Nadal News

[Rocky89]

Nadal is still practicing on clay.

The tape around his knee is a bit worrying, I hope that tape is preventative and not because his knee is still bothering him

http://twitter.com/jamesmcgee01/stat...89130920013824

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by Rocky89

Nadal is still practicing on clay.

The tape around his knee is a bit worrying, I hope that tape is preventative and not because his knee is still bothering him

http://twitter.com/jamesmcgee01/stat...89130920013824

He said his knee is still bothering him so I am sure the tape is not a preventative measure.

And Nadal has got to let his hair grow back out. This mop top and short in the back mess has got to go. He should go back to the length it was in MC last year. It looked great then and suited him well.

[MichaelNadal]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

He said his knee is still bothering him so I am sure the tape is not a preventative measure.

And Nadal has got to let his hair grow back out. This mop top and short in the back mess has got to go. He should go back to the length it was in MC last year. It looked great then and suited him well.

Couldn't agree more, I was thrilled bc I thought he was letting it grow again. Short just doesn't suit Rafa at all unless it's USO 2010 style.

[Rocky89]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

He said his knee is still bothering him so I am sure the tape is not a preventative measure.

And Nadal has got to let his hair grow back out. This mop top and short in the back mess has got to go. He should go back to the length it was in MC last year. It looked great then and suited him well.

Yeah I was hoping that it would be better by now though...he shouldn't be practicing if it needs to be taped up, his knees are going to be torn up again from practice. I doubt his knee will ever 100% recover until he retires.

Agree on the hair, although it's not too bad, but MC length definitely suits him more.

[Crisstti]

Well, great to know he's kept on practising. And that he's "practising hard" now.

He had said images of his knee looked just fine, but that he still felt something. It has been a couple of weeks since that though. He might well be feeling better.

Originally Posted by vernonbc

Crisstti, what do you think Delpo meant by "revolution"? Did he maybe mean 'celebration' but the correct English word didn't come to him?

Good to hear him saying positive things about Rafa though and how much everybody misses him.

No, the news were in Spanish. Revolución = revolution.

I think it makes sense what he says (even if a little gushing ). He has to be one of the players who's been most supportive of Rafa.

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by Crisstti

Well, great to know he's kept on practising. And that he's "practising hard" now.

He had said images of his knee looked just fine, but that he still felt something. It has been a couple of weeks since that though. He might well be feeling better.

No, the news were in Spanish. Revolución = revolution.

I think it makes sense what he says (even if a little gushing ). He has to be one of the players who's been most supportive of Rafa.

If his knee was feeling better then why would he have it taped?

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

If his knee was feeling better then why would he have it taped?

Precaution?, or because even if better still not perfect?.

[GoodVibrations]

I am worried that all this rehab is going to make the knee only better to a certain extent. I sort of wonder if the only thing that would possibly make it much better is surgery. If it's a serious structural problem (I guess none of us know the precise extent of the issue), it sort of makes sense that the only thing that would really have the potential to make it much better is corrective surgery. Only my speculation of course.

I miss Rafa on the tour; I like all of the top guys except for Murray, and who better to give Murray a beatdown than Rafa?

[rafan]

I think the tape on his finger gives us an idea as to how much he has been practising. Yes I wish he would come back but feel hard courts will be a thing of the past. Don't like his haircut!

[Jeepers]

Nadal had his hair cut to reduce weight on his knees

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by Jeepers

Nadal had his hair cut to reduce weight on his knees

Yep. That ounce of hair was really putting strain on them. It was far too much for his 90 year old knees to handle.

[vernonbc]

Crisstti, I sure hope you can make it to Vina del Mar to finally see Rafa in person. I'm so excited for you!

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by vernonbc

Was Futures the normal pattern for most Spanish players? I thought Rafa played them instead of junior events because he was good enough to compete and win against the older pro players on the Futures circuit and juniors would not have contributed to his development.

Yes, Nadal played 2002 Junior Wimbledon and the 2002 Junior Davis Cup, and that's about all Nadal did with the juniors. Nadal's formative years were built on facing all-ages competition at his level. The first recorded match I have of Nadal is at a Spanish satellite event on the 8th January 2001, in a first qualifier against Tomas Prieto. Nadal won 6-1, 4-6, 6-0. Nadal lost in the third and final qualifier to Ivan Caballero. Nadal spent most of 2001 trying and failing to qualify for satellite events, but by October 2001, he was getting into satellite events outright, having built up some minor ranking points.

In September 2001, Nadal got a place in the main draw of a futures event in Madrid, losing to Guillermo Platel in his first round.

