NeutralFan
Legend
Sadly you're right! Last year USO was the biggest missed opportunity. He could have won with the form he was at the Wimbledon and had 8 weeks to heal his mild ab tear and he came at USO unprepared and paid the price
Actually mad how much Nadal's draw would have opened up if he'd managed to find some form
- Thread starter jl809
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Sadly you're right! Last year USO was the biggest missed opportunity. He could have won with the form he was at the Wimbledon and had 8 weeks to heal his mild ab tear and he came at USO unprepared and paid the price
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Hall of Fame
Its not about his form, his injury is why he lost. As Hitman posted at the start of the month he's becoming like Frankenstein's monster all body parts in tact but falling off one at a time. Korda was likely to beat him anyway, maybe even khachanov.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
It's always about an injury and never his form.
Doesn't that seem unrealistic?
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Hall of Fame
I mean Korda pretty much had Djokovic beat at previous tourny but Djokovic is the best ever at hanging in there putting pressure on opponent and barely taking a match he should've lost
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
DSH
G.O.A.T.
This.
Nadal made a (monetary) decision over a sports one and as expected he ended up paying the price.
DSH
G.O.A.T.
They are both that are intertwined if you put aside your prejudices towards the Spanish player.
The guy is in low hours, with a body that is falling apart, with confidence on the floor, with a new life after the birth of his firstborn that has altered his existence and in terms sports has made him complacent.
Hopefully he can recover on his favorite surface and I also think he can do some damage on grass if he comes after winning the RG title again.
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Hall of Fame
How is that unrealistic? If anything its the opposite, a decade ago we were talking about how Nadal is gonna have a short career compared to the others. Nadal had the very hard on the body playstyle run every ball down grind grueling points, extreme forehand technique etc. whereas Federer had a very graceful floating efficient easy on the body style. Its impressive Nadal is having longevity, but unsurprisingly he's having to go thru lots of injuries to stay in the game and he's sick of it
tennis_error
Semi-Pro
Lol...
tennis_error
Semi-Pro
Lol...
Hitman
Talk Tennis Guru
Yep. That is what he is turning into.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Sure, pal
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Hall of Fame
Nice well thought out counterargument there
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
What can I say? Nadal was injured but played a whole match.
When is it about his form and not his injury?
It's not like he hadn't got enough match play.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Healthy Rafa is undefeated
And there it is. He never actually plays badly. It's all on his racquet, always.
Djokovic_is_the_best#1
Talk Tennis Guru
It is at RG.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Agree. So, when he loses...I blame form. And being in the right/wrong conditions is a part of that.
Djokovic_is_the_best#1
Talk Tennis Guru
Exactly. It’s only those factors that cost him. If he’s playing well or even decent he wins it. His opponents need to rely on Rafa being off to win. He’s just to good on clay and especially on Chatrier.
jl809
Hall of Fame
I stand by my claim that 250s are so important for Djokodal now after layoffs. They offer the best combination of match time and confidence building. Given that Djoker nearly lost to Halys in Adelaide R1 it’s not at all inconceivable that he would have lost to the equivalent of Norrie or a zoning AdM had he done what Nadal did and played the United Cup. But instead he got wins under his belt and good rhythm (albeit a freak injury too), just like he did at Astana. I’m not sure Nadal would have won the AO without Melbourne Summer Set.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
1998 was a pretty weak time for the tour, true, and Korda not only reached a slam final then (he'd done so in the much stronger year of 1992 as well) but won it.
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Hall of Fame
He said he didn't want to retire. Thats not Nadal's way, he's always fighting if its remotely possible. The injury wasn't so severe that he can't at least make some effort to play. Why would he retire and rob the fans if he doesn't have to?
Its about his form when he's uninjured or only mild injuries, but this was bad enough to lower his level quite a bit
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Hall of Fame
Who says Korda is going to end up a weak player at all anyway? Just went neck and neck with Djokovic and Djokovic said Korda had the match in his hands or something
Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
Not as epic as sir Andy MurrayIt was epic af
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Dude, this is why I said "ok pal"
There's a player who never retired from a match once, and no one calls him a fighter, warrior etc
This is all PR/marketing and it's obviously worked on you so there's nothing I can say
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Hall of Fame
And this person has absolutely nothing to do with whether Nadal would want to play on in a grand slam match or not. If its not completely crippling why should he retire? You're operating on some bizarre premise that he needs to retire if he has any real impactful injury.
If playing thru it isn't gonna do permanent damage what in the world does he have to lose? I remember he could barely play in part of the AO match vs Wawrinka in 2014 and still didn't retire