Is Rafa a bit of a scaredy-cat?

[kragster]

As a Rafa fan, I've been trying to figure out what the frequent "will play, won't play" flipflops mean. The silent ban theories don't hold any water IMO because they fail a logic test (why target a conspicuous player like Rafa, why now, why not a monetary fine if ATP is complicit anyway etc)

So it seems to me that the reason for all these flip flops is that Rafa is a bit of a scaredy-cat. I see Rafa as someone who thrives on being the underdog, he loves going into a match thinking that the other player is better and hence he has this 'nothing to lose' attitude. I think this stems from years of Tio Toni telling him that everyone else was better than him and the only way to win was hard work.

I think that's why any time Rafa doesn't feel 100% or doesn't feel like he has had enough practice, he is scared of losing and hence doesn't even want to compete. This stomach virus thing surely shouldn't prevent him from playing at the AO, but maybe its affected his confidence enough that he is scared of being knocked out early at AO.

[DropShotArtist]

No one knew about Agassi's drug use when it was happening.

[fedfan46]

Since this is my first post, I think I should let people know that I am as big of a Federer homer as there is. But I still feel I can talk about other players, like Nadal, without letting that bias get in the way. So to answer the question: Rafa has a certain attitude about him that doesn't lead me to believe he thrives on being the underdog. He never is the underdog. He has no reason to have a mindset entering a match of "this player is better than me so I have nothing to lose". There is no reason Rafa would withdraw from a major because of a stomach virus, especially weeks in advance. The fact of the matter is, his knee is not ready for major competition and he doesn't want another Rosol type match in the AO that makes people begin to question his ability to remain at the top of the game.

[kragster]

Originally Posted by fedfan46

Since this is my first post, I think I should let people know that I am as big of a Federer homer as there is. But I still feel I can talk about other players, like Nadal, without letting that bias get in the way. So to answer the question: Rafa has a certain attitude about him that doesn't lead me to believe he thrives on being the underdog. He never is the underdog. He has no reason to have a mindset entering a match of "this player is better than me so I have nothing to lose". There is no reason Rafa would withdraw from a major because of a stomach virus, especially weeks in advance. The fact of the matter is, his knee is not ready for major competition and he doesn't want another Rosol type match in the AO that makes people begin to question his ability to remain at the top of the game.

I think his knee is ok enough at this point to enter and compete but his ego prevents him from doing that. I do not think that 'all or nothing' is the right attitude. He should be OK with losing to a Rosol like player if hes getting some match practice in the process.

On a side note interesting that you as a Fed fan are defending Rafa and I as a Rafa fan am attacking him a bit .

[fedfan46]

I'm conflicted about Rafa- his game on clay is the best thing in tennis. Yes, as a Fed fan, I enjoy watching Rafa on clay more than Fed on grass

But the guy is just such a ****** I can't root for him. The whole thing with chucking the ball at the chair and getting the French Open final suspended just put me over the top. That was one of the most bushleague things I have ever seen in the sport.

Nadal is the best clay-court player ever, and there is no debate about that. But his attitude and ability on surfaces besides clay prevent him from being GOAT.

[veroniquem]

Who knows exactly? What is sure is that this "flipflop" as you call it is like throwing burning oil on the ebullient cauldron of " anything goes" speculations. It's gonna be a madhouse until - hopefully- Rafa hits his first ball in a competitive match. The good news for event managers is that they don't have to worry about ticket selling when that happens... The French have a saying: there is no such thing as bad publicity!

[Amelie Mauresmo]

I disagree, I think Nadal is being smart, why should he travel thousands of miles to Australia and lose in the fourth round or the quarterfinals? Nadal is a champion and he probably feels he needs more time to prepare for the Australian Open. But since Nadal is sick with a stomach virus he feels he doesn't have the time. Nadal is being very smart here no need to rush back when he's not physically or mentally ready to return.

[Mike Sams]

So when does he start to get fined for skipping tournaments?

[West Coast Ace]

Originally Posted by Amelie Mauresmo

I disagree, I think Nadal is being smart, why should he travel thousands of miles to Australia and lose in the fourth round or the quarterfinals?