In the opening few months of 2002, Nadal was still doing satellite events in Spain, and played his last ever satellite event in March 2002. In April 2002, Nadal then got his first taste of a main tour event main draw in Mallorca, winning a match against Ramon Delgado before losing to Olivier Rochus. Nadal then did 2002 Junior Wimbledon (reaching the semi finals), and then moved on from playing regular satellite events to playing regular future events, winning a future tournament on the clay of Alicante in July 2002. Nadal then impressed as he won further clay-court future tournaments in Vigo, 2 in Barcelona and in Gran Canaria before the year was out. After the winning the latter, he also won a carpet tournament while still in Gran Canaria.

Another impressive development was that Nadal had reached the semi finals of a challenger tournament in October 2002 in Barcelona, losing to Albert Portas, a former world number 19 and the 2001 Hamburg Masters champion.

Nadal was now ready to move up another level. Nadal finished with future events and started 2003 regularly playing tournaments on the challenger circuit, which meant travelling far more regularly out of Spain for the first time. Nadal reached finals on indoor carpet in Hamburg, and on indoor hardcourt in Cherbourg. Nadal later won a challenger clay event in Baletta, while being runner-up of 2 other clay events in Cagliari and Aix-en-Provence.

And then in April 2003, at still 16 years old, with his world ranking now up to 109, Nadal started playing regularly on the main tour, starting with 2003 Monte Carlo, winning his qualifying matches and getting through to the R16 of the tournament, including a huge win over the reigning French Open champion, Albert Costa. Nadal later beat the 1998 French Open champion and fellow Mallorcan, Carlos Moya, at 2003 Hamburg.

Nadal was supposed to make his debut in a major at the 2003 French Open, being drawn against defending champion, Albert Costa, in the first round, but Nadal fell over the net during a practice session while he was mucking about with his mates and fractured his elbow. Nadal had to miss the 2003 French Open, and was replaced in the draw by lucky loser, Sergio Roitman. Nadal was also forced to miss 2003 Queen's Club, which he had signed up for, but managed to make his debut in a major at 2003 Wimbledon, beating Mario Ancic in the first round and British wildcard Lee Childs in the second round, before losing to Paradorn Srichaphan.

Nadal played his last 2 challenger events soon after, winning a hardcourt tournament in Segovia in early August 2003, and having to retire against Gasquet with an injury at St. Jean de Luz in September 2003. This was the last match that Nadal played in the challengers and was apparently the reason why Nadal continued playing with an ankle stress fracture to beat Gasquet at 2004 Estoril rather than retire. He didn't want to retire against Gasquet for a second time.

After 2003 St. Jean de Luz, Nadal has only played on the main tour ever since.

[Nostradamus]

He is DONE. look how weak and skinny he looks. right now, he can't even beat a #100 college boy from USA.

[RAFA2005RG]

Should we post the match reports of Nadal's 7-8 titles between now and June in Nadal News or make new threads?

[RAFA2005RG]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

He is DONE. look how weak and skinny he looks. right now, he can't even beat a #100 college boy from USA.

Actually I think it was a good idea to lose all that muscle in 2008. He's done much better in the hardcourt slams from 2009 onwards.

[vernonbc]

Rafa was quite the prodigy, wasn't he Mustard? The tennis world will not likely ever see another teenager like him.

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

He is DONE. look how weak and skinny he looks. right now, he can't even beat a #100 college boy from USA.

Yeah, he's barely a shadow of his former self. :rolleyes (And he looks very grumpy and miserable.)

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by vernonbc

Rafa was quite the prodigy, wasn't he Mustard? The tennis world will not likely ever see another teenager like him.


Yeah, he's barely a shadow of his former self. :rolleyes (And he looks very grumpy and miserable.)

Way to pick and choose which pictures to post. I've seen all of those pictures from Barcelona and you conveniently left out the ones where looks as surly as ever.

[edmondsm]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

And Nadal has got to let his hair grow back out. This mop top and short in the back mess has got to go. He should go back to the length it was in MC last year. It looked great then and suited him well.

Originally Posted by MichaelNadal

Couldn't agree more, I was thrilled bc I thought he was letting it grow again. Short just doesn't suit Rafa at all unless it's USO 2010 style.

Originally Posted by Rocky89

Agree on the hair, although it's not too bad, but MC length definitely suits him more.

See, this is what has always annoyed me with MOST Nadal fans. Why are you talking about his hair?? He's a tennis player, not a member of a boy band. Sheesh. Federer has fans, Nadal has groupies.

[RAFA2005RG]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

Way to pick and choose which pictures to post. I've seen all of those pictures from Barcelona and you conveniently left out the ones where looks as surly as ever.

Would you describe yourself as surly?