Nadal not nominated for the Stefan Edberg Sportmanship Award???

veroniquem said:
Beautiful post. I would add that Rafa hugging Roger after the AO final was the greatest act of sportsmanship that we have seen in the ATP in recent years. What does Rafa have to do to get nominated, kiss him passionately? :shock:
Nadal is the one who did the comforting and toned down his victory celebrations to accommodate Roger's sensitivity in their last 3 slam finals now and it's Roger who gets nominated?!! (Nadal even supported Roger's nomination for the prince of Asturias award- he didn't have to) And people still ask what Nadal has done? People are really walking on their heads in that brave new world of the ATP!
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Yeah, climbing into the Royal Box was really toned down. :roll:

Ass kissing does not immediately mean good sportsmanship. While I believe he should have been nominated, I think the whole routine in between serves may have hurt his cause.

BTW, he shouldn't have to tone down his celebrations.
 
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thejoe said:
Yeah, climbing into the Royal Box was really toned down. :roll:

Ass kissing does not immediately mean good sportsmanship. While I believe he should have been nominated, I think the whole routine in between serves may have hurt his cause.
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Majorcans' are warm, loving spontaneous people. What he did at Wimbledon was really humble: Gee this is me the little guy from Majorca - I've won WIMBLEDON - at least that is how I saw it. He was paying respect to the Royal family who were obviously over the moon that a Spaniard had won
 
veroniquem said:
Beautiful post. I would add that Rafa hugging Roger after the AO final was the greatest act of sportsmanship that we have seen in the ATP in recent years. What does Rafa have to do to get nominated, kiss him passionately? :shock:
Nadal is the one who did the comforting and toned down his victory celebrations to accommodate Roger's sensitivity in their last 3 slam finals now and it's Roger who gets nominated?!! (Nadal even supported Roger's nomination for the prince of Asturias award- he didn't have to) And people still ask what Nadal has done? People are really walking on their heads in that brave new world of the ATP!
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I think its based on how he treats his fellow players on tour day in and day out and not on public displays of affection :lol:

I also think he seems to be a nice guy and all but we cannot judge that based on his press conferences and victory speeches :neutral:
 
Congrats to those nominated.

I don't personally know any of the players so I can't judge one way or the other if they're "deserving" or not. Nor do I think it indicates that Nadal or Djokovic or Murray or any of the other hundreds of players NOT nominated are not worthy individuals just because they missed out on an award.

I see that Nadal is humble in his press conferences and interviews. I've seen behind the scenes (so to speak) videos that show him to be a very nice guy. I love him as a player. I like what I know of him as a person. I just don't feel like some high moral wrong has been done for him not being nominated.

This is the description of the award according to the website linked above:

The player who, throughout the year, conducted himself at the highest level of professionalism and integrity, who competed with his fellow players with the utmost spirit of fairness and who promoted the game through his off-court activities.
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Personally I think the common thread here is OLDER guys. They're 26 years old or older. This award is not just about what you do on the field, but also what you've done for the game outside of the field. It's not about press conferences and how you treat other players. Roger Federer, if you like him or not, has personally made people want to play tennis around the world. People like him and Moya have given a lot to the sport throughout the years.

Nadal will join them through the years, but he is young. Every little thing doesn't have to be taken as a slight to Nadal. No institution or organization is perfect. Yes, commentators, players, and a lot of fans might find Federer's game very aesthetically pleasing and might be biased towards him. But come on, gals and guys, he was number one for four years. He was number one for most of last year as well. He does a LOT of work for the ATP. He is the head of the ATP players.

I (just me and my opinion) do not think it is fair to demean an award just because one's favorite is not nominated. If he's nominated a few years from now, will it have righted itself? That's just silly. Winning a lot of matches and being number one and being nice isn't the criteria here. Look at the others nominated. I don't know about Ljubicic and Nieminen, but I know both Moya and Federer have done a lot for the sport. Nor do I see their on court behavior in anyways being anything but ideal.

Not that what I say will dissauade those that feel sighted or those that feel justified in one way or other, but hey I have the ability and the opportunity to express my opinion, so why not?
 
seffina said:
Congrats to those nominated.

I don't personally know any of the players so I can't judge one way or the other if they're "deserving" or not. Nor do I think it indicates that Nadal or Djokovic or Murray or any of the other hundreds of players NOT nominated are not worthy individuals just because they missed out on an award.

