Nadal: nobody has had to retire with what I have

[Alexandros]

Originally Posted by Crisstti

Lol, what would you have him do?. Wait until the clay court season to come back?

You wish.

I would have him shut up and play if he is going to play on hard courts or if he is going to complain about them then yes, put his money where his mouth is and only play on clay if it bothers him so much. He would be a one man boycott, because I doubt any of his peers would follow suit.

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by Alexandros

I would have him shut up and play if he is going to play on hard courts or if he is going to complain about them then yes, put his money where his mouth is and only play on clay if it bothers him so much. He would be a one man boycott, because I doubt any of his peers would follow suit.

Nonsense. There are two slams and many masters on hard courts, he can't control that nor replace those tournaments with clay or grass ones, so he has every right to say what he thinks of hard court and still play on them. If you don't like it, tough luck.

Originally Posted by TMF

I don't hear any player who SUCKS on clay is complaining about the surface, and say having clay courts is wrong.

He's complaining about the surface being bad for player's health. He's not complaining that it doesn't suit his game.

Originally Posted by smoledman

So Federer is a superior athlete, is he supposed to apologize for that? My god, what am I dealing with in this forum?

He's less injury prone, and no one said anything about apologizing.

Originally Posted by smoledman

Because it means more for Nadal's legacy to win another AO/USO then another RG at this point. Far more, but he knows he's incapable.

[vive le beau jeu !]

Originally Posted by Gorecki

and i must agree with Nadal. all the others had to retire with whatever they had and not with Nadal has...


jebesus... is that guy stupid or what?

but think again on it... you never had to retire from the TV because of the 'game' that the nadal has ?
(ok ok... you're right: not definitely ! there still was inspector columbo on the other channel...)

[Alexandros]

Originally Posted by Crisstti

Nonsense. There are two slams and many masters on hard courts, he can't control that nor replace those tournaments with clay or grass ones, so he has every right to say what he thinks of hard court and still play on them. If you don't like it, tough luck.

And I have every right to comment and criticise what he says, if you don't like it, tough luck.

[SQA333]

Originally Posted by ruerooo

If he's not coming back till that end of December exho, then he's not going to be playing at WTF.

Precisely why I won't be enjoying this year's edition as much as the previous ones.

[cknobman]

Here is what this boils down to really:

Thousands of professional tennis players have played on hardcourts over the years and their careers have been just fine.

Hard courts are the toughest on the body and today they make up more of the tour than any other surface.

Players have expressed the desire to play FEWER hardcourt tournaments.

Nadal is the only one expressing the desire to REMOVE hardourts from the tour and trying to pass his opinion that they are bad for the sport as a fact.

Nadal is taking his own personal issues/feelings and trying to project them onto the entire tour.

Nadal then proceeds to conflict with his own desires/opinions by making his first matches back from injury (supposedly caused by hardcourts) at an exhibition match (note this is entirely his own choice to play) which will be played on a hardcourt (the very surface he says needs to be removed from the game). Keep in mind that as an exhibition match Nadal does not need or have to play it and furthermore he could choose to play an exhibition match anywhere on Earth on any surface he wishes but instead he is choosing to play on a hardcourt.

So you see where the lack of respect for his statements comes from, dont you?

[namelessone]

Originally Posted by cknobman

Here is what this boils down to really:

Thousands of professional tennis players have played on hardcourts over the years and their careers have been just fine.

Hard courts are the toughest on the body and today they make up more of the tour than any other surface.

Players have expressed the desire to play FEWER hardcourt tournaments.

Nadal is the only one expressing the desire to REMOVE hardourts from the tour and trying to pass his opinion that they are bad for the sport as a fact.

Nadal is taking his own personal issues/feelings and trying to project them onto the entire tour.

Nadal then proceeds to conflict with his own desires/opinions by making his first matches back from injury (supposedly caused by hardcourts) at an exhibition match (note this is entirely his own choice to play) which will be played on a hardcourt (the very surface he says needs to be removed from the game). Keep in mind that as an exhibition match Nadal does not need or have to play it and furthermore he could choose to play an exhibition match anywhere on Earth on any surface he wishes but instead he is choosing to play on a hardcourt.

So you see where the lack of respect for his statements comes from, dont you?

If Nadal's body is ready to go by say, mid December, where exactly do you want him to make his comeback? Hell,from Toronto(mid August) till February 4th 2013 there are nothing but HC events(last clay event this year was on 22 July in Kitzbuhel) until Movistar Open 2013 in Santiago. Barring a clay tie with Spain Nadal could only come back on HC until the southamerican clay swing of next year. The tour is 65% HC people, there is no escaping it and people are accusing Nadal of coming back to HC when in fact two thirds of the time you will be stepping on concrete when you want to play a tennis match.

Point is, if he wants to play in AO he has to come back to on HC and looking at the calendar, from August 2012 - February 2013 he has ONLY hc events in sight.

Can you please give me a link where Nadal says he wants ALL hardcourt events to go away from the tour? Every Nadal statement I've heard is about having FEWER hardcourt events. He usually just says that they are bad for the bodies of the players but I've never heard him say eliminate them all from the tour.

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by Alexandros

And I have every right to comment and criticise what he says, if you don't like it, tough luck.

Sure. But you're criticising for the sake of it.

