Ladies and gentlemen,
Some of us are tired of Nadal. We're tired of him not because he's beaten a 32 year old man, but because he's bad for tennis (for you boys out there who are obsessed with the "GOAT debate," stay in school and find a girlfriend). Why is he bad for tennis? The reasons are many:
1) He behaves like a WWF wrestler on the court, setting a terrible example for juniors. There's nothing sportsmanlike about chest bumps, stare-downs and grunting as loudly as Maria Sharapova during a point. Do any of the other top men grunt as loudly as Nadal? There's nothing sportsmanlike about making your opponent wait for you before and during matches as some type of mind game. Wait, I hear you objecting: it's a competitive sport! Yes, but Nadal violates the sport's rules. This isn't the WWF.
2) He engages in cheating and gamesmanship. Uncle Tony has publicly admitted to coaching Nadal during matches, and even worse, he violates the time rules excessively. Personally, I'd feel like a cheater if I consistently made my opponents wait for me beyond the time allowed by the rules. And I do call on the ATP to enforce the rules.
3) He professes to advocate on behalf of the game when in reality his "solutions" are designed to help his career. He wants slower courts (they're already slow), he wants a shorter season (okay, but lower ranked players need these tournaments--if you want a shorter season, play less), he wants the year ending tournament played on clay (because we have so many fast, indoor tournaments already, right?, he wants umpires who "understand tennis" (i.e. he wants umpires who don't enforce the time rules).
4) The perpetual "underdog" persona. News flash! You're not an underdog in any match you play Rafael Nadal. The knees, the blister, the fatigue--we're over it! It comes across as phony and simple-minded--you haven't been a genuine underdog in years.
What the game needs is a new champion, a real underdog. The game needs Stan Wawrinka to beat Nadal. I think he's playing well enough to do it, and let's wish him well here. Post your favorite Wawrinka moments and well wishes in this thread!
-Chopin
Some of us are tired of Nadal. We're tired of him not because he's beaten a 32 year old man, but because he's bad for tennis (for you boys out there who are obsessed with the "GOAT debate," stay in school and find a girlfriend). Why is he bad for tennis? The reasons are many:
1) He behaves like a WWF wrestler on the court, setting a terrible example for juniors. There's nothing sportsmanlike about chest bumps, stare-downs and grunting as loudly as Maria Sharapova during a point. Do any of the other top men grunt as loudly as Nadal? There's nothing sportsmanlike about making your opponent wait for you before and during matches as some type of mind game. Wait, I hear you objecting: it's a competitive sport! Yes, but Nadal violates the sport's rules. This isn't the WWF.
2) He engages in cheating and gamesmanship. Uncle Tony has publicly admitted to coaching Nadal during matches, and even worse, he violates the time rules excessively. Personally, I'd feel like a cheater if I consistently made my opponents wait for me beyond the time allowed by the rules. And I do call on the ATP to enforce the rules.
3) He professes to advocate on behalf of the game when in reality his "solutions" are designed to help his career. He wants slower courts (they're already slow), he wants a shorter season (okay, but lower ranked players need these tournaments--if you want a shorter season, play less), he wants the year ending tournament played on clay (because we have so many fast, indoor tournaments already, right?, he wants umpires who "understand tennis" (i.e. he wants umpires who don't enforce the time rules).
4) The perpetual "underdog" persona. News flash! You're not an underdog in any match you play Rafael Nadal. The knees, the blister, the fatigue--we're over it! It comes across as phony and simple-minded--you haven't been a genuine underdog in years.
What the game needs is a new champion, a real underdog. The game needs Stan Wawrinka to beat Nadal. I think he's playing well enough to do it, and let's wish him well here. Post your favorite Wawrinka moments and well wishes in this thread!
-Chopin

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