I see that Nadal is humble in his press conferences and interviews. I've seen behind the scenes (so to speak) videos that show him to be a very nice guy. I love him as a player. I like what I know of him as a person. I just don't feel like some high moral wrong has been done for him not being nominated.

This is the description of the award according to the website linked above:



Personally I think the common thread here is OLDER guys. They're 26 years old or older. This award is not just about what you do on the field, but also what you've done for the game outside of the field. It's not about press conferences and how you treat other players. Roger Federer, if you like him or not, has personally made people want to play tennis around the world. People like him and Moya have given a lot to the sport throughout the years.

Nadal will join them through the years, but he is young. Every little thing doesn't have to be taken as a slight to Nadal. No institution or organization is perfect. Yes, commentators, players, and a lot of fans might find Federer's game very aesthetically pleasing and might be biased towards him. But come on, gals and guys, he was number one for four years. He was number one for most of last year as well. He does a LOT of work for the ATP. He is the head of the ATP players.

I (just me and my opinion) do not think it is fair to demean an award just because one's favorite is not nominated. If he's nominated a few years from now, will it have righted itself? That's just silly. Winning a lot of matches and being number one and being nice isn't the criteria here. Look at the others nominated. I don't know about Ljubicic and Nieminen, but I know both Moya and Federer have done a lot for the sport. Nor do I see their on court behavior in anyways being anything but ideal.

Not that what I say will dissauade those that feel sighted or those that feel justified in one way or other, but hey I have the ability and the opportunity to express my opinion, so why not?
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certain people on this board should adopt this attitude and stop acting like they know these players and hang out with them on a daily basis.
 
seffina said:
Personally I think the common thread here is OLDER guys. They're 26 years old or older. This award is not just about what you do on the field, but also what you've done for the game outside of the field. It's not about press conferences and how you treat other players. Roger Federer, if you like him or not, has personally made people want to play tennis around the world. People like him and Moya have given a lot to the sport throughout the years.
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I hope you're right Seffina. I think Rafa also encourages many youngsters to play tennis and go for their dreams. Rafa is also on the board for the players and quite frankly, I've never seen such a display of sportsmanship like the one I saw at Melbourne. I really hope in the near in the near future that I hear Roger saying something as encouraging to Rafa.

If Roger's tennis is so "beautiful" I just wish he'd say something "beautiful" to the man who managed to surpass the Modern day Goat. Until I hear that, I will still have a slight grudge against Feddy the Teddy.
 
tahiti said:
I hope you're right Seffina. I think Rafa also encourages many youngsters to play tennis and go for their dreams. Rafa is also on the board for the players and quite frankly, I've never seen such a display of sportsmanship like the one I saw at Melbourne. I really hope in the near in the near future that I hear Roger saying something as encouraging to Rafa.

If Roger's tennis is so "beautiful" I just wish he'd say something "beautiful" to the man who managed to surpass the Modern day Goat. Until I hear that, I will still have a slight grudge against Feddy the Teddy.
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Because "he's the best player at the moment", "He's an amazing clay courter", "Some people think he is just an athlete, but he is so much more than that", "If I'm not no.1, he should be no.1", "He's playing the tennis of his life" are all mean, horrible comments.
 
tahiti said:
I hope you're right Seffina. I think Rafa also encourages many youngsters to play tennis and go for their dreams. Rafa is also on the board for the players and quite frankly, I've never seen such a display of sportsmanship like the one I saw at Melbourne. I really hope in the near in the near future that I hear Roger saying something as encouraging to Rafa.

If Roger's tennis is so "beautiful" I just wish he'd say something "beautiful" to the man who managed to surpass the Modern day Goat. Until I hear that, I will still have a slight grudge against Feddy the Teddy.
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Rafa has definitely done things for the sport, but as I said, I think it's just that he's young. He has been inspiring youngsters as well. He is gaining fans day by day. He is very popular.

But that doesn't negate the good work that Fed has done through the years. Or Moya who I think has always been willing to go above and beyond for the sport. I'm pulling for him to win the award.

And on a personal note, I find Rafa's tennis very aesthetically pleasing. Roger's as well. I don't feel like it has to be either/or.
 
DunlopDood said:
Too much fist pumping and starring down opponents doesn't play well in terms of sportsmanship.
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Club, shall I do it personally or shall we make it a team effort? Nah...
Actually dunlopdude, that's so true, very observant. I like your views :)
 
seffina said:
Congrats to those nominated.

I don't personally know any of the players so I can't judge one way or the other if they're "deserving" or not. ....

