This is why Rafa should have played wimbledon semi.

[Rafa24]

Numb the stomach muscle and roll the dice and see what happens. kyrgios is 1 ball away from a default like last night at any time. and as far as that goes joker is too. I'm not sure how nick would have handled the pressure in the semis and yeah i know rafas serve was bad but look at 5th set stats with fritz he pumped it back up and did fine.

So he tossed out a chance(however slim it may have been) to get another wimbledon to save himself for the USO. Everyone thought he was a shoe in for the USO trophy but I didn't. 7 matches much harder to win than 2.

 

[blauerton]

"Warrior" was too scared to lose. If it was clay, he wouldn't have pulled out.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Ok bestie

 

[ChrisRF]

Yes, I always said skipping one Slam in order to prepare for another one is absurd, especially if any Slams counts for the GOAT race. Withdrawing from a running tournament just because an injury MAY get worse is even more absurd. The next Slam was two months away, and he didn't have any preparation before it anyway. Also in Wimbledon he was only 2 matches away from another Slam, while here it were of course 7 again.

And some people call this stuff "smart". Same with Federer on clay back then. Part of me was almost happy that it didn't work in 2018 (and also the walkover last year), because it finally changed his mind for 2019. It's just against the spirit of the sport to skip Slams on purpose.

So yeah, it's wrong on so many points of view.

 

[Slicehand]

Oportunistic and untrue, reported for low quality

 

[victorcruz]

This is for the fat unathletic nerds on the internet questioning a goat-level athlete and his mentality on losing.

BTW OP, I think he pulled out because he wants a life after retirement. Yeah he goes to war on the court and has put his body through a lot...but he can come back from all that. Not sure about it at Wimby.

 

[Rafa24]

"Warrior" was too scared to lose. If it was clay, he wouldn't have pulled out.

or if brandon had beat kyrgios and djoker lost when he was down 2 sets. he'd have played. guarantee it.

 

[Rafa24]

This is for the fat unathletic nerds on the internet questioning a goat-level athlete and his mentality on losing.

BTW OP, I think he pulled out because he wants a life after retirement. Yeah he goes to war on the court and has put his body through a lot...but he can come back from all that. Not sure about it at Wimby.

lol. i love rafa but his body wasn't going to be ruined after tennis had he played against kyrgios. dumb argument as he had played the whole tournament at SW19 with the injury and ESPN is acting like he is still playing with it now.

 

[Rafa24]

It was a calculated risk by rafa and his team is all. no djoker at USO and likes his chances much better there than Sw19. much like fed did at RG when he wasn't even injured and pulled out.

 

[weakera]

Rafa is still feeling the effects of the tear in September, and you think he should have torn the abdomen more by playing Kyrgios and Djokovic at Wimbledon

 

[blauerton]

BTW OP, I think he pulled out because he wants a life after retirement.

LOL he went back to practice court not long after pulling out from Wimbledon. A life after retirement? LOL.

 

[Rafa24]

LOL he went back to practice court not long after pulling out from Wimbledon. A life after retirement? LOL.

yeah and he was golfing about 2-4 days after he got home and then practicing tennis a couple weeks later. he had the injury the entire tournament. could he have made it worse? maybe. could he win wimbledon pulling out? no. could he have won 2 matches in a row injured? maybe not but it's possible.....

 

[Third Serve]

Hindsight is 20/20

 

[Nadal - GOAT]

Numb the stomach muscle and roll the dice and see what happens. kyrgios is 1 ball away from a default like last night at any time. and as far as that goes joker is too. I'm not sure how nick would have handled the pressure in the semis and yeah i know rafas serve was bad but look at 5th set stats with fritz he pumped it back up and did fine.

So he tossed out a chance(however slim it may have been) to get another wimbledon to save himself for the USO. Everyone thought he was a shoe in for the USO trophy but I didn't. 7 matches much harder to win than 2.

The issue was Novak IMO. Had Novak lost to Sinner, he probably would have played on. Though I am pretty sure there was no way Rafa was beating Novak at Wimb without his serve. He could have got past Kyrgios but Novak would have been too big a mountain to climb.

 

[DSH]

"Warrior" was too scared to lose. If it was clay, he wouldn't have pulled out.

Really?
Don't you remember the 2016 RG edition?

 

[optic yellow]

This is for the fat unathletic nerds on the internet questioning a goat-level athlete and his mentality on losing.

BTW OP, I think he pulled out because he wants a life after retirement. Yeah he goes to war on the court and has put his body through a lot...but he can come back from all that. Not sure about it at Wimby.

Most people here are probably reasonably athletic.

yeah and he was golfing about 2-4 days after he got home and then practicing tennis a couple weeks later. he had the injury the entire tournament. could he have made it worse? maybe. could he win wimbledon pulling out? no. could he have won 2 matches in a row injured? maybe not but it's possible.....

No wonder it didn't heal.

 

[WarriorRafa]

Actually he should have retired in the Fritz match. Playing with it made it worse and maybe slowed his recovery

 

[JustMy2Cents]

yeah and he was golfing about 2-4 days after he got home and then practicing tennis a couple weeks later. he had the injury the entire tournament. could he have made it worse? maybe. could he win wimbledon pulling out? no. could he have won 2 matches in a row injured? maybe not but it's possible.....

The medical advice for injuries is to be active without straining the affected area.
The body heals better that way than when a person totally rests/eschews activity.

And Rafa did not practice serves for a LOONG time. Skim thru Nadal News thread for details

 

[optic yellow]

The medical advice for injuries is to be active without straining the affected area.
The body heals better that way than when a person totally rests/eschews activity.

And Rafa did not practice serves for a LOONG time. Skim thru Nadal News thread for details

This advice I have seen and is solid imo but golf is not exactly an activity that you would say avoids straining the abdominals unless you are always taking 50% swings.

 

[Fabresque]

He pulled cuz he was scared of Djokovic. If Sinner wasn’t a MUG and actually held his nerve, there would be no injury vs Fritz, the semi vs Nick, and Sinner/Norrie in the final. No chance he withdraws that, he withdrew because he was nervous about being embarrassed by Djokovic once again off clay. Remember, 2013 lads.

 

[DSH]

He pulled cuz he was scared of Djokovic. If Sinner wasn’t a MUG and actually held his nerve, there would be no injury vs Fritz, the semi vs Nick, and Sinner/Norrie in the final. No chance he withdraws that, he withdrew because he was nervous about being embarrassed by Djokovic once again off clay. Remember, 2013 lads.

The 2018 Wimbledon result says otherwise.
That match could be for anyone.

 

[Nadal15thslam]

You have to be close to 100% health wise to play against Djokovic in a Wimbledon final. Do you really think injured Nadal with no serve, no bh can win against Nole? The decision was very clear.