Time for Nadal to cut HC events down

Towser83

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Now that he's withdrawing from Miami it means he's skipped 6 of the past 8 HC masters. Out of the past 9, he's skipped or withdrawn mid event from 8 . 2 out of the past 3 HC slams he's retired in, plus also skipped Brisbane this year and the WTF last year as well as the China Open. In my opinion it's becoming clear he should drop a lot of events, it didn't even harm his ranking any worse than dropping to number 2.

He should probably play a warm up event before Australia but perhaps just a exhibition like Abu Dhabi. Then

Australian Open

Rio
Brazil Open

MC
Barcalona
Madrid
Rome
RG

Queens (optional)
Wimbledon

Canadian masters
US Open

WTF (optional)

So 2 hard court slams, a warm up before the USO but gives him a week off (Canada is his best HC master as well) Can play the WTF if he fancies giving himself a shot to finally win that, but everything else cut. Gives him time to train and rest and he can add Rio and Brazil for match play and points
 
DSH

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
Brisbane
AO

Montecarlo
Barcelona
Rome
RG

WImbledon

Canada
US open


Paris Bercy
WTF

He only needs 6000 points to stay in the top 4 easily.
 
Towser83

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
DSH said:
Brisbane
AO

Montecarlo
Barcelona
Rome
RG

WImbledon

Canada
US open


Paris Bercy
WTF

He only needs 6000 points to stay in the top 4 easily.
Click to expand...

Pretty much what I think, Paris could be ok as a warm up for the WTF but if he doesn't care about winning that then I'm not sure it's worth playing. Also I think Rio would be good for him to play just to keep his competitive match play up without too long a gap
 
Steve0904

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
Towser83 said:
Yeah but in the long run he's gonna suffer, say it hurts his chances at a slam?
Click to expand...

Nadal knows how to deal with his injury though. Plus, IW and Miami are nowhere near the next slam which is on his beloved clay anyway. So it's only Canada and Cincy he should be worried about and in that case he usually plays Canada and makes a decision on Cincy after that. I don't suspect you'll see Nadal in Cincy much more in his career, and we all know his post USO schedule is usually pretty bare anyway.

I guess my point is that he's almost at the minimum of HC events as it is because he barely plays post USO anyway. He could've skipped Acapulco and IW (and he's withdrawn from Miami which may have been coming, injury or not IMO), but that's about it.
 
Towser83

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Steve0904 said:
Nadal knows how to deal with his injury though. Plus, IW and Miami are nowhere near the next slam which is on his beloved clay anyway. So it's only Canada and Cincy he should be worried about and in that case he usually plays Canada and makes a decision on Cincy after that. I don't suspect you'll see Nadal in Cincy much more in his career, and we all know his post USO schedule is usually pretty bare anyway.

I guess my point is that he's almost at the minimum of HC events as it is because he barely plays post USO anyway. He could've skipped Acapulco and IW (and he's withdrawn from Miami which may have been coming, injury or not IMO), but that's about it.
Click to expand...

If he skipped IW/Miami though he'd have ages to rest and train as needed for clay season which might leave more in the tank for an assault at Wimbledon. Then yeah play Canada and the USO.

He's at a minimum now because he keeps pulling out of events but probably time to not even schedule them
 
wang07

wang07

Semi-Pro
Nadal on HC since 2017:

DC: w/d
Basel: w/d
Paris: w/o
London: w/o
Brisbane: w/d
AO: retired
Acapulco: w/d
IW: w/d
Miami: w/d
Toronto: W
Cincy: w/d
US Open: retired
Beijing: w/d
Shanghai: w/d
Paris: w/d
London: w/d
Brisbane: w/d
AO: F
Acapulco: R2
IW: w/o

this is not looking good at all.
 
Shaolin

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
Towser83 said:
Now that he's withdrawing from Miami it means he's skipped 6 of the past 8 HC masters. Out of the past 9, he's skipped or withdrawn mid event from 8 . 2 out of the past 3 HC slams he's retired in, plus also skipped Brisbane this year and the WTF last year as well as the China Open. In my opinion it's becoming clear he should drop a lot of events, it didn't even harm his ranking any worse than dropping to number 2.

