The truth about the Rafa-McDonald match

[Unseeded Player]

He might as well play the South American clay season as Cordoba, Argentina Open, and Rio. However, i think he is going to Qatar instead? If he is ending at RG he might as well play both the SA and regular Clay season as he last did n 2016.

Don't know the tournament plan but we all expect to see him in MC, Madrid and Rome

 

[Chanwan]

Well its not a matter of IF he takes steroids for 'recovery'. He does. There are emails that prove this.

Link please

 

[Chanwan]

Thanks for this thread, couldn't watch

 

[DSH]

If his level at the US Open was very low, what was shown in Australia is even worse than Berrettini's backhand.

 

[Spencer Gore]

Clearly we're in the end game.

But Nadal has been written off before. Hopefully he can muster one last hurrah. The Miracle of Paris, anyone?

 

[I Am Finnish]

Nadal was never going to win this AO in the form he was in. Let’s be happy for 2022

Slay

 

[aldeayeah]

Let's be clear - when Nadal is playing subpar on a low bouncing setting (which today's closed roof cool day was), he makes opponents look great.

McDonald played well but was no world beater and even gave this Rafa a couple good looks at a break in the 1st.

 

[weakera]

Clearly we're in the end game.

But Nadal has been written off before. Hopefully he can muster one last hurrah. The Miracle of Paris, anyone?

Honestly the end game was AO 2022. We are in the post-credits scenes now, including RG 2022. Everything after AO 2022 has been bonus time, because Rafa redeemed many demons there and has nothing left to prove.

 

[Spencer Gore]

Honestly the end game was AO 2022. We are in the post-credits scenes now, including RG 2022. Everything after AO 2022 has been bonus time, because Rafa redeemed many demons there and has nothing left to prove.

Absolutely agree the double career slam was the crowning moment. Anything else is gravy. But what gravy!

 

[hoodjem]

Time to rest and recupe, get ready for the clay circuit.

 

[maratha_warrior]

Actually , Rafa looked done and dusted at 20 slams .

AO 22 is a miracle and happened bcoz of Deportation gate and Headcase Medvedev .

But Nadal's real level was seen against Zverev at Roland Garros .Zverev was few points away from being 2 sets up . That was a clear Red warning sign .

Now everything depends on Clay season . If he can't get to full fitness during clay season , he might retire too .
I hope he becomes fully fit again , as i won't ever want a Champion to retire because of injury.

 

[alinefx]

He was clearly injured from the start. Sad to see the greatest player of the first decade of the millennium suffer in that fashion.

Fed therapy needed. End of 2009: 15 - 6 but 6 is “greatest”, yeah ok. lol.

 

[alinefx]

Clearly we're in the end game.

But Nadal has been written off before. Hopefully he can muster one last hurrah. The Miracle of Paris, anyone?

Only Fed comes back from major injury that needs surgery and wins slams.

 

[weakera]

Actually , Rafa looked done and dusted at 20 slams .

AO 22 is a miracle and happened bcoz of Deportation gate and Headcase Medvedev .

But Nadal's real level was seen against Zverev at Roland Garros .Zverev was few points away from being 2 sets up . That was a clear Red warning sign .

Now everything depends on Clay season . If he can't get to full fitness during clay season , he might retire too .
I hope he becomes fully fit again , as i won't ever want a Champion to retire because of injury.

Literally nothing can be deduced from the Zverev match because those conditions were a complete joke and outlier. It was a muggy sauna being played in, not a tennis arena, the conditions were completely dead and lead to a comical 8 breaks of serve in the 2nd set. His real level was otherwise seen when he ended Djokovic and took Ruud back behind the woodshed.

Anyways in the Zverev match, in the moment of truth, Nadal produced breathtaking shots in the tiebreak and would have won the match.

 

[DSH]

Literally nothing can be deduced from the Zverev match because those conditions were a complete joke and outlier. It was a muggy sauna being played in, not a tennis arena, the conditions were completely dead and lead to a comical 8 breaks of serve in the 2nd set. His real level was otherwise seen when he ended Djokovic and took Ruud back behind the woodshed.

Anyways in the Zverev match, in the moment of truth, Nadal produced breathtaking shots in the tiebreak and would have won the match.

Just saying that Nadal needs luck at Roland Garros is crazy.

