Toni Nadal out of touch with tennis reality

timnz · 10-06-2012, 09:59 PM

I respect Toni, but the following recent quote shows that hre hasnt been in touch with tennis trends of the last 10 to 20 years

"This sentence does not bother me. It’s the truth. Federer is better than Nadal and the titles say this. It's also true that we play on a circuit that is in his favor, made of tournaments that are held on super fast courts. But the debate on who is the best in the history of the sport should not be done with Rafa but with Rod Laver, who was unable to play for several years and we all know he could have won more titles. Regarding the matches, Rafa is winning the matches played against Federer but for me it does not matter that much, for example, Davydenko has a favorable record but we all agree that Rafa is better than the Russian."

From: http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Toni-N...icolo6328.html

The fact is that we dont have fast court tennis anywhere anymore. We only have slow court tennis (first half of the year) and medium paced tennis - second half of the year. Not sure what planet toni is speaking from here - doesnt he see that tennis has been slowed down incredibly?

A great coach, but this is strange.

TheFifthSet · 10-06-2012, 10:02 PM

There's maybe two or three "super fast" courts on the entire tour. Right now I can only think of Cincy and Dubai among courts both Fed and Nadal play on.

zagor · 10-07-2012, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFifthSet

There's maybe two or three "super fast" courts on the entire tour. Right now I can only think of Cincy and Dubai among courts both Fed and Nadal play on.

Cincy and Dubai certainly aren't super fast, they're reasonably fast but the last "super" fast court was 2006 Paris. Not to mention that while I consider Fed to very adaptable he certainly doesn't prefer super fast courts, medium, medium fast with a mid-low bounce is where he's best at.

This really makes you wonder what would Rafa and Tio Toni do if they had to play in pre 2002 conditions, say during the 90s? If this isn't misquoted, terrible display of ignorance from Toni.

reversef · 10-07-2012, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zagor

Cincy and Dubai certainly aren't super fast, they're reasonably fast but the last "super" fast court was 2006 Paris. Not to mention that while I consider Fed to very adaptable he certainly doesn't prefer super fast courts, medium, medium fast with a mid-low bounce is where he's best at.

This really makes you wonder what would Rafa and Tio Toni do if they had to play in pre 2002 conditions, say during the 90s? If this isn't misquoted, terrible display of ignorance from Toni.

First of all, in those years, there was more freedom in the calendar. Nadal would probably have played a bit more on clay and he would have avoided some tournaments.

TheFifthSet · 10-07-2012, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zagor

Cincy and Dubai certainly aren't super fast, they're reasonably fast but the last "super" fast court was 2006 Paris. Not to mention that while I consider Fed to very adaptable he certainly doesn't prefer super fast courts, medium, medium fast with a mid-low bounce is where he's best at.

This really makes you wonder what would Rafa and Tio Toni do if they had to play in pre 2002 conditions, say during the 90s? If this isn't misquoted, terrible display of ignorance from Toni.

All these slow courts are warping my brain bro, I can't even tell what's really fast anymore

I thought Dubai this year was pretty fast though IMO. But yes, they are pretty much extinct. It sucks that they eliminated carpet, too.

abmk · 10-07-2012, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zagor

Cincy and Dubai certainly aren't super fast, they're reasonably fast but the last "super" fast court was 2006 Paris. Not to mention that while I consider Fed to very adaptable he certainly doesn't prefer super fast courts, medium, medium fast with a mid-low bounce is where he's best at.

This really makes you wonder what would Rafa and Tio Toni do if they had to play in pre 2002 conditions, say during the 90s? If this isn't misquoted, terrible display of ignorance from Toni.

dubai this year was pretty fast .... cincy usually is too .....

2010 Paris was super-fast .... that semi b/w llodra and soderling was an amazing one ...

basel is also pretty fast ....

tusharlovesrafa · 10-06-2012, 10:03 PM

Calm before the storm,wait till the ****s jump in and derail your thread.

NadalDramaQueen · 10-06-2012, 10:05 PM

It is strange. I really have no idea what to make of any of the statements issued by anyone from the Nadal camp lately. Some of them don't make sense, others don't seem to be saying much of anything at all.

Hopefully, once Rafa is back all of the strangeness will end.

rommil · 10-07-2012, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NadalDramaQueen

Hopefully, once Rafa is back all of the strangeness will end.