Yeah, no obligation at all to fans who bought tickets, travel thousands of miles, for one chance to see him play. Just " 'gimme, gimme, gimme' - I am Rafael Nadal and I am almighty - my uncle has been telling me that since I was 10. The companies who pay me millions in endorsement deals - too bad for them too."

[dyldore]

Originally Posted by Mike Sams

So when does he start to get fined for skipping tournaments?

The ATP must be convinced that he needs this time off.

Originally Posted by West Coast Ace

Yeah, no obligation at all to fans who bought tickets, travel thousands of miles, for one chance to see him play. Just " 'gimme, gimme, gimme' - I am Rafael Nadal and I am almighty - my uncle has been telling me that since I was 10. The companies who pay me millions in endorsement deals - too bad for them too."

Good mind reading skills!

[vive le beau jeu !]

... by this humiliating comparison.

[namelessone]

Originally Posted by kragster

As a Rafa fan, I've been trying to figure out what the frequent "will play, won't play" flipflops mean. The silent ban theories don't hold any water IMO because they fail a logic test (why target a conspicuous player like Rafa, why now, why not a monetary fine if ATP is complicit anyway etc)

So it seems to me that the reason for all these flip flops is that Rafa is a bit of a scaredy-cat. I see Rafa as someone who thrives on being the underdog, he loves going into a match thinking that the other player is better and hence he has this 'nothing to lose' attitude. I think this stems from years of Tio Toni telling him that everyone else was better than him and the only way to win was hard work.

I think that's why any time Rafa doesn't feel 100% or doesn't feel like he has had enough practice, he is scared of losing and hence doesn't even want to compete. This stomach virus thing surely shouldn't prevent him from playing at the AO, but maybe its affected his confidence enough that he is scared of being knocked out early at AO.

It has nothing to do with fear or stomach bugs, it has to do with his knees and the cover-up that his camp is doing to make sure that we don't know how bad they are at this moment in time to keep Rafa marketable.

If your theory would be correct(about Nadal not entering if he doesn't feel 100% sure about his chances of winning, whatever that means), then Nadal wouldn't enter any non-clay tournies because he is rarely favourite in those and I doubt he feels that he can SURELY win them.

Do you actually think Nadal skipped Olympics,Canada,Cincy,USO,other fall tournaments,DC final, AO, because he got cold feet at the last moment in every last one of them? Nope, the guy was in no shape to COMPETE. Compete in their world is not to go out there and try to get past the first round but to make sure that you are good enough physically(first of all) to go and hang at least with the top 4 and of course, try to win.

If Nadal's knees are still battered, and I think they are, what is the point of going to Australia and playing 3 out of 5 on HC, knowing that you can make a big problem even worse? Remember that genius move that Delpo pulled, playing AO with a bum wrist? Remember how his year went afterwards?

Nadal already messed up his 2012. Starting 2013 on the wrong foot(and I'm not just talking comeback surface here, but how well he is when he steps on court) could be career ending for him. In this day and age, you don't come back so easily. Delpo, who was 22 at the time, not 26 like Nadal, had 9 months off with surgery and it took him nearly another year after he came back to get into decent shape and take his rightful place among the top players. And Delpo is a big hitter, not a grinder like Rafa.

Nadal is a veteran of the tour with a chronic knee condition who sat out half a year. If I were him I would only step on a tennis court when I have pain free practices(or at least with pain at a manageable level). If that doesn't happen in the foreseeable future, then I would retire.

[jaggy]

Total chicken

[zagor]

Originally Posted by namelessone

It has nothing to do with fear or stomach bugs, it has to do with his knees and the cover-up that his camp is doing to make sure that we don't know how bad they are at this moment in time to keep Rafa marketable.

I agree, with this, my guess as well.

Don't buy the silent ban theory, the stomach virus nor Nadal being "scared" of competition (for Pete's sake, he's a tour veteran despite his young age).

[Ico]

Scaredy cat? Rafael "humble channel slam god" Nadal came back after a similar set back at the start of 2010 to become the first man (x and y chromosomes) in world HISTORY to win three slams on three surfaces (clay, grass, and hard) in a single calendar year (12 months for the sad, miserable, obsessed ****s who don't know). All of these posts about Nadal show that He is truly the greatest tennis personality of all time and Mallorca and clay and RG and Shakira waka waka and 18-10 and 11>17 and Gold medal and Uncle Toni.



