Biggest Comeback After >6 Months Absence?

[Atherton2003]

Clisters came back after having a baby...so can Nadal.

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by Atherton2003

Clisters came back after having a baby...so can Nadal.

Nadal must be a medical marvel.

[Bartelby]

No, I don't think Nadal can have a baby.

[Atherton2003]

You never know.....

[vive le beau jeu !]

Originally Posted by Atherton2003

Clisters came back after having a baby...so can Nadal.

even i would be congratulating the nadal if he does it !

[Mustard]

Thomas Muster spent a few weeks after the 1st April 1989 in despair, thinking his career was either over or would never be the same again. His coach, Ronnie Leitgeb, had a specially designed chair made for him, and convinced Thomas to get back on court hitting balls using the chair, and that he'd soon be back on the tour giving everything he's got. Muster was convinced, and threw everything into his rehabilitation and comeback. It's amazing what Muster was able to do from April 1989 to December 1990. He was fanatical about getting over the injury, hitting balls, getting fit, getting back on the tour, and then winning big clay tournaments, big Davis Cup matches etc.

Leitgeb once said of Muster "He's lazy, until you convince him to do something. Once you do, he is fanatical about doing it with 100% desire and enthusiasm."

[The_Order]

Guys it's Rafa, all those other players that were missing for 6+ months don't hold a candle to him.

RG2013 is going to Rafa bookmark it!

[vive le beau jeu !]

Originally Posted by Jack the Hack

As for the ATP tour, vive le beau jeu ! provided a pretty comprehensive list of the men's comeback players from the past 30 years. What is interesting is that I believe that only Agassi, Krajicek, and Muster ended up winning any Slams after such extended breaks, and those Slam wins took some time to pull of. Most of the other guys just seemed to lose some steam after being away so long. I believe Delpo has another Slam in him, but notice how long it's taken him to get back to the level where he's competitive.

cash also won a slam after his extended break, which occured early in his career (even younger than del potro or muster).

i edited my post and added the most significant performances in the main events for these players.

[abmk]

Originally Posted by The_Order

Guys it's Rafa, all those other players that were missing for 6+ months don't hold a candle to him.

RG2013 is going to Rafa bookmark it!

umm, no, there was a certain john mcenroe in that list ....

rafa is favourite for RG 2013, but we'll still have to see in what shape/form he is when he comes back ...

[BobbyOne]

Originally Posted by kOaMaster

No matter how great Nadal was - I now really doubt whether he can make his comeback even closely successful compared to what he did before.
This is not mainly because of his age but more of the fact he was absent for such a long time. No matches, no competition, for many many weeks no training and last but not least, not being on the tour and perhaps having a life outside of that surely must change Nadals point of view somehow?

So my question is - as I am only medium familiar with tennis history:
What was the greatest comeback by any tennis player after being absent for more than 6 months?
This means no matches at all, not just skipping the grand slams or dropping out of the rankings!

I think the greatest comeback was that of Pancho Gonzalez who had a pause of two years and came back as No.3 player.

[big ted]

1. agassi was out for 5 months in 93-94 with wrist surgery and did well after that
2. connors was out for over 1 year with wrist problems and surgery in 1990 and came back successfully but it was age that caught up with him not his injury or lack of play.

nadal reminds me of connors, when he comes back he will be ready

[reaper]

There are 2 differences between Nadal and other players who have come back from long term lay offs:

1) Nadal is an 11 time Grand Slam Champion at the age of 26
2) Despite being absent for 8 months Nadal will still be ranked number 5 when he comes back so will retain favourable draws through his seeding: He will likely be seeded top 4 at Wimbledon

Form is temporary: Class is permanent and by any measure Nadal would have to be ranked in the top 5 players of the past 30 years. If he retains his determination and desire his comeback will be successful.

[Jack the Hack]

Originally Posted by reaper

There are 2 differences between Nadal and other players who have come back from long term lay offs:

1) Nadal is an 11 time Grand Slam Champion at the age of 26
2) Despite being absent for 8 months Nadal will still be ranked number 5 when he comes back so will retain favourable draws through his seeding: He will likely be seeded top 4 at Wimbledon

Form is temporary: Class is permanent and by any measure Nadal would have to be ranked in the top 5 players of the past 30 years. If he retains his determination and desire his comeback will be successful.

First, John McEnroe was 27 and a 7 time Slam champion when he voluntarily left the game for 6 months, so this kind of absence for a player of Nadal's talent level is not unprecedented. As we all know, McEnroe's rivals overtook him and he was never the same player again after the break. Taking 8 months off will be detrimental for Nadal, especially since this was due to a reoccurring injury.

Speaking of the injury, I'll go back to the point I made earlier in this thread. When Muster's ACL and MCL ligaments were severed in the accident with the drunk driver, he trained his butt off to recover - hitting balls from a wheel chair, and doing painful therapy just weeks after surgery. He made it back on tour and was winning matches within 170 days (5.5 months), but it still took about a year to fully get back to where he left off. Muster was extremely driven and had a chip on his shoulder to show that his talent couldn't be stolen by an accident.