This is the description of the award according to the website linked above:

The player who, throughout the year, conducted himself at the highest level of professionalism and integrity, who competed with his fellow players with the utmost spirit of fairness and who promoted the game through his off-court activities.
Click to expand...

... Roger Federer, if you like him or not, has personally made people want to play tennis around the world. People like him and Moya have given a lot to the sport throughout the years...

... Winning a lot of matches and being number one and being nice isn't the criteria here. Look at the others nominated. I don't know about Ljubicic and Nieminen, but I know both Moya and Federer have done a lot for the sport. Nor do I see their on court behavior in anyways being anything but ideal...
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I like and agree on what you wrote specifically these selected parts. Looking at the description of the award it is clear that is about much more than being nice. In my opinion, the delays between serves and pre match negate some of that niceness. In the end and while it'd be nice to know what goes inside the locker room, I'm sure it is just a popularity contest among players and we all know what's popular isn't always right.
 
Oh but we do KNOW the players. We watch them year round and it's like being with fellow workmates after a while. We see them when their true personalities are put to the test on the climb to the top
 
seffina said:
And on a personal note, I find Rafa's tennis very aesthetically pleasing. Roger's as well. I don't feel like it has to be either/or.
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Finally. Someone with sense. :D

Anyone who isn't happy with the nominations can go to the ATP board and vote for their fan favorite at the top of the board.

(No complaining because you can't vote for Nadal/Lopez on the doubles side; the award is for 2008 activities and I don't think they played together last year.)
 
One thing though...........

Being a fan is all well and good but one thing that most are forgetting is that it's takes a lot more than being a good player and being humble to win a sportmanship award. Rafa is a great champion but he lives in a bubble when it comes to other areas of the game.

Where are his charities, his special events and press engagements. Where has he shown support for anything in the promotion of the sport outside of playing; very little. He doesn't speak many other languages and does not show much interest in learning more than he has to, which limits availability. Rafa supports his family and himself which in itself is very good but you do not get sportmenship awards for that.

Cheers TennezSport :cool:
 
TennezSport said:
Being a fan is all well and good but one thing that most are forgetting is that it's takes a lot more than being a good player and being humble to win a sportmanship award. Rafa is a great champion but he lives in a bubble when it comes to other areas of the game.

Where are his charities, his special events and press engagements. Where has he shown support for anything in the promotion of the sport outside of playing; very little. He doesn't speak many other languages and does not show much interest in learning more than he has to, which limits availability. Rafa supports his family and himself which in itself is very good but you do not get sportmenship awards for that.

Cheers TennezSport :cool:
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I suggest you have a look in his website re: charities. Rafa is an incredbidle example for young sports people to follow, his behaviour on court during really trying times is amazing for such a young guy. Here is the Uk many ot the top footballers are not bilingual or many of the uk people for that matter. Perhaps it is because island people are a bit insular but at the same time we are extremely kind and generous. Also I think Rafa's family was well established before he became famous in their own right, so I doubt if he needs to support them. However it was a good point I thought you made
 
TennezSport said:
Being a fan is all well and good but one thing that most are forgetting is that it's takes a lot more than being a good player and being humble to win a sportmanship award. Rafa is a great champion but he lives in a bubble when it comes to other areas of the game.

Where are his charities, his special events and press engagements. Where has he shown support for anything in the promotion of the sport outside of playing; very little. He doesn't speak many other languages and does not show much interest in learning more than he has to, which limits availability. Rafa supports his family and himself which in itself is very good but you do not get sportmenship awards for that.

Cheers TennezSport :cool:
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Actuall that says a lot about Rafa. Someone who does charitable work and good deeds and seeks the limelight , can be taken as they're doing with ulterior motives. When someone is doing it, but seeking the reckognition for doing so, illustrates they are geniune for doing it.

Rafa does these things, just cuz he doesn't put it out there doesn't mean he doesn't. Again it says more as he's not seeking reckognition for doing so.
 
Well watching Murray and Montanes now, I'd put Montanes in as a nominee. He made 2 explicit demonstrations of showing Murray that his shot had been too good.
 
rafan said:
Majorcans' are warm, loving spontaneous people. What he did at Wimbledon was really humble: Gee this is me the little guy from Majorca - I've won WIMBLEDON - at least that is how I saw it. He was paying respect to the Royal family who were obviously over the moon that a Spaniard had won
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I'm sorry, but climbing into the box is anything but spontaneous. Faulty generalizations aren't too effective either.
 