He should probably play a warm up event before Australia but perhaps just a exhibition like Abu Dhabi. Then

Australian Open

Rio
Brazil Open

MC
Barcalona
Madrid
Rome
RG

Queens (optional)
Wimbledon

Canadian masters
US Open

WTF (optional)

So 2 hard court slams, a warm up before the USO but gives him a week off (Canada is his best HC master as well) Can play the WTF if he fancies giving himself a shot to finally win that, but everything else cut. Gives him time to train and rest and he can add Rio and Brazil for match play and points
Click to expand...

I've drawn up a full schedule I'd like him to play:

Granby, Quebec Challenger

Noumea, New Caledonia Challenger
 
B

BorgTheGOAT

Legend
To be honest I never really understood why he did not learn from the past. How many times did he have to withdraw followed by a long injury break. When was the last time he played a full season without any injury. If I were Nadal I would pretty much only play the HC Slams and one warm up tournament before each, maybe he could think about playing one out of Indian Wells or Miami on top. Focusing on clay he should earn enough points to get a favorable seeding, but at this stage of his career he should really prioritize the slams. Federer is a lot more intelligent with his schedule. There is absolutely no point to play each and every HC masters/clay masters when you are > 30 and can still compete for slams. If I were Nadal I would on top of this skip Madrid, two clay masters is more than enough.
 
tennis_pro

tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
wang07 said:
Nadal on HC since 2017:

DC: w/d
Basel: w/d
Paris: w/o
London: w/o
Brisbane: w/d
AO: retired
Acapulco: w/d
IW: w/d
Miami: w/d
Toronto: W
Cincy: w/d
US Open: retired
Beijing: w/d
Shanghai: w/d
Paris: w/d
London: w/d
Brisbane: w/d
AO: F
Acapulco: R2
IW: w/o

this is not looking good at all.
Click to expand...
+ 2019 Miami - w/d
 
Steve0904

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
Towser83 said:
If he skipped IW/Miami though he'd have ages to rest and train as needed for clay season which might leave more in the tank for an assault at Wimbledon. Then yeah play Canada and the USO.

He's at a minimum now because he keeps pulling out of events but probably time to not even schedule them
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. Probably time to not schedule them at all, especially Acapulco, but that might be easier said than done. I'm sure he gets huge appearance fees for Acapulco, and he loves coming to IW.
 
titoelcolombiano

titoelcolombiano

Legend
Yeah he really needs to manage his schedule for his body and also do enough to keep his ranking in the top 4 to have the best shot at titles:

AO
MC
Barca
Madrid
Rome
RG
Wimby
Hamburg (nice easy 500 points)
Canada
USO
WTF
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Towser83 said:
Now that he's withdrawing from Miami it means he's skipped 6 of the past 8 HC masters. Out of the past 9, he's skipped or withdrawn mid event from 8 . 2 out of the past 3 HC slams he's retired in, plus also skipped Brisbane this year and the WTF last year as well as the China Open. In my opinion it's becoming clear he should drop a lot of events, it didn't even harm his ranking any worse than dropping to number 2.

He should probably play a warm up event before Australia but perhaps just a exhibition like Abu Dhabi. Then

Australian Open

Rio
Brazil Open

MC
Barcalona
Madrid
Rome
RG

Queens (optional)
Wimbledon

Canadian masters
US Open

WTF (optional)

So 2 hard court slams, a warm up before the USO but gives him a week off (Canada is his best HC master as well) Can play the WTF if he fancies giving himself a shot to finally win that, but everything else cut. Gives him time to train and rest and he can add Rio and Brazil for match play and points
Click to expand...
Haha the title of the thread is a bit misleading: "Nadal should cut down HC events down". I thought you would way Nadal should skip any match on HC.