I agree. The post coint toss jig, the buttpicking routine, incessant ball bouncing, the water bottle lining etc will end all that strangeness

abmk · 10-06-2012, 10:06 PM

that is one delusional statement ..........

The_Order · 10-06-2012, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abmk

that is one delusional statement ..........

Yeah you know better than him because you're touring and practicing on all these courts aren't you?

stfu and stop thinking you know everything, Toni has FAR more tennis knowledge than you ESPECIALLY in regards to the current tour.

abmk · 10-06-2012, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Order

Yeah you know better than him because you're touring and practicing on all these courts aren't you?

stfu and stop thinking you know everything, Toni has FAR more tennis knowledge than you ESPECIALLY in regards to the current tour.

jeez, clueless. If a statement is stupid, it is stupid ......

just because someone who was more knowledge than me said it, doesn't mean it can't be stupid ...

fact is your boy rafa has been tremendously lucky with the slow-down of the courts in general ... and tony is a making a totally delusional statement instead saying the courts of today are super-fast ...

plenty of players know/have played and have publicly stated about the slow down of courts/playing conditions in general ...... its not just me ....

big ted · 10-06-2012, 11:52 PM

i dont think its fair all the time to pick sentences apart from people who dont speak english as their first language. sometimes they dont know the right word for it. the only player ive seen today who has really been able to handle english well in interviews is federer. and this nadal interview could even be from a translation, so the translator may have used those words.

reversef · 10-07-2012, 01:12 AM

I've always heard that there are slow surfaces (clay courts) and fast surfaces (hard courts, grass and carpet). This is how we categorize surfaces in my country (and probably in Spain as well). When only 4 of the biggest 14 tournaments played each year are played on the first category of surfaces, I would say that the tour gives a clear advantage to the players who prefer fast surfaces.
I know that there are different speeds, and that the current surfaces are not lightning fast, far from it. No need to come with scales and all those things to categorize the surfaces. I've seen them enough on this forum. But if there are different types of hard courts and the ones used now are not very fast, you can say the same about clay. I live in Belgium and I used to play tournaments on clay and hard courts (or sometimes carpet). Believe me, there is nothing more different from a clay court than another clay court. Maybe it's difficult to believe for some of you, but the courts of the French Open are considered very fast, very good for the attackers (they have been sped up for the first time in the nineties to give more chances to fast court players), Rome courts have always been considered the fastest clay courts on tour. But it was before Madrid got played on clay... The average clay courts are much more difficult to play for the attackers than the ones used for the Masters 1000 and the French Open.
Some of you like to only see one part of the story. Yes, the fast courts (HC, grass) may not be that fast these days. But the slow surfaces (clay) are not very slow either. Remain 10 tournaments played on fast surfaces and 4 on slow surfaces amongst the 14 biggest tournaments played each year.

vive le beau jeu ! · 10-07-2012, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abmk

that is one delusional statement ..........

a huge one...
could somebody please build us a time travel machine, in order to send the nadal into the 90's, for instance, without his racquets ?
(ummm... or would i be allowed to send him into the precambrian instead ?)

Prisoner of Birth · 10-06-2012, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timnz

I respect Toni, but the following recent quote shows that hre hasnt been in touch with tennis trends of the last 10 to 20 years

"This sentence does not bother me. It’s the truth. Federer is better than Nadal and the titles say this. It's also true that we play on a circuit that is in his favor, made of tournaments that are held on super fast courts. But the debate on who is the best in the history of the sport should not be done with Rafa but with Rod Laver, who was unable to play for several years and we all know he could have won more titles. Regarding the matches, Rafa is winning the matches played against Federer but for me it does not matter that much, for example, Davydenko has a favorable record but we all agree that Rafa is better than the Russian."

From: http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Toni-N...icolo6328.html

The fact is that we dont have fast court tennis anywhere anymore. We only have slow court tennis (first half of the year) and medium paced tennis - second half of the year. Not sure what planet toni is speaking from here - doesnt he see that tennis has been slowed down incredibly?

A great coach, but this is strange.

Did he actually say, "Super Fast Courts" or was he misquoted again? If he did say that, he sounds worse than the worst ****.

ETA : And why would he wish Federer wasn't around? Half of why Nadal is so highly regarded is because of his success against Federer.

TheFifthSet · 10-06-2012, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prisoner of Birth

Did he actually say, "Super Fast Courts" or was he misquoted again? If he did say that, he sounds worse than the worst ****.