I think Rafa's deserving of the award, but he's not the total saint that some people on this board make him out to be. I kinda like the kid.

And I guess the right thing to say would have been "He takes more time than he should be allowed under the rules." He can technically take as much time as the umpire is willing to give him.
 
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JeMar said:
I think Rafa's deserving of the award, but he's not the total saint that some people on this board make him out to be. I kinda like the kid.

And I guess the right thing to say would have been "He takes more time than he should be allowed under the rules. He can technically take as much time as the umpire is willing to give him.
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Heres an article referring to the same time wasting tactics,

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/12766/

“The referee can come in and say ‘We’re ready to play’ but sure enough he just has to go to the toilet one more time and then sits there making his opponent wait for another minute.

“Then he goes out and does the same on court – by taking 30 to 40 seconds after very point."
 
vtmike said:
Heres an article referring to the same time wasting tactics,

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/12766/

“The referee can come in and say ‘We’re ready to play’ but sure enough he just has to go to the toilet one more time and then sits there making his opponent wait for another minute.

“Then he goes out and does the same on court – by taking 30 to 40 seconds after very point."
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OMG! How could they accuse rafa of cheating? Don't these people know that he is only the bestest, most humble player ever?! They are all just jealous of his perfect good looks and say this kind of stuff because they don't like the fact that someone with such an unorthodox style of play is doing so well. *sigh*
 
icedevil0289 said:
OMG! How could they accuse rafa of cheating? Don't these people know that he is only the bestest, most humble player ever?! They are all just jealous of his perfect good looks and say this kind of stuff because they don't like the fact that someone with such an unorthodox style of play is doing so well. *sigh*
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LOL :lol:

Yes Nadal is the male version of Mother Teressa ;)
 
lol, I am sure all of nadal's on court tics bother the **** out of all these players. I can only imagine what some of these players are thinking when nadal does his boxing routine during the coin toss. :)
 
bolo said:
You are misunderstanding the situation if you think the "double-fault" has anything to do with the flopping around.

Would federer flop around? probably not but I wouldn't say there is anything all that intereresting about that.
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I agree. It had nothing to do with the double fault, but just the intensity and drama of the match. I believe nadal said that at one point he was near tears.
 
Nadal_Freak said:
Would Nadal do this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKA-RuGmznY&feature=related
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Comparing Federer's emotional breakdown to Nadal's flopping on the ground is both inaccurate and immature on your part. Federer can hardly be expected to have the kind of control over his emotions as Nadal can have over his body. By continually harping on Federer's crying you show that you don't possess any of the class that your favorite player does.

bolo said:
You are misunderstanding the situation if you think the "double-fault" has anything to do with the flopping around.

Would federer flop around? probably not but I wouldn't say there is anything all that intereresting about that.
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I'm not misunderstanding anything. Nadal was celebrating exuberantly when his opponent double-faulted. It's not the only time in that clip when he celebrates rather flamboyantly after a Verdasco error. Federer doesn't do this sort of stuff, which I'm sure is why his peers nominate him for the sportsmanship award and not Nadal.
 
edmondsm said:
Comparing Federer's emotional breakdown to Nadal's flopping on the ground is both inaccurate and immature on your part. Federer can hardly be expected to have the kind of control over his emotions as Nadal can have over his body. By continually harping on Federer's crying you show that you don't possess any of the class that your favorite player does.



I'm not misunderstanding anything. Nadal was celebrating exuberantly when his opponent double-faulted. It's not the only time in that clip when he celebrates rather flamboyantly after a Verdasco error. Federer doesn't do this sort of stuff, which I'm sure is why his peers nominate him for the sportsmanship award and not Nadal.
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It has nothing to do with errors or doublefaults. Nadal celebrates when he wins important/crucial/interesting points. If tennis players can't handle celebrations for those reasons then they are a bunch of big babies and giving awards for such a reason is quite silly.
 
SaintClaires said:
To sum up this argument:


Nadal is a fan-favorite. Therefore, he has good sportsmanship. The fans tell all...


No one who was a fan-favorite wasn't a good sportsman.

:twisted:
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John McEnroe. Jimmy Connors.


And Federer is also loved the world over. It seems that the people who hate him the most have all congregated on this board. :???:
 
It's done so often it's become trite. I mentioned this because whoever posted that did it to make him seem unusually passionate and off-the-cuff, whereas it's actually very common for players to do this after winning a major.
 