On point, I think he should only play Grand Slams on hard courts (forget about pre-warm tournaments, he skipped Queens last year and still adapted great to grass the first week of Wimbledon, he can adapt to hard the first week of a Grand Slam on hard).
 
MeatTornado

MeatTornado

Talk Tennis Guru
Sport said:
Haha the title of the thread is a bit misleading: "Nadal should cut down HC events down". I thought you would way Nadal should skip any match on HC.

On point, I think he should only play Grand Slams on hard courts (forget about pre-warm tournaments, he skipped Queens last year and still adapted great to grass the first week of Wimbledon, he can adapt to hard the first week of a Grand Slam on hard).
Click to expand...
If he does that, then he'll go 4 months without playing a competitive match between the USO & Australia.
 
Towser83

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Sport said:
Haha the title of the thread is a bit misleading: "Nadal should cut down HC events down". I thought you would way Nadal should skip any match on HC.

On point, I think he should only play Grand Slams on hard courts (forget about pre-warm tournaments, he skipped Queens last year and still adapted great to grass the first week of Wimbledon, he can adapt to hard the first week of a Grand Slam on hard).
Click to expand...

Sorry if it wasn't clear. Yeah he might not need a warm up event but I think he can afford to play Canada. The thing is with skipping queens is he's just come from RG and not only does he not want to overplay but he is match sharp even if his is changing surface. But After Wimbledon if he doesn't play anything then that's quite a few weeks off with no competitive match play. Though he had no match play coming into the AO in 2017 and this year and still reached the final so I guess it's not that important
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Towser83 said:
Sorry if it wasn't clear. Yeah he might not need a warm up event but I think he can afford to play Canada. The thing is with skipping queens is he's just come from RG and not only does he not want to overplay but he is match sharp even if his is changing surface. But After Wimbledon if he doesn't play anything then that's quite a few weeks off with no competitive match play. Though he had no match play coming into the AO in 2017 and this year and still reached the final so I guess it's not that important
Click to expand...
Yeah, Brisbane at most could be fine to acquire some rhytm. But I agree he should avoid all Masters 1000 on hard courts. He should forget about the #1 ranking chase. Ralph should prioritize his health at his age, given has increasing problems with the knee tendinitis.
 
Towser83

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Sport said:
Yeah, Brisbane at most could be fine to acquire some rhytm. But I agree he should avoid all Masters 1000 on hard courts. He should forget about the #1 ranking chase. Ralph should prioritize his health at his age, given has increasing problems with the knee tendinitis.
Click to expand...

I think he could handle Canada, but he depends how he feels. IW/Miami seems pointless as does Shanghai, Paris he could play if he really wants a warmup for the WTF. But yeah chasing number 1 shouldn't be in his mind and he can add a few clay events like Rio to pick up extra points. He could extend his career by a year or 2

He could also just play the abu dhabi event instead of Brisbane or Doha
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Towser83 said:
I think he could handle Canada, but he depends how he feels. IW/Miami seems pointless as does Shanghai, Paris he could play if he really wants a warmup for the WTF. But yeah chasing number 1 shouldn't be in his mind and he can add a few clay events like Rio to pick up extra points. He could extend his career by a year or 2

He could also just play the abu dhabi event instead of Brisbane or Doha
Click to expand...
I think Nadal doesn't care too much about the ATP finals at this state of this career. But yeah, if he wants to play there he can play only Paris and then the ATP finals. But I am not sure whether he should avoid the ATP finals. Unless Federer and Djokovic are injured, he has no chance.

Whether he extends his career 2, 5 or 7 years depends on his knee tendinitis. If his knee tendinitis is not recurrent on clay, then he will play at RG until he is 38 or 40 and then the Olympics 2024 in Paris on clay. But if his knee tendinitis is recurrent even at RG, then he will retire sooner.

Basically, it all depends on his success at RG. As soon as he spends 2 or 3 years in a row without winning RG, he will retire.
 