[cknobman]

Originally Posted by namelessone

If Nadal's body is ready to go by say, mid December, where exactly do you want him to make his comeback? Hell,from Toronto(mid August) till February 4th 2013 there are nothing but HC events(last clay event this year was on 22 July in Kitzbuhel) until Movistar Open 2013 in Santiago. Barring a clay tie with Spain Nadal could only come back on HC until the southamerican clay swing of next year. The tour is 65% HC people, there is no escaping it and people are accusing Nadal of coming back to HC when in fact two thirds of the time you will be stepping on concrete when you want to play a tennis match.

Point is, if he wants to play in AO he has to come back to on HC and looking at the calendar, from August 2012 - February 2013 he has ONLY hc events in sight.

Can you please give me a link where Nadal says he wants ALL hardcourt events to go away from the tour? Every Nadal statement I've heard is about having FEWER hardcourt events. He usually just says that they are bad for the bodies of the players but I've never heard him say eliminate them all from the tour.

First: Nadal could organize an exhibition match on clay practically anywhere in the world (how bout Spain for starters), I mean hes already playing an non tour exhibition match already isnt he? Why not organize his own on a surface that wont hurt his knees?

Second: This is the quote I am referring to:
"I can’t pretend not to play on hard courts when two of the Slams are on hard courts, but there is a mistake "with our game," Nadal said. “You don’t watch footballers playing on a hard surface, or basketball players, those sports with rapid movements. It’s not going to change for me and my generation. Hard courts are very negative for the body. I know the sport is a business and creating these courts is easier than clay or grass, but I am 100 percent sure it is wrong. I may have to play more on clay than before, but there aren’t that many options." source: http://www.tennis.com/news/2012/09/r.../#.UGynu03A85w

That quote does not explicitly say he wants fewer hard courts nor does it explicitly say he wants them eliminated but read it and tell me what impression your left with?

[smoledman]

Yes all hardcourts shall be turned into RED SLOW HIGH BOUNCING clay courts for humble Humbalito.

[sarmpas]

Originally Posted by namelessone

Nope, that's when he broke down, that's not when the pain came back.

Both in 2009 and 2012 his problems started reappearing in the HC season before April. Nadal has physical problems in Rotterdam 09, in 2012 he started feeling pain since IW and even in 2010(a great year for him) he had knee problems in Miami.

On clay, he can go on painkillers and last longer because of the cushion of the surface, even if points are longer(though to be honest, today points are almost as long on HC as well). Even when Nadal is reasonably healthy, his knee problems always come back during hc season, especially when overplaying.

'Attrition' is Nadal's comfort zone most of the time which exacerbates his knee problems. Muzza, Djoko and especially Federer can rip winners without it looking like a huge physical effort as it seems to be for Nadal.

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by cknobman

First: Nadal could organize an exhibition match on clay practically anywhere in the world (how bout Spain for starters), I mean hes already playing an non tour exhibition match already isnt he? Why not organize his own on a surface that wont hurt his knees?

Wouldn't be of much use to prepare for the AO.

[veroniquem]

It's not like Nadal has a choice since everything on the pro tour is played on hard court except for 3 months a year. It's not because Nadal has to play on hard court that he has to like it. If he elicits to stay on the tour, he has to try and tackle hard courts regardless of his preferences. It doesn't mean he cannot state said preferences. He has every right to speak up his mind (especially since more surface variety would be beneficial for the tour in the future.)

[ruerooo]

Originally Posted by cknobman

Nadal is the only one expressing the desire to REMOVE hardourts from the tour and trying to pass his opinion that they are bad for the sport as a fact.

When and where did you ever read/hear him say something like this ...??

[Mike Sams]

Originally Posted by cknobman

Here is what this boils down to really:

Thousands of professional tennis players have played on hardcourts over the years and their careers have been just fine.

Hard courts are the toughest on the body and today they make up more of the tour than any other surface.

Players have expressed the desire to play FEWER hardcourt tournaments.

Nadal is the only one expressing the desire to REMOVE hardourts from the tour and trying to pass his opinion that they are bad for the sport as a fact.

Nadal is taking his own personal issues/feelings and trying to project them onto the entire tour.

Nadal then proceeds to conflict with his own desires/opinions by making his first matches back from injury (supposedly caused by hardcourts) at an exhibition match (note this is entirely his own choice to play) which will be played on a hardcourt (the very surface he says needs to be removed from the game). Keep in mind that as an exhibition match Nadal does not need or have to play it and furthermore he could choose to play an exhibition match anywhere on Earth on any surface he wishes but instead he is choosing to play on a hardcourt.

So you see where the lack of respect for his statements comes from, dont you?

If Nadal says hardcourts should be removed, what surface does he suggest that the AO and USO be played on, exactly?

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Mike Sams

If Nadal says hardcourts should be removed, what surface does he suggest that the AO and USO be played on, exactly?

The same surfaces they were played on before.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by sureshs

The same surfaces they were played on before.

It would be great. The 2003 Davis Cup final between Australia and Spain was held at the Rod Laver Arena on a grass-court.

[RF20Lennon]

The debate here is miles better than the obama-romney one tonight!!!

[Talker]

They can speed up the courts so Nadal doesn't have to grind as much, the slowing down of the courts probably hurts him more than the courts being hard.

[Sentinel]

Originally Posted by sureshs

The same surfaces they were played on before.

So you mean Nadal wants grass for all slams ? Real grass ?

Or do you want grass with clay underneath, that plays like clay by the second week ?