JeMar said:
It's done so often it's become trite. I mentioned this because whoever posted that did it to make him seem unusually passionate and off-the-cuff, whereas it's actually very common for players to do this after winning a major.
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I agree with common, it doesn't make it bad or reprehensible in any way...
 
TennezSport said:
Being a fan is all well and good but one thing that most are forgetting is that it's takes a lot more than being a good player and being humble to win a sportmanship award. Rafa is a great champion but he lives in a bubble when it comes to other areas of the game.

Where are his charities, his special events and press engagements. Where has he shown support for anything in the promotion of the sport outside of playing; very little. He doesn't speak many other languages and does not show much interest in learning more than he has to, which limits availability. Rafa supports his family and himself which in itself is very good but you do not get sportmenship awards for that.

Cheers TennezSport :cool:
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You're kidding right? Nadal has his own charity organization (fundacion Rafa Nadal) and he's beeen participating in charity events for numerous humanitarian causes like the one he did recently with Iker as well as numerous events to promote tennis with kids or handicapped people for instance. If you don't know anything keep quiet or get informed.
 
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veroniquem said:
He didn't throw his racket, he just banged it on his bag (not on the ground) and that incident is about the angriest I've ever seen Nadal, BTW the racquet didn't even get damaged, which you don't see on that particular excerpt because the camera went away too soon.
I've seen Nadal get angry a few times but it's true he has never thrown a racquet.
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Did you see him chuck the ball? What if it had hit a lines person? Just a few days ago a girl got defaulted from a Futures match for doing that. It's very serious.
 
I happen to like both Federer and Nadal. The things being said by some of you here makes it impossible not to hate one or the other just because of the shallow attitudes here.

Is it possible to analyze or talk about one player without putting down or insulting the other player. ... :)

If Nadal does not get nominated its not Federer's fault. Maybe he will in the future who knows. Personally I believe nadal to be a great player., but I don't think he's one of the better looking players and he is not as perfect as some of you think he is.
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
good posts, it's not that hard to understand why nadal doesn't get such an award ! :rolleyes:

i think it's mainly about how other players feel on the other side of the net, because of his unpleasant and agressive pre-match and repetitive on-court antics... :x
and for those who claim it happened sometimes that even the great stefan edberg was making fistpumps... come on, unless you are an illuminated fan, it's not too difficult to make the difference between an elegant and discrete fistpump a la edberg and an in-your-face fistpump (raising the knee) a la nadal agremented with an hysterical raging "vamos" and some nasty killer look coming from his evil eyes.
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totally agree. fist-pumps are fine, but when you're doing it so frequently with an "in-your-face" attitude and with a condescending look opponents will not think positively of you. i mean most players can also hit winners like he does, but he celebrates it so flambuoyantly as if he's telling you "come on! can you do that??!!".
 
atpworldtour dot com

Lujbicic 30 this year
Moya 33 this year
Nieminen 28 this year
Federer 28 this year

This award is biased to the oldies that have been around forever.

vtmike said:
Whats common sense got to do with this?? Just provide a reference for your claim...
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Now U R Getting it..................

TheNatural said:
atpworldtour dot com
Lujbicic 30 this year
Moya 33 this year
Nieminen 28 this year
Federer 28 this year
This award is biased to the oldies that have been around forever.
Click to expand...

There is the political side to winning this award and the reason you see older players is because they have demonstrated continued ability to support the requirements for the award in the things they do and say.

No one is saying that Rafa cannot win or won't win this award some day, he just has not been doing it long enough to meet all of the criteria. Give it some time and we will see.

Cheers, TennezSport :cool:
 
If this thread wasn't entirely about Nadal, and if I really did not want to derail this, and if I was feeling frisky, I would mention that Federer won the award the same year he whined about the shot-spot system at Wimbledon.

Good thing I know better than that.
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
good posts, it's not that hard to understand why nadal doesn't get such an award ! :rolleyes:

i think it's mainly about how other players feel on the other side of the net, because of his unpleasant and agressive pre-match and repetitive on-court antics... :x
and for those who claim it happened sometimes that even the great stefan edberg was making fistpumps... come on, unless you are an illuminated fan, it's not too difficult to make the difference between an elegant and discrete fistpump a la edberg and an in-your-face fistpump (raising the knee) a la nadal agremented with an hysterical raging "vamos" and some nasty killer look coming from his evil eyes.
Click to expand...

Most of his celebrations are inward, they are really meant to pump himself and his own game up. He rarely looks at the other guy when celebrating a great point.
 
And oddly enough, even though many consider Sampras to be a consummate sportsman, he never won the award.
 
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