 

[maratha_warrior]

Literally nothing can be deduced from the Zverev match because those conditions were a complete joke and outlier. It was a muggy sauna being played in, not a tennis arena, the conditions were completely dead and lead to a comical 8 breaks of serve in the 2nd set. His real level was otherwise seen when he ended Djokovic and took Ruud back behind the woodshed.

Anyways in the Zverev match, in the moment of truth, Nadal produced breathtaking shots in the tiebreak and would have won the match.

Personally , i like the Zverev match . I still feel we were robbed of a great 4-5 set Epic match .
Zverev was on fire in those two matches versus Alcaraz and Rafa.

Djokovic wasn't special . Djokovic would have lost in straight sets if Nadal didn't play pathetic in 2nd set and lost the set from two break lead.
Ruud is a weak guy.

I think Rafa will be back at his full potential in Clay season .

 

[maratha_warrior]

Just saying that Nadal needs luck at Roland Garros is crazy.

Who said Nadal needs luck at Roland Garros ??

I am saying , Zverev was playing lights out during that match . Rarely we get to see someone trouble Rafa at Roland Garros .

 

[Cashman]

still undefeated while healthy

 

[bnjkn]

He was injured and is arguably the moral champion of this AO. Djokovic didn't care for the moral title thinking that he will win the real title. Well, I hope he loses. It's unlikely but sometimes the unlikely happens.

 

[Subway Tennis]

MM's forehand was very impressive at times. It's not a big shot he can rip, but he kept placing it perfectly, just out of Nadal's reach. He was hitting it so flat, like it was just sneaking over the net.

Also did a great job of cutting off Nadal's forehands by stepping into his backhand, taking the ball early and send it back cross-court.

He is underrated as a player, and it’s not the first time he has played well at the AO either.

Not going to lie, I’m very upset that Rafa is out, but you have to credit Mackenzie Mac for taking his opportunity.

 

[weakera]

Personally , i like the Zverev match . I still feel we were robbed of a great 4-5 set Epic match .
Zverev was on fire in those two matches versus Alcaraz and Rafa.

Djokovic wasn't special . Djokovic would have lost in straight sets if Nadal didn't play pathetic in 2nd set and lost the set from two break lead.
Ruud is a weak guy.

I think Rafa will be back at his full potential in Clay season .

The Zverev match become a comedy of errors. The second set is literally one of the worst I have ever seen at any level.

 

[SonnyT]

Remember Fed and Djok when they get older. They lost a lot of weight!

Nadal's the exact opposite; he adds muscles, and weight. Those old legs can't support anymore!

 

[Unseeded Player]

He was injured and is arguably the moral champion of this AO. Djokovic didn't care for the moral title thinking that he will win the real title. Well, I hope he loses. It's unlikely but sometimes the unlikely happens.

Moral champion.. hahahaha... Even healthy he would lose this.

 

[Unseeded Player]

Clearly we're in the end game.

But Nadal has been written off before. Hopefully he can muster one last hurrah. The Miracle of Paris, anyone?

Maybe that one rg has lefft in him. If he doesn't get it, I think it is over.

 

[Silverbullet96]

He was clearly injured from the start. Sad to see the greatest player of the first decade of the millennium suffer in that fashion.

No you're wrong, from his press conference it seems that the 2nd greatest player of the first decade of the millenium was feeling the hip last few days, but it only started hampering the 2nd greatest player of the second decade of the millenium from the middle of the second set. You could see on footage the exact moment when the worst indoor ATG of all time pulled up and was hampered from then on.

 

[Mivic]

.

 

[The Fedfather]

Remember Fed and Djok when they get older. They lost a lot of weight!

Nadal's the exact opposite; he adds muscles, and weight. Those old legs can't support anymore!

Neither Federer nor Djokovic lost a lot of weight as they got older.

 

[Red Rick]

People are going to lie about this for the next few days… so if you didn’t watch the match, here’s what happened - don’t buy into all the BS.

- Nadal was physically fine the first two sets - tentative and subpar, a lot like the Draper match, but not hampered by injury. Timing and depth was off

- McDonald served incredibly well the first set and was playing genuinely good stuff up until 6-4, 5-3. Early ballstriking, confident net approaches, capitalizing on Rafa’s errors. Nadal was softballing and lacked confidence but not all due to himself - Mackie was definitely causing him problems

- At 6-4, 4-3 McDonald serving, Nadal tweaks something and takes off court MTO. Looked like a hip injury and he went off court for 10 minutes. Got painkillers and started playing again

- Nadal’s camp urged him to retire but he refused - just like Wimbledon QF vs Fritz.

