Rafa pulls out of Abu Dhabi touney!!!

[Razoredge]

Yeah maybe Nadal should start in the clay season, then play grass, and then finally move on to the hard.

[Strategy]

I know Rafa says he doesn't care about ranking, but perhaps he should show it by withdrawing from everything until clay starts (and just practice on clay until then, so he has SOME experience).

It's not worth playing AO and risking knee injuries again on hard courts if he has no chance of winning

[Rocky89]

Originally Posted by gavna

He said this week he doesn't expect his knee to be 100% until March........so expect lots last min pullouts and maybe some surprising losses for the 1st QTR of the year from him until clay.

He should dump the whole early hardcourt season anyway and save the knees until the soft stuff in March.

I agree, he should dump the early hardcourt season. I think realistically it would be better if he started playing in March or play only clay for a while, but as a fan it is still sad news.

[kalyan4fedever]

If he depends only upon clay season, then i say he is pretty much done!!! Atleast he has got millions saying that i was looking forward for his exhibition match against murraa.

[stringertom]

Bad paella, stage fright or la rodilla es muy infirma???

None of the above...he just found out they didn't add a wheelchair division!

[Hitman]

Sad to see he is not competing. I think his chances of an AO win are severely reduced now, unless he gets in essential matches in before the event.

[sureshs]

He must be having a crappy time

[pringles]

Is Rafa scheduled to play a warm-up tournament before the AO? Besides Abu Dhabi of course?

[Magnus]

So now its a stomach virus. I swear, Nadal is the most injured/sick/tired player in the history of the game.

[Rocky89]

Originally Posted by pringles

Is Rafa scheduled to play a warm-up tournament before the AO? Besides Abu Dhabi of course?

He is supposed to play Doha before AO

[Clarky21]

There is something else going on here. No way Nadal pulls out of Abu Dhabi with a million dollar appearance fee on the line for a stomach virus.

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by Towser83

What news to get on Christmas day... and the wait goes on..

Yeah
I was looking forward to seeing him. A stomach virus now?, bad things really do come all together... I guess it could be the knee and he's just saying this, but he sounded so sure about playing just a few says ago, I don't see what could have changed.

Originally Posted by Strategy

I know Rafa says he doesn't care about ranking, but perhaps he should show it by withdrawing from everything until clay starts (and just practice on clay until then, so he has SOME experience).

It's not worth playing AO and risking knee injuries again on hard courts if he has no chance of winning

I'm sure Rafa does care about the ranking.

I agree it's probably not worth it now to play Doha and AO. He's said his knee isn't quite right yet.

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

There is something else going on here. No way Nadal pulls out of Abu Dhabi with a million dollar appearance fee on the line for a stomach virus.

Not if he's as money hungry as you think he is. But maybe he isn't.

Though it is odd to withdraw with a stomach virus two days before. Wouldn't one hoe to be better by then?.

[Mick]

yeah. if it was me, I would show up, do my best, lose the match and collect 1 million Dollars. But I am not Nadal

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by Crisstti

Not if he's as money hungry as you think he is. But maybe he isn't.

Though it is odd to withdraw with a stomach virus two days before. Wouldn't one hoe to be better by then?.

I do think he would show up for the money if all he had was a stomach virus. Nadal(stupidly)played sicker than a dog in Doha in 2011, and I am certain the appearance fee he got for playing there had a whole lot to do with it.

I think his knee is still bothering him quite a bit and he used this as an excuse to get out of playing there. If Nadal were anywhere near ready to play he would have played Abu Dhabi. That appearance fee is far too large not to.

[Crisstti]

I wonder who are they going to play on his place now.

[SQA333]

Looks like Rafa has a nice belated Christmas present in store for Ferrer... next withdrawal Doha?

[mistik]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

I do think he would show up for the money if all he had was a stomach virus. Nadal(stupidly)played sicker than a dog in Doha in 2011, and I am certain the appearance fee he got for playing there had a whole lot to do with it.

I think his knee is still bothering him quite a bit and he used this as an excuse to get out of playing there. If Nadal were anywhere near ready to play he would have played Abu Dhabi. That appearance fee is far too large not to.

You forgot one thing.He promoted this event and there are some serious number of people out there who bought tickets to watch him play,now they have to watch other players and matches.I wont be surprised ıf he took some serious money out of this.

[Roddick85]

Too bad for Rafa that he's stuck with the stomach flu during christmas time, it's an awful virus and I totally understand why he withdrew, the disease really KO's you. He had the same virus during Aus 2011 and when he got that beating from Federer at WTF 2011 which is always at the time when there's a stomach flu outbreak. I hope he can recover soon enough to get a few matches in before Australia.

[Hawkeye7]

Originally Posted by Roddick85

Too bad for Rafa that he's stuck with the stomach flu during christmas time, it's an awful virus and I totally understand why he withdrew, the disease really KO's you. He had the same virus during Aus 2011 and when he got that beating from Federer at WTF 2011 which is always at the time when there's a stomach flu outbreak. I hope he can recover soon enough to get a few matches in before Australia.

Nadal when healthy - UNDEFEATED!!!