as long as they are between the sets or before your own serve. As for breaking his own momentum, that's exactly what he chose to avoid. Nadal had a hard time getting into Federer's service games that match. Federer rarely allows someone to come back from two breaks down and would've most likely closed it out on his serve rather than Nadal breaking him once again to put them back on serve. What Nadal did was similar to icing the kicker in the NFL. Icing the kicker is when where you take a timeout right before they are to kick a field goal. You do this to make them think about the kick they are going to make.
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Limpinhitter
G.O.A.T.
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!
The umpire wants to work next week!
D
Deleted member 21996
Guest
The first lady of Serbia must be very sad given how Novak just lost, so she had a chance to win and gain points on him!!!
zagor
Bionic Poster
I can see your point but I just don't think that this particular break was long enough to warrant such criticsm in this thread.
Fed is Fed, his on court behaviour is nearly spotless, you can't hold everyone to that standard.
I think that the rule should be that bathroom breaks are only allowed between sets or before one's serve but that's not the case as it stands right now.
Overall he did but he broke Fed to 15 IIRC in Roger's last service game before the bathroom break.
Well you could say that the vast majority of players rarely let someone come back from two breaks down and Fed is not nearly as good of a front runner/finisher last few years like he was back in 2004-2007.
I know what icing is from basketball but my point here boils down to:
-Don't think Nadal was gone long enough (there's a break at an uneven game anyway)
-IMO Nadal was the one who had momentum going, not Fed. Nadal's best tennis in yesterday's match came when he was 2-5 down in the 2nd set.
If you're put in a world where there are no rules and you try to play by the rules, you are only doing yourself a disservice by playing by the rules. It's the same concept. The problem lies with the Umpires first, players 2nd.
But... there are rules. And his opponent is playing by the rules. I don't see why he'd be doing himself a disservice to abide by the rules when his opponent is abiding by them. It's only if your opponent breaks the rules that you do yourself a disservice by not breaking them too.
I mean, that makes sense to me. Where am I going wrong here?
Biscuitmcgriddleson
Professional
I agree the break wasn't that long. It's really the combination of all the events that are causing this. Some make it out to be far worse than it really is.
As for the rule I agree that it was within the rules but tennis is still somewhat of a gentleman's game. There are some unwritten rules that you're suppose to follow and while it's not illegal to break them, it's just sort of frowned upon.
As for Federer not being the closer he was, that is 100% true. I feel he over thinks now and giving him time to think about how to serve against Nadal isn't a good thing. Plus he seems to get uppity about just about any pauses in play.
okdude1992
Hall of Fame
he took a bathroom break BETWEEN sets. thats not gamesmanship
Biscuitmcgriddleson
Professional
who took a break between sets?
TheTruth
G.O.A.T.
That is the absolute truth. People should stop sinking to new lows around here.
98% of Nadal's opponents do not play by the rules. That 2% is Roddick and Federer. Everyone else goes over the time limit. Whose fault is that? The players? Or the umpires? Where Nadal crosses the line is when he PURPOSELY wastes time in order to ice his opponent, but alot of players do this also and they get away with it too. Doesn't mean it is correct; it just means that enforcement needs to happen otherwise it will continue to occur.
TheTruth
G.O.A.T.
Federer is not the standard for Nadal. This isn't everything Federer does is right and everything Nadal does is wrong, although that seems to be your position.
They are two different people. Let them be.
Biscuitmcgriddleson
Professional
The problem is when he does it before his opponents serve or usually when he's down. It's not the fact that he took a bathroom break, but the fact he did it before his opponent was about to serve.
This post below seems to sum it up nicely
TheTruth
G.O.A.T.
I could buy that if not for Fed's infamous bathroom break where he said he wanted to wait for the sun to go down when he was being beat by Davydenko. Back then it was assumed on here that he was "joking" and many of the Fed Fans were livid at the suggestion that it was anything less.
Can you imagine if Nadal had said such a thing?
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
The double standards are ridiculous.
accidental
Hall of Fame
In on Chopin thread
Biscuitmcgriddleson
Professional
So there is no difference between taking a bathroom break between sets and during a changeover before your opponents serve? Again this all comes back to the fact Nadal habitually takes these MTOs before his opponent's serve and not his own. Federer has also been known to joke about many things. Personally, I feel he took the break to clear his head. If he kept taking breaks like that then it would be questionable, but you're citing one instance for Federer as justification for all the "gamesmanship" incidents for Nadal.
Taking a break after the set is done is a VERY different thing. There is already a slightly longer break in the rules between sets. Plus the past set is finished; whoever won it has it in the bag and a new set has begun, psychologically and on the scoreboard. It is not an attempt to "ice the server" at a critical time late in a set. If an early break happens the opponent has the whole set to come back.
No double standard, just the truth. There is no way to cover it up or justify nadal's poor gamesmanship.
No double standard, just the truth. There is no way to cover it up or justify nadal's poor gamesmanship.
TheTruth
G.O.A.T.
Personally means that's how you choose to see it, not necessarily the way it is. And, you don't know how it is because you're not Nadal's bladder.
People take MTO's whenever they need them. You have no way of knowing these things. You're simply making assumptions.
However, in your universe:
Nadal bathroom break= cheater
Federer bathroom break= joke
Ridiculous
TheTruth
G.O.A.T.
Do we have any stats on who takes bathroom breaks in matches, or do we just want to go on a witch hunt and burn Nadal at the stake?
As a Nadal fan I was happy for Federer's win, but it seems I erred. Carry on with the divisiveness that is characteristic of this board (for no reason I might add).
Biscuitmcgriddleson
Professional
Congrats on knowing what personally means. It means that it is my opinion. Everything that I write is my opinion unless I cite someone else's opinion.
I guess you're going to say that Federer getting up after Nadal today to start the match proves that Nadal always is up first. Face it, Nadal has a history and it seems to imply he'd rather take MTOs/breaks before his opponent's serve and not his.
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
Nadal took another bathroom break in a set, during the doubles final.
niff
Legend
2 in the match. Comms were saying that a player is not allowed more than 1 bathroom break in a 3 set match, but Bernardes allowed it.
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