- 3rd set was weird, Rafa clearly not moving well, not even attempting to return some serves, pace of the game goes to exhibition level. Rafa managed to hold with some good serves and low margin FHs. Again, similar to Fritz QF at Wimby. But clearly couldn’t move and had no threat on McDonald’s serve, ends up 7-5.

That’s it. Not a faked injury, not a tactical MTO, no “beatdown” by McDonald, but also not just down to injury. No, it was both - first 2 sets were a clearly out of form Nadal getting outplayed by a confident MM and then hurting himself at the end of set 2.

Save yourself the effort and don’t bother with trolls who try to frame it as anything else.

"I'm so smart for saying what everyone can see while claiming people are lying about it"

 

[bertrevert]

of course just like everyone else I didn't expect McDonald's level to be anywhere near good enough.

If yv watched McDonald through his college career you'd know what he is capable of. Why would anyone underestimate him?

 

[Red Rick]

If yv watched McDonald through his college career you'd know what he is capable of. Why would anyone underestimate him?

Because Nadal is not a college level player

 

[bertrevert]

@Red Rick

So Mack atp career is now several years in but has been marred by injury but as he developed he certainly deserves/earned where he is.

There's no faking it till you make it in tennis.

So he certainly had something special from the get go. Why would anyone not expect the level he plays at? Injury has slowed his progress only.

 

[Razer]

I posted a while back that I thought if Nadal had won his 22nd Slam that he should retire. In fact, now it seems it was the fairy tale ending something similar to Sampras in 2002 (although Sampras never officially retire until about a year later). I think the nagging foot injury and the numerous complications with age should make him consider retirement. If he loses the Slam race accept it. If he retired after Wimbledon it would've been 22 out of 65 slams higher than 33.33% and his overall winning pct was still the highest in the Open Era.

And why should he have retired after 22nd slam ? Thats makes no sense, a slams race is on the line, he is leading and he should surrender? He doesn't care for his 22 out of 65 percent, such stats are non existent outside these forums.

Roger did the right thing by going the maximum length and making sure there was nothing left in his body to continue, same for Nadal, he too will go all the way until he loses 2 french opens back to back QFs or before, then and only then will he retire. Makes perfect sense, anyone in his place would do this.

 

[dr325i]

Honestly the end game was AO 2022. We are in the post-credits scenes now, including RG 2022. Everything after AO 2022 has been bonus time, because Rafa redeemed many demons there and has nothing left to prove.

True that!
He’s maxed out

 

[SonnyT]

Neither Federer nor Djokovic lost a lot of weight as they got older.

How do you know? Did you have some inside info? Weight is not an official stat, therefore the players can tell you anything.

 

[Lleytonstation]

He was clearly injured from the start. Sad to see the greatest player of the first decade of the millennium suffer in that fashion.

Haha that's a push.

 

[The Blond Blur]

Well said OP. Mac was playing incredibly well and didn’t let the occasion get to him in the 1st 2 sets. I think he was going to win regardless, but only a troll or and idiot, or both actually thinks he was faking that injury. You could tell as soon as he pulled up that he strained a muscle. And if there was any doubt he was barely moving in the 3rd and basically looked like he was playing in an exho with his shot selection.

 

[Red Rick]

@Red Rick

So Mack atp career is now several years in but has been marred by injury but as he developed he certainly deserves/earned where he is.

There's no faking it till you make it in tennis.

So he certainly had something special from the get go. Why would anyone not expect the level he plays at? Injury has slowed his progress only.

I think basic statistics dictates it's better to judge a players potential by 99% of their matches as opposed to basing it on one match.

 

[Kralingen]

"I'm so smart for saying what everyone can see while claiming people are lying about it"

Eh when I wrote it the match thread and others were ablaze talking about Nadal’s faked injuries etc etc

 

[MichaelNadal]

still undefeated while healthy

 

[mahatma]

Another pathetic post from a Djoker fangirl.

Lol. What to say. I feel for you son. But a wife crying for an ATG who is an artist in faking injuries doesn’t convince me much.

