God, it's getting hard to be a Nadal fan

[winstonplum]

Now I know how Federer fans have felt lately. Jesus. Maybe Nadal needs more tournaments rather than less. All these other guys have been busting their butts all around the world for most of July and the top four stroll into this tournament and just assume their going to get five rounds worth of tennis. What a disaster. Nadal is toast at the US Open this year.

 

[Bud]

Now I know how Federer fans have felt lately. Jesus. Maybe Nadal needs more tournaments rather than less. All these other guys have been busting their butts all around the world for most of July and the top four stroll into this tournament and just assume their going to get five rounds worth of tennis. What a disaster. Nadal is toast at the US Open this year.

You have to look at their match totals per year. The top four play much more since they go deep into nearly every tournament.

However, this Nadal reminds me of late 2009, unfortunately.

 

[kishnabe]

It is harder to be a ******* than a Nadal fan! At least Nadal has a slam under the belt this year.....and that is a good year for any player. Nadal fans be patient.....you guys are in no pain yet.

 

[Outbeyond]

You have to look at their match totals per year. The top four play much more since they go deep into nearly every tournament.

However, this Nadal reminds me of late 2009, unfortunately.

I was thinking the same thing. It's another down cycle for our guy. Guess we'll have to weather it...

 

[ductrung3993]

Only 1 thread please.

 

[flyinghippos101]

No it's not, he's won a slam already and has made a gajillion finals this year losing only to one guy. Actually, it's pretty easy.

If there's any fanbase that's disappointed, it's the Murray fans.

 

[Mustard]

Hard to be a Nadal fan? Ridiculous. Try being a Muster or Ivanisevic fan in the 1990s.

 

[rafabull]

My whole week is shot. Thanks Rafa. See you next week....

 

[Clarky21]

Hard to be a Nadal fan? Ridiculous. Try being a Muster or Ivanisevic fan in the 1990s.

It is when you start to see your favorite player decline and go downhill. It's just scary how fast it happened to Nadal.

 

[MichaelNadal]

It's not hard to be a fan at all, are u guys kidding? 2009 was VERY VERY hard. This year? Making THAT many finals? Winning the French? Just coming off the Wimbledon final? It's so not that bad.

 

[Bud]

Hard to be a Nadal fan? Ridiculous. Try being a Muster or Ivanisevic fan in the 1990s.

It's not hard to be a fan at all, are u guys kidding? 2009 was VERY VERY hard. This year? Making THAT many finals? Winning the French? Just coming off the Wimbledon final? It's so not that bad.

I guess we all just expect Nadal to make it to every final

He did appear flat today.. no passion or fire

 

[DragonBlaze]

Hard to be a Nadal fan? Ridiculous. Try being a Muster or Ivanisevic fan in the 1990s.

It's not hard to be a fan at all, are u guys kidding? 2009 was VERY VERY hard. This year? Making THAT many finals? Winning the French? Just coming off the Wimbledon final? It's so not that bad.

Reminds me of the Federer fans in 08/09 about how hard it was to be his fan even though he was making slam finals left, centre and right. Even I was guilty of it I'm sure, but retrospectively that wasn't hard at all lol.

 

[Murrayfan31]

I don't blame you. Nadal sucks.

 

[Agassifan]

Now I know how Federer fans have felt lately. Jesus. Maybe Nadal needs more tournaments rather than less. All these other guys have been busting their butts all around the world for most of July and the top four stroll into this tournament and just assume their going to get five rounds worth of tennis. What a disaster. Nadal is toast at the US Open this year.

Fed fans have it easy. Our guy has pretty much all the records that matter in tennis history. So we sleep easy.

 

[Mustard]

It is when you start to see your favorite player decline and go downhill. It's just scary how fast it happened to Nadal.

He's world number 2, for goodness sakes. It's not like he's done a 1997 Agassi.

 

[Mick]

imo, if you are a nadal fan, you should support him when he wins and when he loses. otherwise, you are just a fan of whoever plays best.

 

[Pwned]

It's hard being a Monfils fan. It's hard being a Verdasco fan. It's hard being a Gasquet Fan. I don't think it's hard to be a Nadal fan.

