Nadal News 2.0

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP Finals

November 6, 2019

Rafa is practicing in London!

He is hitting with Carlos Moya:

ready-for-tennis-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
I would’ve given Rafa 100% certainty that he would make the final based on form and the players in his group, but I’m afraid this latest injury will hamper him and he won’t be any where close to 100%, I doubt he plays and if he does he’ll probably retire.

Let’s stay optimistic without leaving reality.
You sound the opposite of optimistic :)
And your reality of Rafa retiring hasn't occurred.
You wish Rafa retires, but its simply a fantasy, not a reality.
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
If medvedev finds his USO form, he will be very tough to beat. Nadal isnt going to play as well as he did at the USO
You say "IF" Medvedev finds his US Open form, so you aren't sure of that.....
But you say Rafa "ISN'T" going to play as well?
Why are you so sure of Rafa's level but unsure of Medvedev's level?

And let's be clear about what happened at the US Open:
Rafa completely outplayed Medvedev for 2-and-a-half sets, and then Rafa got tired because he's old, and that allowed Medvedev into the match.
Rafa doesn't get tired in best-of-3-sets, so Medvedev is doomed, just as he was in Montreal when Rafa won 63 60 :)
 
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irishnadalfan1983

Hall of Fame
You say "IF" Medvedev finds his US Open form, so you aren't sure of that.....
But you say Rafa "ISN'T" going to play as well?
Why are you so sure of Rafa's level but unsure of Medvedev's level?

And let's be clear about what happened at the US Open:
Rafa completely outplayed Medvedev for 2-and-a-half sets, and then Rafa got tired because he's old, and that allowed Medvedev into the match.
Rafa doesn't get tired in best-of-3-sets, so Medvedev is doomed, just as he was in Montreal when Rafa won 63 60 :)

Don’t think it is quite as clear as that but to be fair I do feel Rafa should have won US Open in 3 straight sets...
 

WarriorRafa

Hall of Fame
A healthy Rafa would have won the group but in his current health I'm not sure. The positive thing is its not a knee, wrist or back injury. So only the serve and overhead will be affected. I hope its enough to make it out of the group. The problem then is that he'll have to face Djokovic or Federer in the semis whereas he needs to be in the finals to secure YE#1 because the chances of Thiem and Berrettini beating Fedovic indoors are practically

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Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
 
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Apun94

Hall of Fame
If you only watch Nadal hit, and not worry about where he hit the ball, his ball striking is so smoooothhhh. And he has such an amazing spring in his steps! Yes, he os only doing drills but it was so mesmerizing to watch an athlete like that
 

ElChivoEspañol

Hall of Fame
No it's not that Nadal isnt favoured. It's that he is not healthy, and that has ALWAYS caused him to under perform at WTF

Exactly this.

No one itt has implied Rafa is not the favorite because of any other reason that his health is in question, if some people choose to be blind and unrealistically optimistic that is your business, however do not bash some of us who can’t help but to be more realistic and cautiously optimistic by calling us “fair weather fans”. It’s pretty disrespectful.
 

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP Finals

According to this article, Rafa served a bit during Thursday's practice, and C.Moya is optimistic:

An excerpt from the article:
¤¤ Rafael Nadal had his first practise on centre court at The O2 Thursday as he looks ahead to Sunday’s start of the Nitto ATP Finals. Flanked by workers putting finishing touches on the venue, Nadal, a two-time finalist at the event, practised for just under an hour with coach Carlos Moya and top Argentine junior Thiago Tirante.

Following practice, Moya said that he was upbeat about Nadal's chances of competing in London despite his withdrawal from the Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals with an abdominal injury.
“We arrived yesterday in London and trained at Queen’s," Moya said. "Today was our first practice session at The O2 and it went well. We’re going step by step. We’re cautious but we also know that we have four days ahead of us.
Today was the first time that Rafa has served since we left Paris. He didn’t put a lot of power today. His evolution is going fine. He should be ready to compete on Monday.”¤¤

nadal-nitto-practice-1-2019.jpg


Vamos Rafa & Carlos Moya!
 
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octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Rafa and Maria Francisca

November 7, 2019

Rafa and Maria Francisca enjoyed Thursday night at their own restaurant Zela in London:

The restaurant is partly owned by Rafa. His co-owners are: Cristiano Ronaldo, Enrique Iglesias, Pau Gasol and some businessmen.
:)
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
Imagine if he has to face Djokovic in the final again?
Djokovic is scared to death of facing Rafa in the Final, and it will probably happen because Rafa is playing the last Round Robin match and will make sure they only meet in the Final :)
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
A healthy Rafa would have won the group but in his current health I'm not sure. The positive thing is its not a knee, wrist or back injury. So only the serve and overhead will be affected. I hope its enough to make it out of the group. The problem then is that he'll have to face Djokovic or Federer in the semis whereas he needs to be in the finals to secure YE#1 because the chances of Thiem and Berrettini beating Fedovic indoors are practically

488aa61b08df26b687ba31c7c071ff12.gif


Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
Medvedev is better than Djokovic now, so really Medvedev or Federer are the favorites to win London.
Rafa has an edge over Medvedev, but Rafa will probably play Federer in the SF, while Medvedev will play Djokovic.
Rafa plays on the final day of Round Robin, so Rafa will decide who he plays in the SF :)
And let's not forget, Thiem has a 4-2 record vs. Federer, and Thiem won their most recent hardcourt meeting.
I think Rafa can beat Thiem in the SF, and let's also not forget that Rafa won his most recent meeting with Federer at the World Tour Finals (in straight sets, 2013).
But of course it won't matter what Rafa does, if Djokovic loses to Medvedev in the SF.....
 