Last edited:
Backspin1183

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
But he won't. He is too stubborn to listen to his body. If he can only play the slams going forward, I don't see him hanging around too long. If his injuries prevent him from playing at least half of MS 1000s, I see him announcing his retirement. He still wants to compete so much.

I hope he can still compete well for at least a couple of years more. He is a one in a lifetime kind of player. He deserves to go out on his own terms when the time comes for it.
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Backspin1183 said:
But he won't. He is too stubborn to listen to his body. If he can only play the slams going forward, I don't see him hanging around too long. If his injuries prevent him from playing at least half of MS 1000s, I see him announcing his retirement. He still wants to compete so much.

I hope he can still compete well for at least a couple of years more. He is a one in a lifetime kind of player. He deserves to go out on his own terms when the time comes for it.
Click to expand...
So if Nadal keeps winning RG, he will retire just because he has to skip Masters 1000 on hard courts? Doubt it.

Nadal will retire only when he spends 2 or 3 years in a row without winning RG.
 
Towser83

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Sport said:
I think Nadal doesn't care too much about the ATP finals at this state of this career. But yeah, if he wants to play there he can play only Paris and then the ATP finals. But I am not sure whether he should avoid the ATP finals. Unless Federer and Djokovic are injured, he has no chance.

Whether he extends his career 2, 5 or 7 years depends on his knee tendinitis. If his knee tendinitis is not recurrent on clay, then he will play at RG until he is 38 or 40 and then the Olympics 2024 in Paris on clay. But if his knee tendinitis is recurrent even at RG, then he will retire sooner.

Basically, it all depends on his success at RG. As soon as he spends 2 or 3 years in a row without winning RG, he will retire.
Click to expand...

Yeah it will be tough at the WTF but then again Djokovic and Federer might not be the force they once were there, just depends whether Nadal wants to add it to his collection. I actually wouldn't be surprised if he does eventually win it, he's got to have some luck there one year.

I don't think Nadal will still be playing anywhere at 40, not even RG. Clay is so physical I don't think he can do what Federer is doing on HC at 37 and as amazing as Nadal is on clay and as weak as competition is (relative to Nadal/Fed/Djokovic) surely by the time Nadal is 35/36 there will be someone good enough to make Nadal's age and expected drop in speed, matter. I'd be amazed if he plays the 2024 Olympics, but you never know, these guys are rewriting the rulebooks nearly every day it seems
 
Rabe87

Rabe87

Professional
Time for all HC tournament chiefs to replace cement plexipave with plexicushion or a variant. Playing on hardcourt is brutal on the knees and lower back, if they want players turning up to every event and minimise injuries then how can they expect that to happen when they're playing on concrete? Nadal has a point, no other elite sport like this is played on such a harsh surface.
 
weakera

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
Rafa has still dominated clay every year and done well elsewhere, why cut further into the schedule before it's proven it is compromising him on grass or clay?
 
Wilhelm

Wilhelm

Hall of Fame
Rafa has put his career above his health for a while. It's his choice, but I worry about his health long-term, after his career is over.
 
D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
This clay season is going to be very telling. If he falters and succumbs to injuries during his campaign on the dirt, which includes failing to win RG, then the writing is on the wall.
 
Pistol10

Pistol10

Professional
Good timing for retirement.... Happy knees, Happy life!

17AB2963456F8382E8A65984A472C23EE52B8261
 
Feather

Feather

Legend
Hitman said:
This clay season is going to be very telling. If he falters and succumbs to injuries during his campaign on the dirt, which includes failing to win RG, then the writing is on the wall.
Click to expand...

This! It's really alarming the number of tourneys Rafa is withdrawing. Clay is demanding. Hope he remains injury free
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Hitman said:
This clay season is going to be very telling. If he falters and succumbs to injuries during his campaign on the dirt, which includes failing to win RG, then the writing is on the wall.
Click to expand...
Nope. Nadal lost at RG 2009 and was not done, Nadal lost at RG 2015 and was not done. I know he was younger but that is not the point. Nadal needs to have 2 or 3 years in a row without winning RG before retiring. Only because he fails to win RG one year he is not going to retire, since it can be just a bad year.

