Nadal is planning his return to clay at MC

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
This whole thing is so dumb. He made a huge deal of coming to IW, then pulled out. He could have literally stayed in the draw and gotten a WO from Miloshhhh, then pulled out...but no, immediately after pulling out of IW he's posting IG stories of clay court prep. I feel like we're being made fools of
I think all this has to do with his partnership with the Saudis.
 

Crocodile

G.O.A.T.
Well only those close to Rafael’s team knows what the situation is and what he plans to do.
Originally this year was meant to be his last year.
Judging by many of the comments here on this forum, I get the feeling that many of you are becoming frustrated that things are not panning out as you would like and if he doesn’t play the French this year then you have moved on and so has the tour.
I kind of get the feeling that many fans are starting to switch to the young guys like Jannick and Carlos.
 
This whole thing is so dumb. He made a huge deal of coming to IW, then pulled out. He could have literally stayed in the draw and gotten a WO from Miloshhhh, then pulled out...but no, immediately after pulling out of IW he's posting IG stories of clay court prep. I feel like we're being made fools of
He sure loves his theatrics.
 

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
I am unfamiliar with this dialect, but will keep you around for comedic value- for now.

There is a lot you are unfamiliar with, like the proper use of the term "copium" for starters. I do invite you to put me on ignore to avoid further embarrassment lol
 

Passingshot78

New User
This whole thing is so dumb. He made a huge deal of coming to IW, then pulled out. He could have literally stayed in the draw and gotten a WO from Miloshhhh, then pulled out...but no, immediately after pulling out of IW he's posting IG stories of clay court prep. I feel like we're being made fools of
He never said he was injured just he is not on his best level

So he didnt lied. Just didnt wanted to lose early.
 

vive le beau jeu !

Talk Tennis Guru
from one casino to another... :unsure:
a21f8765-1511-4ccf-9bd3-8fb42ed48f8c.jpg

(what's next after las vegas and monte-carlo?)
#CasinoAndOil #BullWorldTour
 
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Nadal wins RG and Wimbledon. Djoker will then be tied for GOAT again looking punch drunk not knowing what hit him. You think it’s crazy but with Djokers form this year Nadal may actually have a better shot of winning if his body holds up. The question mark with Nadal is will his body hold up. As his pure base of his game is actually better than Djokers. Djoker needs things to be going well to win slams. First his serve needs to be firing on all cylinder. Nadal has won 22 slams without a serve basically LOL (outside of 2010)

Nadal can make this year exciting still if he everything goes right physically for him. Big “if” though
 
I think he'd be fine playing Rome now that it's a 2 week tournament, as long as he doesn't advance too far.

If he's on the court for a clay-court tournament, there are only a handful of players for whom beating him is a remote possibility, and none for whom it is likely, so the bolded part to me means "as long as he withdraws after winning a couple of matches."
 

MeatTornado

Talk Tennis Guru
If he's on the court for a clay-court tournament, there are only a handful of players for whom beating him is a remote possibility, and none for whom it is likely, so the bolded part to me means "as long as he withdraws after winning a couple of matches."
In 2022 he lost to Alcaraz and Shapovalov on clay
In 2021 he lost to Rublev, Zverev and Djokovic
In 2020 he lost to Schwartzman
In 2019 he lost to Fognini, Thiem and Tsitsipas

Presumably he'll be weaker than ever in 2024. I'm sure he can lose to plenty of guys in the draw now. This isn't the Rafa from 10+ years ago where Djokovic was the only one with a prayer at stopping him.
 
In 2022 he lost to Alcaraz and Shapovalov on clay
In 2021 he lost to Rublev, Zverev and Djokovic
In 2020 he lost to Schwartzman
In 2019 he lost to Fognini, Thiem and Tsitsipas

Presumably he'll be weaker than ever in 2024. I'm sure he can lose to plenty of guys in the draw now. This isn't the Rafa from 10+ years ago where Djokovic was the only one with a prayer at stopping him.

Those players are pretty good players! Here are their rankings at the time they beat Nadal:
Alcaraz: 9; Shapovalov: 16; Zverev: 6; Rublev: 8; Djokovic: 1; Schwartzman: 15; Tsitsipas: 9; Thiem: 5; Fognini: 18.

So, they are all top 20 players, and of the three outside the top 10, two of them are best on clay and would probably have been ranked higher than they were with a clay-specific ranking. Sure, I was exaggerating in my previous post, but even with a weaker than ever Nadal, I think he can lose to quite a few players but is likely to win against most. Not being seeded will mean he can face tough players early, true.