 

[bluetrain4]

It is harder to be a ******* than a Nadal fan! At least Nadal has a slam under the belt this year.....and that is a good year for any player. Nadal fans be patient.....you guys are in no pain yet.

Seriously though, I know it sounds like an excuse (and, basically it is), but Fed is clearly past his prime (which ended sometime in 2008). yes, it would be great if he could beat Djokovic and Nadal consistently and win slams, but anything now is just gravy. Obviously,he can still play at a very high level, as evidenced by his play at the French Open, but I just don't ever expect Fed to win a Slam. He's not as good as he once was.

 

[Clarky21]

imo, if you are a nadal fan, you should support him when he wins and when he loses. otherwise, you are just a fan of whoever plays best.

If that were true for me I'd be a Djokovic fan,which I am clearly not. He is one of my least favorite players on tour by a mile,and always has been.

 

[norbac]

It's hard being a Nadal fan? Try being a Dodig fan in 2011.

 

[winstonplum]

I do support Nadal through thick and thin. I have have no intention of abandoning him until he retires; it was hard watching those four defeats against Djokovic mainly because Djokovic was out-Nadaling Nadal. I think if most Nadal fans are honest with themselves, myself included, it's pretty obvious that Federer has always had a better serve, volley, and forehand. The thing that Nadal always had over just about everyone on tour was that he was the best mover and also had a seemingly limitless amount of grit and guts to fight out a win. He's not the best mover on the tour right now. Djoker is clearly that player. He might not be in the top five. And with that comes watching Djokovic extend and save point after point against Nadal, the same way that Nadal used to do that to other players. Nadal has so much mileage on him. He's been picking off fools since he was fifteen. It's just unbelievable how good he was at such a young age. But he just looks so much slower than he did just two years ago. I have a bad feeling that he will go downhill a lot faster than say Federer does.

 

[AhmedD]

I do support Nadal through thick and thin. I have have no intention of abandoning him until he retires; it was hard watching those four defeats against Djokovic mainly because Djokovic was out-Nadaling Nadal. I think if most Nadal fans are honest with themselves, myself included, it's pretty obvious that Federer has always had a better serve, volley, and forehand. The thing that Nadal always had over just about everyone on tour was that he was the best mover and also had a seemingly limitless amount of grit and guts to fight out a win. He's not the best mover on the tour right now. Djoker is clearly that player. He might not be in the top five. And with that comes watching Djokovic extend and save point after point against Nadal, the same way that Nadal used to do that to other players. Nadal has so much mileage on him. He's been picking off fools since he was fifteen. It's just unbelievable how good he was at such a young age. But he just looks so much slower than he did just two years ago. I have a bad feeling that he will go downhill a lot faster than say Federer does.

It stings doesn't it, but don't worry, even though I'm not a fan of his I have a hell of a lot of respect for him. Never right Federer or Nadal off, because they are one of those players who'll try to gut it out no matter what. Even though it's more apparent on Nadal, you have to give it Roger for not giving up and actually trying to improve. Nadal will be back, whether it takes weeks or months, but he'll regain balance soon enough. It's something every tennis player has to deal with, sometimes you have to settle for second best or even worse. In other words, just deal with it, everyone looses, everyone declines eventually, some quicker than others. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if Fed actually outlasted Nadal.

 

[Lsmkenpo]

Time to jump on board the Gulbis bandwagon for the Nadal fans. Gulbis will at least make you laugh if he loses.

 

[Beryl]

It was hard being a Del Potro fan during 2010.

 

[namelessone]

Time to jump on board the Gulbis bandwagon for the Nadal fans. Gulbis will at least make you laugh if he loses.

So what do we do if he starts to win?

I mean Gulbis has been so awful that there is no way but up me thinks.