The same happened with Sampras. He did not retire the first Wimbledon he failed to win (2001). He waited until he failed to win 2 Wimbledon in a row (2001 and 2002).
 
D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
Sport said:
Nope. Nadal lost at RG 2009 and was not done, Nadal lost at RG 2015 and was not done. I know he was younger but that is not the point. Nadal needs to have 2 or 3 years in a row without winning RG before retiring. Only because he fails to win RG one year he is not going to retire, since it can be just a bad year.

The same happened with Sampras. He did not retire the first Wimbledon he failed to win (2001). He waited until he failed to win 2 Wimbledon in a row (2001 and 2002).
Click to expand...

Disagree.
 
Feather

Feather

Legend
Sport said:
Nope. Nadal lost at RG 2009 and was not done, Nadal lost at RG 2015 and was not done. I know he was younger but that is not the point. Nadal needs to have 2 or 3 years in a row without winning RG before retiring. Only because he fails to win RG one year he is not going to retire, since it can be just a bad year.

The same happened with Sampras. He did not retire the first Wimbledon he failed to win (2001). He waited until he failed to win 2 Wimbledon in a row (2001 and 2002).
Click to expand...

Can't compare 2009 with 2019. Rafa is withdrawing from tournaments at an alarming rate. It's really worrying. I don't buy the 2,3 years in RG

Father time is undefeated
 
DSH

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
brisbane
ao
canada
us open
paris bercy
wtf

there is.
6 tournaments maximum on that surface.
If he can not play that minimum number of tournaments, then you can ask:
Is it worth it to sacrifice your personal life after a long professional career?
Is not it better to accept the limits of your body and accept the end of everything in a dignified and impassive way?.
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Feather said:
Can't compare 2009 with 2019. Rafa is withdrawing from tournaments at an alarming rate. It's really worrying. I don't buy the 2,3 years in RG

Father time is undefeated
Click to expand...
Nadal has had better results than Federer in 4 Grand Slams in a row (RG 2018, WB 2018, USO 2018, AO 2019). Federer will play in 2020 so it makes no sense for Nadal to retire before Federer when has better Slams results.

Nadal will not retire this year, even if he loses at RG. You wanna bet?

If Nadal does not win RG 2019 and keeps playing in 2020, I stay in the forum and you abandone TTW forever.

If Nadal does not win RG 2019 and retires in 2019, I abandone TTW forever and you stay.
 
Last edited:
Feather

Feather

Legend
Sport said:
Nadal has had better results than Federer in 4 Grand Slams in a row (RG 2018, WB 2018, USO 2018, AO 2019). Federer will play in 2020 so it makes no sense for Nadal to retire before Federer when has better Slams results.

Nadal will not retire this year, even if he loses at RG. You wanna bet?

If Nadal does not win RG 2019 and keeps playing in 2020, I stay in the forum and you abandone TTW forever.

If Nadal does not win RG 2019 and retires in 2019, I abandone TTW forever and you stay.
Click to expand...

Why drag Federer into this? Just because I have a Federer pic in my profile?

I didn't say he will retire. I said if he doesn't win RG, it's more difficult to win next year. Don't take it for granted that RG belongs to Rafa.

Honestly, I think Rafa will win maximum one more RG.
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Feather said:
Why drag Federer into this? Just because I have a Federer pic in my profile?

I didn't say he will retire. I said if he doesn't win RG, it's more difficult to win next year. Don't take it for granted that RG belongs to Rafa.

Honestly, I think Rafa will win maximum one more RG.
Click to expand...
I agree with the statement in bold.
 
Towser83

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
weakera said:
Rafa has still dominated clay every year and done well elsewhere, why cut further into the schedule before it's proven it is compromising him on grass or clay?
Click to expand...

What's the point training on HC for events on HC that he never players or retires from? One it's causing him pain and 2 eventually it could lead to him being less healthy everywhere even on clay. But yeah why go out there and train on HC just to pull out of the event?
 
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