At Roland Garros, he did win three of those four years and his only loss was to Djokovic. So, at least in Bo5, it's still an open question whether anyone bar Djokovic can stop him, and Djokovic himself is struggling lately and had a 1-2 record against Nadal at RG in the years in question.
 

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
“The best laid plans of bulls and men.”

I hope he can play at least one or two more Exo's with Raz. Vamosaraz 2024 was a high quality, very exciting match.
 
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MeatTornado

Talk Tennis Guru
Those players are pretty good players! Here are their rankings at the time they beat Nadal:
Alcaraz: 9; Shapovalov: 16; Zverev: 6; Rublev: 8; Djokovic: 1; Schwartzman: 15; Tsitsipas: 9; Thiem: 5; Fognini: 18.

So, they are all top 20 players, and of the three outside the top 10, two of them are best on clay and would probably have been ranked higher than they were with a clay-specific ranking. Sure, I was exaggerating in my previous post, but even with a weaker than ever Nadal, I think he can lose to quite a few players but is likely to win against most. Not being seeded will mean he can face tough players early, true.

At Roland Garros, he did win three of those four years and his only loss was to Djokovic. So, at least in Bo5, it's still an open question whether anyone bar Djokovic can stop him, and Djokovic himself is struggling lately and had a 1-2 record against Nadal at RG in the years in question.
Still being the favorite against most players on clay is one thing. But if your definition of a handful is anyone in the top 20, he's in big trouble.

And right now in Bo5 the question isn't if anyone besides Djokovic can stop him. The question is whether his body can even last long enough to reach the 2nd week in Bo5. The guy has only played like half a dozen matches in the last 14 months, and keeps re-aggravating his body every time he starts again.
 
Still being the favorite against most players on clay is one thing. But if your definition of a handful is anyone in the top 20, he's in big trouble.

And right now in Bo5 the question isn't if anyone besides Djokovic can stop him. The question is whether his body can even last long enough to reach the 2nd week in Bo5. The guy has only played like half a dozen matches in the last 14 months, and keeps re-aggravating his body every time he starts again.

On the first paragraph: as I said, my OP was exaggerating, but I still make him (slight) favorite against almost anyone if he can last the match.

On the second paragraph: agreed, with the caveat that I was saying “if he is on court,” so my thought was “if his body can hold up, it’s still an open question who can stop him, at least in Bo5.”
 

SonnyT

Legend
At the other slams, Nadal didn't play because, let's assume here, he couldn't run. And yet at RG, he's running like a devil.
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
This year's clay season is going to be the big litmus test to determine if he is ever going to be fit enough to compete successfully again.
 

dr325i

G.O.A.T.
Looks like the bull is starting off his clay campaign nice and early. This should be very interesting.

SURPRISE!
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Ross is team Rafa confirmed :D

I'm not a fan but I would rather a dignified end and not this
Never underestimate the alternative team's capacity to repel everyone.

So I'm wrong to point this out? Tons of people are disappointed. And he was just playing a golf tournament right before IW, now training on clay right after.

"I cannot lie to myself"--ok, he just lied to all of his fans instead. Much better
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
if rafa plays MC can we all finally admit that rafa ducks surfaces?
IF he even plays this will be the first time he’s played there in 3 years. No one who’s as decorated as he is “ducks” surfaces. The guy’s 1 of 2 players in the history of the game with a DCGS when there’s been 3 surfaces.
 
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ibbi

G.O.A.T.
It's easy to make fun, but if this is the end, and it sure does look like it is, there is nowhere outside the majors he should be prioritizing appearing at more than these clay events he has been so key to the defining of in the 21st century.
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
Getting ready to see if my theory is correct
You mean this theory?
Many players say they’re sick or injured to skip tournaments so it’s not just Nadal. Sometimes it could just be an over precaution as well.
I would believe that if he plays other tournaments besides slams, and that aren’t clay, so far, that’s not happening.
That was debunked at the beginning of the year when he played Brisbane :censored:
 

_phantom

Hall of Fame
So I'm wrong to point this out? Tons of people are disappointed. And he was just playing a golf tournament right before IW, now training on clay right after.
My message was not clear enough. I nodded at MichaelNadal's comment and tried to say that the repulsive capability of the other team, also known as Djo-cult, has pushed you (and many others) more towards team Rafa.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
My message was not clear enough. I nodded at MichaelNadal's comment and tried to say that the repulsive capability of the other team, also known as Djo-cult, has pushed you (and many others) more towards team Rafa.