 

[Crisstti]

I do support Nadal through thick and thin. I have have no intention of abandoning him until he retires; it was hard watching those four defeats against Djokovic mainly because Djokovic was out-Nadaling Nadal. I think if most Nadal fans are honest with themselves, myself included, it's pretty obvious that Federer has always had a better serve, volley, and forehand. The thing that Nadal always had over just about everyone on tour was that he was the best mover and also had a seemingly limitless amount of grit and guts to fight out a win. He's not the best mover on the tour right now. Djoker is clearly that player. He might not be in the top five. And with that comes watching Djokovic extend and save point after point against Nadal, the same way that Nadal used to do that to other players. Nadal has so much mileage on him. He's been picking off fools since he was fifteen. It's just unbelievable how good he was at such a young age. But he just looks so much slower than he did just two years ago. I have a bad feeling that he will go downhill a lot faster than say Federer does.

The same with me. I had lost interest in tennis before him, and who knows if I'll be interested when he retires... certainly as long as he's playing I'm gonna be watching him. I do think he looks fine though. I don't think yet he's going downhill.

It is amazing how good he was since so young. Just seeing Federer's match today, and the comentators kept saying how the another player was a junior... and he was 21. Rafa at that age had already won 3 RG and reached two Wimbledon finals. Amazing really.

 

[Tyrus]

It was hard being a Del Potro fan during 2010.

Worst timing ever.

 

[Caesar]

Haha. Incredible. A couple of bumps in the road and everyone is already whinging about the bandwagon slowing down.

God knows how you lot would go cheering for someone who's not one of the most successful players of all time. Is your attention span so short that he has to win a major title every five minutes to stop you sinking into a depression?

 

[Sentinel]

Really ? As a Federer fan, I just can't imagine how it must be [/sarcasm]

 

[GOAT BAAH!!!]

I think 09 was worse....the reports were so worrying/exaggerated about his physical decline that you thought the kid should kiss the ground and be happy he could still walk...

yes he is slower but the mental burnout is what's more alarming in 2011...

either way, I support the guy till the bitter end.

but in these trying times I wish I could just lose my integrity and change my name to Murrayfan and support Djokovic...

 

[Sentinel]

Just in case Marius forgot to post here

the S-V-er, the better serving, the more spectacular and complete player, beats the workmanlike Nadal

these Croats know tennis, and they are more to my taste than the plodding Spaniards

too bad some of the best of them are over the hill (Ancic, Ljubicic, ...)

-- courtesy Marius

 

[GOAT BAAH!!!]

the S-V-er, the better serving, the more spectacular and complete player, beats the workmanlike Nadal

these Croats know tennis, and they are more to my taste than the plodding Spaniards

too bad some of the best of them are over the hill (Ancic, Ljubicic, ...)

-- courtesy Marius

LOL!

That really does legendary copy paste jobs in various threads.

 

[gino]

Just like Bud said, he looked to be the frazzled Nadal of 2009.

Tennis is a sport of ups and downs and even the best players fight through moments of intense frustration (as we all know). So give Rafa a few months, I say he peaks at the Aussie Open.

 

[Lsmkenpo]

 

[adventure]

The notions of being a "fan" or a "hater" are just strange to me.

Better to spend time improving yourself rather than adoring perfect strangers or hating them. We don't know anything these people, aside from carefully scripted interview responses and set scores, after all.

 

[winstonplum]

I don't "adore" him. He's my favorite tennis player. Period. I feel no need to meet him, get his autograph, etc. I simply think he's the most fantastic tennis player to watch and I root for him to win every tournament that he enters. When he loses I get sad. For about ten minutes. And then I wait for the next tournament and root for him again. He didn't deserve to win Wimbledon or any of those other tournaments he lost this year. Djokovic deserves everything he's getting.

 

[jaggy]

It is always easy to be a James Ward fan

 

[ruerooo]

I was thinking the same thing. It's another down cycle for our guy. Guess we'll have to weather it...

We'll weather it.

I'm sure glad I didn't go to Montreal, though.

:?

 

[Crisstti]

The notions of being a "fan" or a "hater" are just strange to me.

Better to spend time improving yourself rather than adoring perfect strangers or hating them. We don't know anything these people, aside from carefully scripted interview responses and set scores, after all.

Being a fan doesn't mean one "adores" the (in this case) player... not in any kind of pseudo-religious sense nor anything like that anyway.

 

[rafan]

Now I know how Federer fans have felt lately. Jesus. Maybe Nadal needs more tournaments rather than less. All these other guys have been busting their butts all around the world for most of July and the top four stroll into this tournament and just assume their going to get five rounds worth of tennis. What a disaster. Nadal is toast at the US Open this year.