From Nadal's actions so far, I don't see that same "determination and desire" that you spoke of in his comeback. His knee injury is a lot less severe than Muster's, yet Nadal is not tackling the recovery with the same passion. 184+ days is more than enough time for him to recover and train from the issue he supposedly has, and even a temporary stomach bug shouldn't have been enough to knock him out for an additional 2 months if he was really motivated.

Winning the French was a big deal for Nadal last year (setting the record and becoming the clay GOAT), and I don't think he has anything left to prove. I think he's burned out, and won't be able to get the mojo back to dominate like he used to. Besides, his rivals (Djokovic and Murray, primarily) have gotten better, Federer is still hanging around, and there will be additional champs (Tsonga and Berdych, anyone?) nipping at his heels when he gets back on the court. Nobody is going to feel sorry for Nadal when he returns, and they will all be gunning for him while he's down, with their own chances to make history.

If anyone is doubting that this is a mental break for Nadal more than an injury issue, pictures speak louder than words...

Muster, less than two months after his catastrophic knee injury:



Nadal, less than two weeks (seriously, on July 8th of this year!) after his knee "injury":



Quite the contrast...

And finally, Nadal's ranking is in serious jeopardy. By missing the Australian and Doha, he'll drop to 5400 points which would put him at #5 right now. However, Berdych, Del Potro, and Tsonga could all pass him by March if they perform well. Then, Nadal has semifinal points at both Indian Wells and Miami to defend (720 total), not to mention 4,090 points to retain in the clay season. If he doesn't come back winning right away (which I think he won't), he could possibly be outside the top 10 by Wimbledon. This is going to be an uphill struggle all the way.

[The_Order]

Originally Posted by abmk

umm, no, there was a certain john mcenroe in that list ....

rafa is favourite for RG 2013, but we'll still have to see in what shape/form he is when he comes back ...

Mac NEVER dominated a major like Rafa dominates RG. No comparison. He'll win it, or rather you tell me who will beat him up there???

[reaper]

Tommy Haas is a player who has twice had more than 12 months off due to injury, was never able to win a Grand Slam tournament, and never got to number 1. His highest career ranking was in 2002. In 2012, at age 34 and 10 years past his peak as a player he was able to get back to number 21 in the world. His record is decidedly modest in comparison to Nadal. It suggests that as a much younger man, and a vastly superior player coming off a shorter lay off, Nadal should be able to get back to the very top. Knee and desire permitting.

[kOaMaster]

just to summarise - no matter how great nadal was, it would be already a great surprise and almost a miracle if nadal won more than one slam.
I'm not saying he can't but I'm saying he probably won't and with each day he's away it is getting harder and harder to come back.

[mattennis]

Why do some people think Agassi stopped playing tennis during his 1997-meth year?

He did not stop playing tennis at all, he played the whole year of 1997 (he played 14 tournaments + Davis Cup that year).


The only time when Agassi really stop playing tennis for some months (from 24-9-1993 to 21-2-1994, almost 5 months) it was because of a wrist surgery.

[zagor]

Originally Posted by Atherton2003

Clisters came back after having a baby...so can Nadal.

LMAO!

[Cup8489]

Originally Posted by mattennis

Why do some people think Agassi stopped playing tennis during his 1997-meth year?

He did not stop playing tennis at all, he played the whole year of 1997 (he played 14 tournaments + Davis Cup that year).


The only time when Agassi really stop playing tennis for some months (from 24-9-1993 to 21-2-1994, almost 5 months) it was because of a wrist surgery.

14 tournaments is not that much. And he took at least a full month off during the season, according to his own book. BG told him either to get back in shape or just to call it a day, so he spent a month retraining and building back his strength and stamina before starting over on the challenger circuit.

[mattennis]

Originally Posted by Cup8489

14 tournaments is not that much. And he took at least a full month off during the season, according to his own book. BG told him either to get back in shape or just to call it a day, so he spent a month retraining and building back his strength and stamina before starting over on the challenger circuit.

One month or even two months not playing any tournament is not that much. Most players have had periods like that.

I've read some people writting here (not in this thread) that Agassi stopped playing tennis for 2 or 3 years and that is why he was so strong later on. That (and many other things) only makes you realize that many people that write here didn't even follow tennis 10+ years ago.

As I said, Agassi's real break from playing tennis was a 5 month period after his wrist surgery at the end of 1993, and he came back really strong (from 1994 Canadian Open to 1995 US OPEN was his best 13 months of tennis of his whole career).

Nadal's around 8 months absence is starting to look a bit too much. We will see soon if he can make a good come back or not ( I personally think Nadal won't win another GS except for maybe another RG).