Ohhhhhh. I thought I was being called a mindless partisan again. Thanks for clarifying
 

big ted

Legend
IF he even plays this will be the first time he’s played there in 3 years. No one who’s as decorated as he is “ducks” surfaces. The guy’s 1 of 2 players in the history of the game with a DCGS when there’s been 3 surfaces.

he’ll play don’t worry its on clay ;)
 

big ted

Legend
Many people like you guys were saying the same thing last year and he missed the entire CC season. And a year before that he missed the first month of the CC season. Recent history has outright disproven your narrative :whistle:

last year he missed the clay season for the first time in his career and his ranking went from #10 to 136. what does that tell you where he gets his points from?
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
last year he missed the clay season for the first time in his career and his ranking went from #10 to 136. what does that tell you where he gets his points from?
This is omitting the fact that outside of the United Cup (or whatever the heck the flavor of the month name it has now) and the AO (where he got knocked out in the 2R) he missed the entire year in 23. He went from winning the AO, Acapulco, making the IW F, winning RG, and making the Wimby SF in 2022 to losing virtually all of his points in 2023. No duh his ranking sunk like a stone after missing that much time.

Besides, less than half of his points even came from clay in that timeframe. And again, should he even play MC it’ll be the first time he’s done so in 3 years. Meaning that it tells me that in spite of all that you’re still pushing an agenda. If you keep saying that he’ll be healthy for the CC season you’ll eventually be “right”.
 

big ted

Legend
This is omitting the fact that outside of the United Cup (or whatever the heck the flavor of the month name it has now) and the AO (where he got knocked out in the 2R) he missed the entire year in 23. He went from winning the AO, Acapulco, making the IW F, winning RG, and making the Wimby SF in 2022 to losing virtually all of his points in 2023. No duh his ranking sunk like a stone after missing that much time.


his ranking sunk in 2 WEEKS. ranking was #15 on 5/22/23 and on 6/12/23 it was #136 . it wasnt from "missing 2023". if was from missing the clay court season.. if you cant put your rafa feelings aside
and put 2 and 2 together i dont know what to tell you :confused:


If you keep saying that he’ll be healthy for the CC season you’ll eventually be “right”.

ive been right 18 out of 19 years and then you say ill "eventually be right"?? :rolleyes:
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
his ranking sunk in 2 WEEKS. ranking was #15 on 5/22/23 and on 6/12/23 it was #136 . it wasnt from "missing 2023". if was from missing the clay court season.. if you cant put your rafa feelings aside
and put 2 and 2 together i dont know what to tell you :confused:




ive been right 18 out of 19 years and then you say ill "eventually be right"?? :rolleyes:
You can’t put your agenda aside for 2 seconds to see how wrong you are. Most of his points didn’t even come from the CC season. So the fact that you’re saying it was because he missed the 2023 CC season that his ranking fell as far as it did couldn’t be more wrong. He only played 12 events in 2022 where he finished #2 with 6020 points. So the fact that he dropped that far to #15 shows that he lost a ton of points prior to 5/22/2023. He won Melbourne, the AO, Acapulco, and made the IW F before the CC season even started. And even then he missed MC and Barca with early exits in Madrid and especially Rome. His CC season essentially boiled down to winning RG. And if you don’t even play a GS that you won then you just lost out on defending 2,000 right there. And in RAFA’s case he lost out on what amounted to almost 4,000 points between the early exit at the AO and missing RG entirely. He was already hemorrhaging points well before missing the 2023 CC season. I can put 2 and 2 together. You’re a salty Fed fan pushing an agenda, that’s all there is to it.
 
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big ted

Legend
You can’t put your agenda aside for 2 seconds to see how wrong you are. Most of his points didn’t even come from the CC season. So the fact that you’re saying it was because he missed the 2023 CC season that his ranking fell as far as it did couldn’t be more wrong. He only played 12 events in 2022 where he finished #2 with 6020 points. So the fact that he dropped that far to #15 shows that he lost a ton of points prior to 5/22/2023. He won Melbourne, the AO, Acapulco, and made the IW F before the CC season even started. And even then he missed MC and Barca with early exits in Madrid and especially Rome. His CC season essentially boiled down to winning RG. And if you don’t even play a GS that you won then you just lost out on defending 2,000 right there. And in RAFA’s case he lost out on what amounted to almost 4,000 points between the early exit at the AO and missing RG entirely. He was already hemorrhaging points well before missing the 2023 CC season. I can put 2 and 2 together. You’re a salty Fed fan pushing an agenda, that’s all there is to it.

im sorry but your the one with the agenda.
its black and white math but you see colors.
his ranking went from a respectable #15 to #136 DURING the clay court season so for you to say he doesn’t depend on clay for his success is just wrong.
 
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