Yeah, he might have been misquoted, its commonplace. But, if he wasn't that's pretty bad.

Prisoner of Birth · 10-06-2012, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFifthSet

Yeah, he might have been misquoted, its commonplace. But, if he wasn't that's pretty bad.

Yeah, I'm thinking he said, "Hard Courts" and not, "Super Fast Courts".

abmk · 10-06-2012, 10:23 PM

^^

Well in that case, yes ...... we need to replace the hard courts after the USO with faster, lower bouncing carpet ....

Prisoner of Birth · 10-06-2012, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abmk

^^

Well in that case, yes ...... we need to replace the hard courts after the USO with faster, lower bouncing carpet ....

I never really watched many matches played on Carpet. So if you could tell me, in what ways is it different to, let's say, Indoor Hards, which are also supposed to be Fast and low-bouncing? Are Carpets faster still?

10-06-2012, 09:59 PM	#1
timnz Hall Of Fame Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 2,650	Toni Nadal out of touch with tennis reality I respect Toni, but the following recent quote shows that hre hasnt been in touch with tennis trends of the last 10 to 20 years "This sentence does not bother me. It’s the truth. Federer is better than Nadal and the titles say this. It's also true that we play on a circuit that is in his favor, made of tournaments that are held on super fast courts. But the debate on who is the best in the history of the sport should not be done with Rafa but with Rod Laver, who was unable to play for several years and we all know he could have won more titles. Regarding the matches, Rafa is winning the matches played against Federer but for me it does not matter that much, for example, Davydenko has a favorable record but we all agree that Rafa is better than the Russian." From: http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Toni-N...icolo6328.html The fact is that we dont have fast court tennis anywhere anymore. We only have slow court tennis (first half of the year) and medium paced tennis - second half of the year. Not sure what planet toni is speaking from here - doesnt he see that tennis has been slowed down incredibly? A great coach, but this is strange.

10-06-2012, 10:03 PM	#7
tusharlovesrafa Hall Of Fame Join Date: May 2011 Location: On Suresh's balcony! Posts: 2,142	Calm before the storm,wait till the ****s jump in and derail your thread. __________________ The-champ on rafa - he has been struggling like an asthmatic 70 year-old trying to satisfy a seasoned prostitute.

10-06-2012, 10:06 PM	#10
abmk G.O.A.T. Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: India Posts: 11,447	that is one delusional statement .......... __________________ Becker,Edberg and Sampras would baggel him ( federer ) on fast indoor or grass more often than not. - the one and only kiki

10-07-2012, 01:12 AM	#14
reversef Professional Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 1,434	I've always heard that there are slow surfaces (clay courts) and fast surfaces (hard courts, grass and carpet). This is how we categorize surfaces in my country (and probably in Spain as well). When only 4 of the biggest 14 tournaments played each year are played on the first category of surfaces, I would say that the tour gives a clear advantage to the players who prefer fast surfaces. I know that there are different speeds, and that the current surfaces are not lightning fast, far from it. No need to come with scales and all those things to categorize the surfaces. I've seen them enough on this forum. But if there are different types of hard courts and the ones used now are not very fast, you can say the same about clay. I live in Belgium and I used to play tournaments on clay and hard courts (or sometimes carpet). Believe me, there is nothing more different from a clay court than another clay court. Maybe it's difficult to believe for some of you, but the courts of the French Open are considered very fast, very good for the attackers (they have been sped up for the first time in the nineties to give more chances to fast court players), Rome courts have always been considered the fastest clay courts on tour. But it was before Madrid got played on clay... The average clay courts are much more difficult to play for the attackers than the ones used for the Masters 1000 and the French Open. Some of you like to only see one part of the story. Yes, the fast courts (HC, grass) may not be that fast these days. But the slow surfaces (clay) are not very slow either. Remain 10 tournaments played on fast surfaces and 4 on slow surfaces amongst the 14 biggest tournaments played each year. Last edited by reversef : 10-07-2012 at 05:26 AM.

10-06-2012, 10:23 PM	#19
abmk G.O.A.T. Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: India Posts: 11,447	^^ Well in that case, yes ...... we need to replace the hard courts after the USO with faster, lower bouncing carpet .... __________________ Becker,Edberg and Sampras would baggel him ( federer ) on fast indoor or grass more often than not. - the one and only kiki