Carry on with your name calling. It only makes me laugh now.

 

[ChaelAZ]

People are going to lie about this for the next few days… so if you didn’t watch the match, here’s what happened - don’t buy into all the BS.

- Nadal was physically fine the first two sets - tentative and subpar, a lot like the Draper match, but not hampered by injury. Timing and depth was off

- McDonald served incredibly well the first set and was playing genuinely good stuff up until 6-4, 5-3. Early ballstriking, confident net approaches, capitalizing on Rafa’s errors. Nadal was softballing and lacked confidence but not all due to himself - Mackie was definitely causing him problems

- At 6-4, 4-3 McDonald serving, Nadal tweaks something and takes off court MTO. Looked like a hip injury and he went off court for 10 minutes. Got painkillers and started playing again

- Nadal’s camp urged him to retire but he refused - just like Wimbledon QF vs Fritz.

- 3rd set was weird, Rafa clearly not moving well, not even attempting to return some serves, pace of the game goes to exhibition level. Rafa managed to hold with some good serves and low margin FHs. Again, similar to Fritz QF at Wimby. But clearly couldn’t move and had no threat on McDonald’s serve, ends up 7-5.

That’s it. Not a faked injury, not a tactical MTO, no “beatdown” by McDonald, but also not just down to injury. No, it was both - first 2 sets were a clearly out of form Nadal getting outplayed by a confident MM and then hurting himself at the end of set 2.

Save yourself the effort and don’t bother with trolls who try to frame it as anything else.

Nadal's subpar performance against Draper was a telling sign of losing to Mac, and would rather have had him go down playing it out than getting an injury forcing himself to try and play up. I always say a tell tale sign of an un-confident Nadal is short ball depth and lapse in focus UEs. He had both in spades for AO, but also the earlier tune-up event matches. He doesn't have the movement like he did to start last year. Just a build up over the years I think that everyone gets aging too, but exponentially worse for athletes. Recovery time takes longer and longer, and then some things just don't really recover.

And mentally I don't see that fire right now personally.

At this point, I see him just making one last push at RG.

 

[mike danny]

Nadal's drop has been unfathomable since Wimb: a measly 5-8 record.

 

[Backspin1183]

Lol. What to say. I feel for you son. But a wife crying for an ATG who is an artist in faking injuries doesn’t convince me much.

Carry on with your name calling. It only makes me laugh now.

Everyone can see you've been trolling way more than usual. We get it you're happy with Nadal's loss. He's your idol's greatest rival. But mocking his wife now? Quite the Mahatma you are! Lol

 

[ADuck]

There was clearly an injury in the third, but Nadal would have lost anyway had he not been injured - I think this sums it up.

I wouldn't say that. I think it's probable he could have fought back as he was starting to find some form in the second. As for the rest of the tournament though it's very unlikely he would have won.

 

[Cheese&IPA]

It does feel different with Rafa this time, he dominated everyone on tour last year in the slams up until he withdrew from that Wimbledon semi injured, just seems to never have recovered from that and at his age now it will be extremely hard to come back.

 

[mahatma]

Everyone can see you've been trolling way more than usual. We get it you're happy with Nadal's loss. He's your idol's greatest rival. But mocking his wife now? Quite the Mahatma you are! Lol

What’s with some of you calling idols for others? Don’t really get it.


I respect Nadal, he is a champion with a champion mindset. But deep down I know and I am sure a lot of his fans also know that he is a faker when it comes to injuries.

Also a lot of his fans had it coming. Lol.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Nadal's drop has been unfathomable since Wimb: a measly 5-8 record.

And he looks like a shell of himself. It’s giving 2017 Undertaker

 

[MichaelNadal]

What’s with some of you calling idols for others? Don’t really get it.
I respect Nadal, he is a champion with a champion mindset. But deep down I know and I am sure a lot of his fans also know that he is a faker when it comes to injuries.

Also a lot of his fans had it coming. Lol.

Wait till Novak’s turn

 

[mahatma]

Wait till Novak’s turn

It would hardly matter dude. Novak fans have taken the entire deportation saga and lived through.

 

[Backspin1183]

Nadal's drop has been unfathomable since Wimb: a measly 5-8 record.

He can still prove us wrong, but usually this is a clear sign. The end is near.