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP Finals

According to this article, Rafa served a bit during Thursday's practice, and C.Moya is optimistic:

An excerpt from the article:
¤¤ Rafael Nadal had his first practise on centre court at The O2 Thursday as he looks ahead to Sunday’s start of the Nitto ATP Finals. Flanked by workers putting finishing touches on the venue, Nadal, a two-time finalist at the event, practised for just under an hour with coach Carlos Moya and top Argentine junior Thiago Tirante.

Following practice, Moya said that he was upbeat about Nadal's chances of competing in London despite his withdrawal from the Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals with an abdominal injury.
“We arrived yesterday in London and trained at Queen’s," Moya said. "Today was our first practice session at The O2 and it went well. We’re going step by step. We’re cautious but we also know that we have four days ahead of us.
Today was the first time that Rafa has served since we left Paris. He didn’t put a lot of power today. His evolution is going fine. He should be ready to compete on Monday.”¤¤

nadal-nitto-practice-1-2019.jpg


Vamos Rafa & Carlos Moya!

Nice to read, extremely encouraging.
 

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
That photo gives me the impression that this is the most famous Top 8 we've had for a long time :)
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
Small abdominal tear?
I thought it was a strain.
Did the doctor ever say it was a tear? :)
Dr.Cotorro:"Taking into account the tests' results & that he's traveling there, we're optimistic. It's an injury we know well, as it happens in tennis quite often, & also know how it evolves. Thus we'll be cautious, carefully advancing step by step & we'll see if things work out"

Dr.Cotorro: "When there's a strain, a contracture appears, which is what happened in Paris. The area must be treated locally w/ anti-inflammatories, deep thermotherapy w/Indiba, which works well, as well as all the manual & adaptation work he'll have to do with his physio Maymo"

Dr.Cotorro: "The most important stage is the re-adaptation to serve. We have to find the day to start it very progressively. This injury allows you to play normally every shot except the serve & the smash. Only for these 2 shots it's necessary to make a progressive re-adaptation"
 

zep

Hall of Fame
If Rafa reaches the final, he will clinch the YE #1 ranking. :)


Its true, because if Djokovic faces Rafa in the Final it means Rafa has wrapped up the year-end-#1 :)
It would be Djokovic's worst nightmare.

Not necessarily. If Rafa reaches the final while dropping one RR match and Djokovic gets there undefeated, Rafa won't have the YE#1 rank wrapped up, he will have to beat Djokovic. Regardless, Djokovic is not "scared to death" to face Rafa here. That's like saying Rafa is scared to death to face Djokovic at Roland Garros.
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
Not necessarily. If Rafa reaches the final while dropping one RR match and Djokovic gets there undefeated, Rafa won't have the YE#1 rank wrapped up, he will have to beat Djokovic.
If Rafa drops one RR match and Djokovic goes undefeated, they'll meet in the SF probably :)
 

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP Finals

November 08, 2019
The 3rd day of practice

Rafa is practicing on centre court at The O2 with M.Berrettini:



Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro is watching the practice session (2nd tweet):


Updated:
Rafa's practice session continues on a practice court.

Dr. Cotorro (Director of Clinica del Tenis) seems optimistic about Rafa's recovery. He tweeted "Vamos Rafa!":

ready-for-tennis-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
Rafa can still top the group with 2 wins if no one else wins 3.
Yep, well Rafa plays on the last day of Round Robin (and probably the night session), so he can lose whatever number of sets or games necessary to drop :)
 
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octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP Finals

November 8, 2019
Media Day

Rafa told BBC Sport he only started serving "very slowly" on Thursday following the injury [an abdominal muscle strain].
"But I really hope I will be able to serve every single day a little better and my hope is to be serving normally on Sunday," he said.

Vamos Rafa!
 

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
You sound the opposite of optimistic :)
And your reality of Rafa retiring hasn't occurred.
You wish Rafa retires, but its simply a fantasy, not a reality.
I totally agree with you. We all know that Rafa has issues with his fitness but we don't know how much it's going to hamper him until we see him play an actual match. His doctor says he'll decide if he's good to go before his first match and the situation is promising; his coach says he is optimistic about his chances and Rafa himself says he is making progress. A fan would would hang on to these positives not go out of their way to be negative about his chances and be too quick to write him off.

It's almost as if they are looking forward to saying: "I told you so."
 
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MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
1. Nadal should chill out practicing serving if that's what has him messed up to begin with. Light serving sure, but no need to go so balls to the wall in practice all the time.
2. The nextgen has zero idea how to style their hair :D
 
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Deleted member 763691

Guest
1. Nadal should chill out practicing serving if that's what has him messed up to begin with. Light serving sure, but no need to go so balls to the wall in practice all the time.
2. The nextgen has zero idea how to style their hair :D
And in matches Rafa could hit 2nd Serves for every serve and still probably go 3-0, or 2-1 at worst.
Rafa owns these guys from the baseline (unless Rafa gets tired in a marathon like the US Open Final), so no need for service winners :)
Heck, Medvedev is going to make Rafa play rallies for most points anyway, so no need to hit big serves.
And Rafa only got 47% of 1st Serves in during the 1st Set of US Open Final (while Medvedev got 67% in) and Rafa still won the set (and only hit 10 winners and 10 unforced errors, so not peak baseline tennis).
And Zverev will struggle even more than Medvedev.
 
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