Injured Nadal to miss Marseille

[danb]

From BBC's website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/6351439.stm

"Nadal has struggled with injuries this season, having complained of a sore leg after losing to Fernando Gonzalez at last month's Australian Open.

Russia's Nikolay Davydenko takes over as the top seed in Marseille."

Is Nadal more prone to injuries because of his style?
Could it be that he is just resting for the clay season?

[dima]

Damn, this kid won't last long like this.

[Thor]

I think that Nadal is actually taking the time to practise and work on his game for the upcoming 2 hardcourt masters and then clay season.
If he has to claim he sustained an injury then so be it

[lorenza]

its probably both. his playing style making him injury prone and he probably also wants to take a break before clay

[malakas]

as I posted in another thread :

well till now terrible start of the year injury-wise for Rafa.

Injured in Sydney, injured in Melbourne, injured in DC, withdraws from Marseille.

I hope he's fit for the clay season.Or else......

[slice bh compliment]

He's probably generally fine. I'd be willing to bet he is spending plenty of time on a court and in a gym.

I think he and Uncle Toni feel the need for a little more time to work on his new and not-improved-enough serve, and a more attacking style for this spring....keep pace with what all the good players are doing to him (rushing him). February just happens to be a good time for him to get tougher and retool before the time of the season where he'll have to defend HUGE points.

[Thor]

Absoloutley,probably working on his terrible return and slice too.
I just wonder why he doesnt hire another coach that can take him to the next level,at least on hardcourts.Seems like Toni isnt doing enough,even the simple advice of standing nearer the baseline on returns and rallies seemed to esacape him.

[Wolbo]

Originally Posted by Thor

I think that Nadal is actually taking the time to practise and work on his game for the upcoming 2 hardcourt masters and then clay season.

According to his website he is planning to play Indian Wells but not Miami. Strange.

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by Wolbo

According to his website he is planning to play Indian Wells but not Miami. Strange.

Yeah, his handlers are clearly trying to keep him from injury. They are coming to understand his game and his body.

[Feña14]

If he was planning on working on stuff then why even enter?

I'm sure people would welcome him spending time working on things than playing every tournament so I can't see why he's not being honest about it.

[Nuke]

Don't worry too much about Nadal. Waving the injury flag is just how the top guys get out of tournament committments these days.

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by Nuke

Don't worry too much about Nadal. Waving the injury flag is just how the top guys get out of tournament committments these days.

Yeah, there is pressure on big names to enter these things months and months ahead of time. Promoters, ATP staff, the player's agent, etcetera. The process has very little in common with, say, one of us 'entering' a tournament.

[welcome2petrkordaland]

i like nadal but am not unrealistic about his hard court chances if he doesn't make some changes-service variety, improved return of serve, closing the net more/volleying, use of slice, occasional serve n volley (esp. as a leftie), depth of shot, etc.

I must say that he looked better at at the AO leading up to the gonzalez match. in that match he was obviously outplayed big time. i noticed that his serve regressed back to its predictable "serve to the righty's bh mode," which gonzo took full advantage of, either by slicing, driving thru with his bh, or simply running around it & crushing a fh. maybe this return to old habits was due to nadal's injury/pain or out of desperation.

overall, i see nadal's fast court hopes hinging on his ability to really develop his serve (esp. variety), add a serve-n-volley wrinkle to use on occasion, and get more DEPTH OF SHOT in general and on service return. these changes clearly can tranfer to the clay courts as well as help to prevent an early retirement due to his defensive, grinding style.

the best clay courter ever, bjorn borg, did retire at 25 and was known to grind points out and seemingly never "win them outright," not unlike nadal.

but if rafa's anything like his uncle miguel angel nadal, who played in la liga as well as for Spain until his mid 30s, rafa ain't going nowhere. the nadal's are absolute bulls.

only time will tell.



if he doesn't do these things, he'll struggle against top 20 players on fast courts.

[illkhiboy]

I just hope he is coming to Dubai..

[@wright]

The question is, will Nadal be able to cut back on tournament play and still retain his edge when he does play. His style is largely based on rhythm.

[Sagittar]

Originally Posted by illkhiboy

I just hope he is coming to Dubai..

i hope that too , i've got tickets for god's sake

[NamRanger]

Originally Posted by welcome2petrkordaland

i like nadal but am not unrealistic about his hard court chances if he doesn't make some changes-service variety, improved return of serve, closing the net more/volleying, use of slice, occasional serve n volley (esp. as a leftie), depth of shot, etc.

I must say that he looked better at at the AO leading up to the gonzalez match. in that match he was obviously outplayed big time. i noticed that his serve regressed back to its predictable "serve to the righty's bh mode," which gonzo took full advantage of, either by slicing, driving thru with his bh, or simply running around it & crushing a fh. maybe this return to old habits was due to nadal's injury/pain or out of desperation.

overall, i see nadal's fast court hopes hinging on his ability to really develop his serve (esp. variety), add a serve-n-volley wrinkle to use on occasion, and get more DEPTH OF SHOT in general and on service return. these changes clearly can tranfer to the clay courts as well as help to prevent an early retirement due to his defensive, grinding style.

the best clay courter ever, bjorn borg, did retire at 25 and was known to grind points out and seemingly never "win them outright," not unlike nadal.

but if rafa's anything like his uncle miguel angel nadal, who played in la liga as well as for Spain until his mid 30s, rafa ain't going nowhere. the nadal's are absolute bulls.

only time will tell.



if he doesn't do these things, he'll struggle against top 20 players on fast courts.

Will never happen. His backhand is fine on hardcourts, it's actually one of the better backhands on the ATP, and probably one of the best when it comes to passing people. His forehand however is a complete mess on courts faster then Clay. He's hit his forehand the way he's hit it for so long, there's no way he can just tell himself to change it within 5 years let alone immediatly. He has no depth of shot because of he has no weight transfer, most of his weight is almost always on his backfoot.


See this

http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instr....aspx?id=56544

Even when he follows through to his side he hits off his backfoot pretty much all the time. He can muscle the ball all he wants, but he won't get much pace and depth that way. This is a bad habit from the start that pretty much any good tennis coach would have caught on to and corrected at an early age. But since it has not, it would take a long time to fix such a bad habit that's been with Nadal for so long.

[Bjorn99]

I think he is retooling as well. My partner, to his credit, saw Nadal for what he was from day one. I personally, was excited to see a guy his height(tall) move that well. But you are right about his forehand (imo). It could have been so much,much more. I am not a big fan of the reverse forehand(where the racquet come back and finished on the same side). It can get you out of some real jams. But I don't believe in doing it 70% of the time, like Nadal does, and like Gasquet does. Fed does it, a lot, lot less.

[rafan]

I also thought he went back to his old serve etc when he was playing Gonzalez. It's as though he needs a lot more practice on his new approach to his game- especially under pressure - and maybe more confidence.

[Nuke]

Originally Posted by illkhiboy

I just hope he is coming to Dubai.

Some really big money in Dubai. I predict a miraculous recovery.