Nadal OUT of 2013 Australian Open

[TheF1Bob]

This news is fantastic. ***'s trolling has never been better!

Poor Rafa though... the Novak diet wasn't for him.

[Steve0904]

This is legit guys. This link is from tsn.ca. A reputable Canadian sports website.

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=412374

[NatF]

Originally Posted by ollinger

Epidemiologists apparently are on their way to take samples from Nadal to determine why a "stomach bug" that affects most people for a few days at most apparently is expected to impact him for at least six months.

Have you got a source for this?

[NLBwell]

It never made sense to me that he would start his comeback on hard courts. I'm sure he personally wanted to be ready for the Australian Open, but I can't see that being a very good thing for his knees. He can extend his career significantly if he plays primarily on clay. Kent Carlsson did this - only entering clay events, as did Muster after his car accident (mostly tanking the first round in hard court events that he had to play like the masters series). Maybe just play the Canadian and the U.S. Open and then one pre-AO and the AO. That would be only 4 hard court events per year and would still give him at least a decent chance at all 4 slam tournaments.

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

Originally Posted by Steve0904

This is legit guys. This link is from tsn.ca. A reputable Canadian sports website.

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=412374

You're a bit late to the party of Talk Tennis fans.

[dominikk1985]

could it be that his knee is in bad shape but his sponsors want him to hide that so that his fans are still hoping and continue buying tickets, rackets and rafa shirts?

[veroniquem]

Originally Posted by batz

Wow. Really didn't see this coming.

I certainly didn't WANT to see it coming but the sad thing is I'm getting used to it by now. Since last Wimbledon, it's been a case of: he's gonna come back, yes, yes, he's coming back... oops, no, sorry and it's anybody's guess what is actually going on behind the scenes It's also anyone's guess whether Rafa will be back in Acapulco. It's a small event on clay, so it should be pretty safe for him to do it, no matter how ready he is. (sigh)

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

Originally Posted by jokinla

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA, sure he will, after he wins the US Open 2012, whoops maybe not, okay, he will win the Aussie Open 2013, whoops maybe not, okay, well he will win, blah blah blah blah......

Remind me what Nadal did in Feb 2010, after dropping to #4 in the world after injury?

[Mainad]

Somehow, I always had my doubts that he would actually play the AO. IMO he never seemed too confident or convincing about wanting to play it. All his focus and comments seem to be on getting fit enough to play the clay season and he is now targetting Acapulco, a clay event, to mark his return to the tour.

Frankly, it doesn't bode well that, after 6 months absence, he still doesn't feel ready to play again for whatever reason he gives (knees, virus etc.) and is progressively skipping all the designated targets for his return eg. Abu Dhabi and now the AO. As a clay event, Acapulco is obviously a more attractive proposition for him to mark his return but that's still way off in February and I won't be holding my breath about that one either.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping and hoping that he will not become like Soderling who has been making constantly vague assurances about wanting to return but has been making them now for almost 2 years! But frankly, as with Soderling, I'm coming to the conclusion that I will believe Rafa will play again only when I see it and not before!

[TheF1Bob]

Be hilarious if he has to play against a Federer or a Djokovic in the first couple of rounds of a grand slam.

Highly unlikely but still.

Originally Posted by Mainad

Somehow, I always had my doubts that he would actually play the AO. IMO he never seemed too confident or convincing about playing it. All his focus and comments seem to be on getting fit enough to play the clay season and he is now targetting Acapulco, a clay event, to mark his return to the tour.

Frankly, it doesn't bode well that, after 6 months absence, he still doesn't feel ready to play again for whatever reason he gives (knees, virus etc.) and is progressively skipping all the designated targets for his return eg. Abu Dhabi and now the AO. As a clay event, Acapulco is obviously a more attractive proposition for him to mark his return but that's still way off in February and I won't be holding my breath about that one either.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping and hoping that he will not become like Soderling who has been making constantly vague assurances about wanting to return but has been making them now for almost 2 years! But frankly, as with Soderling, I'm coming to the conclusion that I will believe Rafa will play again only when I see it and not before!

Oh please... without Nadal, Muzza wins his first GS.

[underground]

Originally Posted by qindarka

Berdych and Del Potro can also take him out. Don't count your chickens yet.

Don't think that will happen. It's possible but unlikely because Fed has enough rest and not burnt out like last season.

[veroniquem]

I also wish his camp came up with credible excuses. A month off because of a stomach virus? Seriously? Who's gonna believe that? They'd be better off simply stating Rafa is not ready for the big stage yet.

[NatF]

Nadal should man up and play the AO if his knees are feeling better. Screw match practice play for the fans. Having a long layoff is no excuse for no excuse not to play if fit.

[NLBwell]

Originally Posted by Mainad

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping and hoping that he will not become like Soderling who has been making constantly vague assurances about wanting to return but has been making them now for almost 2 years! But frankly, as with Soderling, I'm coming to the conclusion that I will believe Rafa will play again only when I see it and not before!

Maybe we'll see that they are really coming back when they have the Nadal-Soderling "Grudge Match Exhibition Tour."

[FedererDropShot]

Looking forward to a Fed-Djoko final guise.

They never met in AO Final have they?

Seeing how Murray lost to a Tipsy a few hours ago... seeing ominous signs. *hehehehe*

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

And in just over two hours, Nadal causes Talk Tennis to make almost 120 posts about him. Looks like Nadal really is the most popular player at the moment, despite not playing any matches.

[underground]

Originally Posted by FedererDropShot

Looking forward to a Fed-Djoko final guise.

They never met in AO Final have they?

Seeing how Murray lost to a Tipsy a few hours ago... seeing ominous signs. *hehehehe*

The only final Fed and Djoker met was the USO 2007.

[TheF1Bob]

Originally Posted by veroniquem

I also wish his camp came up with credible excuses. A month off because of a stomach virus? Seriously? Who's gonna believe that? They'd be better off simply stating Rafa is not ready for the big stage yet.

Agreed, having diarrhea for an entire month and some is probably the worse excuse I've heard for some time.

[mandy01]

This sounds plain weird to me. There's still time for the AO right? And he can get match play at Kooyong or Sydney too. It's just..
So first he generates fanfare about his comeback at AD, then he abruptly pulls out, now he's out of the AO saying he can't play best-of-five and won't return till the 25th of Feb..
.................................................. .............

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

Originally Posted by TheF1Bob

Agreed, having diarrhea for an entire month and some is probably the worse excuse I've heard for some time.

I know people who have had a stomach virus for over a month. In fact, here's an example of someone who has-

http://www.steadyhealth.com/Stomach_...h__t74581.html

So Nadal could be experiencing something similar.