Well now you can add: Murray, Del Potro, Federer, and maybe even Djokovic - sounds to me as if they aren't up to speed yet

 

[Sentinel]

Fred breadsticked by Jo, LOL !!!

 

[Subventricular Zone]

As sure as the sun rises in the east, the "Nadal should retire" or "Nadal is done" or some other variant makes its appearance after an early round loss.

Ditto for Fed.

These two did not get to double digits in grand slams because they cried themselves to sleep whenever they lost early or lost against the same player over and over again. They get over heartbreaking losses, injuries, divorce, sickness, cholera, bubonic plague and what have you. They just keep getting right back to the tennis court and keep plugging away.

That is why they are tennis legends and we mortals are mere spectators.

 

[tennis_pro]

Now I know how Federer fans have felt lately. Jesus. Maybe Nadal needs more tournaments rather than less. All these other guys have been busting their butts all around the world for most of July and the top four stroll into this tournament and just assume their going to get five rounds worth of tennis. What a disaster. Nadal is toast at the US Open this year.

Wow. One result and you're already in doubt. Try supporting your hero like that for 4 years (like I'm a Fedfan since early 2008 )

 

[TennisCJC]

Why would you want to be a Nadal fan. He has the ugliest game in history of tennis. Fed, Sampras, Agassi, Djoko, Tsonga, Murray, Laver, Rosewall, Connors, Borg, McEnroe, ... and on and on all make the game look much easier and with the exception of Borg had much more variety. Nadal runs, takes a huge hack at the ball and then runs some more. He will probably do more to harm recreational tennis than any player in history if rec players model their game after his. Model Agassi's or Fed's ground strokes but please don't copy Nadal's. Copy Fed's or Sampras' serves and volleys, but please don't copy Nadal's. If Nadal played righthanded, he would be number 18 in the world.

 

[Clarky21]

Why would you want to be a Nadal fan. He has the ugliest game in history of tennis. Fed, Sampras, Agassi, Djoko, Tsonga, Murray, Laver, Rosewall, Connors, Borg, McEnroe, ... and on and on all make the game look much easier and with the exception of Borg had much more variety. Nadal runs, takes a huge hack at the ball and then runs some more. He will probably do more to harm recreational tennis than any player in history if rec players model their game after his. Model Agassi's or Fed's ground strokes but please don't copy Nadal's. Copy Fed's or Sampras' serves and volleys, but please don't copy Nadal's. If Nadal played righthanded, he would be number 18 in the world.

This whole post is full of the :lol:

 

[batz]

Aye, it must be ***** being a Rafa fan.

You should try supporting the rollercoaster that is Andy Murray.

 

[Clarky21]

Aye, it must be ***** being a Rafa fan.

You should try supporting the rollercoaster that is Andy Murray.

Andy's problems are all mental,though. If Andy could sort his head out he would be a slam winner by now.

Nadal's problems are both mental and physical as he is constantly hurt and plays a gruelling type of tennis. At least Andy isn't constantly injured like Nadal is.

 

[Sentinel]

As sure as the sun rises in the east, the "Nadal should retire" or "Nadal is done" or some other variant makes its appearance after an early round loss.

Ditto for Fed.

These two did not get to double digits in grand slams because they cried themselves to sleep whenever they lost early or lost against the same player over and over again. They get over heartbreaking losses, injuries, divorce, sickness, cholera, bubonic plague and what have you. They just keep getting right back to the tennis court and keep plugging away.

That is why they are tennis legends and we mortals are mere spectators.

*clap clap clap*

 

[Crisstti]

As sure as the sun rises in the east, the "Nadal should retire" or "Nadal is done" or some other variant makes its appearance after an early round loss.

Ditto for Fed.

These two did not get to double digits in grand slams because they cried themselves to sleep whenever they lost early or lost against the same player over and over again. They get over heartbreaking losses, injuries, divorce, sickness, cholera, bubonic plague and what have you. They just keep getting right back to the tennis court and keep plugging away.

That is why they are tennis legends and we mortals are mere spectators.

So true