/***

[Mike Sams]

Why is Nadal grabbing Monaco's bottom?

[namelessone]

Originally Posted by zagor

I agree, with this, my guess as well.

Don't buy the silent ban theory, the stomach virus nor Nadal being "scared" of competition (for Pete's sake, he's a tour veteran despite his young age).

Glad to know we agree on something.

I get the vibe that his camp isn't telling us about his knees because they aren't acting like a camp with a healthy athlete in their midst ready to give his all in the next competitions. They are acting like they are trying to mask Rafa's physical condition and apparently they always need a little more time to get Rafa into shape. It's been six months already.

If Rafa was reasonably healthy, they would be advertising that he is ready, we would see training clips, interviews about Rafa and his odds here, etc, something to get the people excited for his big return.

Instead,we got some half-assed comments about him MAYBE playing in Abu Dhabi. That's when I thought that AO was possibly a no-go because in theory Nadal should be terribly glad to be back yet(especially for a competitor such as himself) in every clip I saw from him there was worry/doubt on his face.

As for the being "scared" of competition, it's the Soderling comments from 2009 all over again and Nadal proved how scared he was by meeting Soderling again in 2009 and beating him in 2010 and 2011. Jesus, every top athlete likes to run on some confidence but I can't seriously fathom that people believe Nadal is mentally affected by his WB loss SIX MONTHS after the fact and that this event made him miss Olympics, several MS tourneys, USO, DC final, AO.

Some people need to come to terms with the fact that Nadal's knees are f**ked. Nothing more, nothing less, though I'm sure that the speculation will run wild, as usual.

[PrinceMoron]

Where is the net winder?

[sbengte]

Originally Posted by namelessone

It has nothing to do with fear or stomach bugs, it has to do with his knees and the cover-up that his camp is doing to make sure that we don't know how bad they are at this moment in time to keep Rafa marketable.

If your theory would be correct(about Nadal not entering if he doesn't feel 100% sure about his chances of winning, whatever that means), then Nadal wouldn't enter any non-clay tournies because he is rarely favourite in those and I doubt he feels that he can SURELY win them.

Do you actually think Nadal skipped Olympics,Canada,Cincy,USO,other fall tournaments,DC final, AO, because he got cold feet at the last moment in every last one of them? Nope, the guy was in no shape to COMPETE. Compete in their world is not to go out there and try to get past the first round but to make sure that you are good enough physically(first of all) to go and hang at least with the top 4 and of course, try to win.

If Nadal's knees are still battered, and I think they are, what is the point of going to Australia and playing 3 out of 5 on HC, knowing that you can make a big problem even worse? Remember that genius move that Delpo pulled, playing AO with a bum wrist? Remember how his year went afterwards?

Nadal already messed up his 2012. Starting 2013 on the wrong foot(and I'm not just talking comeback surface here, but how well he is when he steps on court) could be career ending for him. In this day and age, you don't come back so easily. Delpo, who was 22 at the time, not 26 like Nadal, had 9 months off with surgery and it took him nearly another year after he came back to get into decent shape and take his rightful place among the top players. And Delpo is a big hitter, not a grinder like Rafa.

Nadal is a veteran of the tour with a chronic knee condition who sat out half a year. If I were him I would only step on a tennis court when I have pain free practices(or at least with pain at a manageable level). If that doesn't happen in the foreseeable future, then I would retire.

Good post, and part of me is convinced this is the real reason, but still a bit skeptical because of the way the "injury" story surfaced. No one knows when exactly he got injured. He was definitely not injured until he lost to Rosol. So when did his knee flare up ? On a fishing trip ? Golf ?

[sbengte]

Originally Posted by Ico

Scaredy cat? Rafael "humble channel slam god" Nadal came back after a similar set back at the start of 2010 to become the first man (x and y chromosomes) in world HISTORY to win three slams on three surfaces (clay, grass, and hard) in a single calendar year (12 months for the sad, miserable, obsessed ****s who don't know). All of these posts about Nadal show that He is truly the greatest tennis personality of all time and Mallorca and clay and RG and Shakira waka waka and 18-10 and 11>17 and Gold medal and Uncle Toni.
/nsk

10NSKs