Nadal should retire

N

NamRanger

G.O.A.T.
This was bound to come up eventually, so I started one.



Nadal should retire, at least from hardcourts. His inability to take the ball early and to end points quickly has really hurted him. He already plays a very long first half of the season, I don't think he'll be able to retain the #2 spot if he doesn't stop playing the crazy amount of tennis that he does.
 
ninman

ninman

Hall of Fame
Either that or he needs to change is game style so that he can compete on hard courts.
 
O

Ossric

Semi-Pro
NamRanger said:
This was bound to come up eventually, so I started one.



Nadal should retire, at least from hardcourts. His inability to take the ball early and to end points quickly has really hurted him. He already plays a very long first half of the season, I don't think he'll be able to retain the #2 spot if he doesn't stop playing the crazy amount of tennis that he does.
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He's got a lot of good tennis left in him. It really depends on what he wants for his career. You want a guy that has dominated the number 2 spot for 3 years to retire just because he's showing signs of being human and his body failing him?

Lesser players have had worse injuries and come back. He's not going anywhere for another 5-6 years at least unless he just blows out a knee and can't walk.
 
daddy

daddy

Legend
This is not s smart thred to put it tht way. He is a good player and was injured,thats all. he is young and needs to cool down a bit and select tournaments where he is going to participste, not play them all ..
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
I don't think he should retire, but I do think he needs to switch to a larger frame if he wants to start winning tournaments again. Too many shanks, unforced errors, and not enough pop/spin on his shots.
 
J

jrachiever

Rookie
NamRanger said:
This was bound to come up eventually, so I started one.



Nadal should retire, at least from hardcourts. His inability to take the ball early and to end points quickly has really hurted him. He already plays a very long first half of the season, I don't think he'll be able to retain the #2 spot if he doesn't stop playing the crazy amount of tennis that he does.
Click to expand...

GREAT IDEA. Have him just skip two slams and five other masters series tournaments every year. That'll really help sustain the ranking! Where do you people come from?

He's a top flight hard court player. He may not be #2, but with his record and the 4 masters series hard court titles to his name, it's impossible for an objective observer to put him outside the top 8 or so. He probably should play fewer tournaments. Looking over his schedule there are at least 3 or 4 tournaments in there that he really had no need to play. I'm not privy to inside information, but I imagine he also trains extremely hard and this probably takes as much a toll on his body as the match play. Training more efficiently could help a lot, but is probably very difficult to someone who relies on a high volume of training.
 
N

NamRanger

G.O.A.T.
jrachiever said:
GREAT IDEA. Have him just skip two slams and five other masters series tournaments every year. That'll really help sustain the ranking! Where do you people come from?

He's a top flight hard court player. He may not be #2, but with his record and the 4 masters series hard court titles to his name, it's impossible for an objective observer to put him outside the top 8 or so. He probably should play fewer tournaments. Looking over his schedule there are at least 3 or 4 tournaments in there that he really had no need to play. I'm not privy to inside information, but I imagine he also trains extremely hard and this probably takes as much a toll on his body as the match play. Training more efficiently could help a lot, but is probably very difficult to someone who relies on a high volume of training.
Click to expand...



He needs to cut out alot of tournaments to be able to sustain his #2 ranking. At the rate he's going, he's going to fall out of that spot real fast if he keeps on doing dumb things such as stand 20 feet behind the baseline to cover everything. Alot of people have seen this coming for along time, and now the time has come. If Nadal cannot recover 100%, he's going to drop out of that spot. Nadal loses one step and people will run him over, like Ferrer did yesterday.
 
N

NamRanger

G.O.A.T.
budkid said:
no way...he has a lot of years of tennis left in him.
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Funny you say that, he has had so many injuries this year it's ridiculous. If he continues to play that many tournaments the way he does, his legs will give out on him like they are starting to.
 
M

motrengaw

New User
GetReal

You have got to be kidding! Nadal is so young yet ,plus the fact his grass and hardcourt game keeps getting better. Clearly watching him play at the Open his movement and intesity was not there,but you won't hear him make excuses.
 
M

MEAC_ALLAMERICAN

Legend
drakulie said:
I don't think he should retire, but I do think he needs to switch to a larger frame if he wants to start winning tournaments again. Too many shanks, unforced errors, and not enough pop/spin on his shots.
Click to expand...

I agree 100 %, and then Nadal will be more of a force to be reckoned with on the hard courts.
 
Aonex

Aonex

Semi-Pro
drakulie said:
I don't think he should retire, but I do think he needs to switch to a larger frame if he wants to start winning tournaments again. Too many shanks, unforced errors, and not enough pop/spin on his shots.
Click to expand...

Larger frame? Isn't he playing with a 100 sq. in. head now? What's next 107/110?
 
edmondsm

edmondsm

Legend
motrengaw said:
You have got to be kidding! Nadal is so young yet ,plus the fact his grass and hardcourt game keeps getting better. Clearly watching him play at the Open his movement and intesity was not there,but you won't hear him make excuses.
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I don't know about hard-court game getting better. He's had another disappointing US summer. Didn't match his result at the Open last year. The surface is obviously beating up his body. I think the OP has a point. He shouldn't retire, but taking more weeks off like Fed does might be just what the doctor ordered.
 
H

Hal

Rookie
drakulie said:
I don't think he should retire, but I do think he needs to switch to a larger frame if he wants to start winning tournaments again. Too many shanks, unforced errors, and not enough pop/spin on his shots.
Click to expand...
Really??? I was thinking that he should switch to a smaller frame like Sampras and Federer. He should probably go to a one handed backhand, too. Of course, when he plays the French he'll need to go back to the larger racquet and two handed backhand.;)
 
H

Hewittfan22

Semi-Pro
And you think that Nadal doesnt do much running on clay where he dominates, he does just as much running on clay as he does here on hard. He has to grind even more on clay cause points are longer even though he is controlling the points most of the time. It probably takes just as much toll on his physical if he was playing on clay, thats his game, his game is built to play physical. Yes clay courts are relatively softer than hard courts but to someone who is only 21 years old,professional athelte and someone who is in tip top shape won't make any difference. There is a chance he might follow the path of Chang and Hewitt which they were completely dominant when they were early 20's and as they got older they couldnt do same running which really hurt their game.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Hal said:
Really??? I was thinking that he should switch to a smaller frame like Sampras and Federer. He should probably go to a one handed backhand, too. Of course, when he plays the French he'll need to go back to the larger racquet and two handed backhand.;)
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea! :)
 
T

tricky

Hall of Fame
His injuries came from his style of play not because he is playing on Hard.
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It largely has to do with his style of play, esp. in his footwork patterns. He does a lot of full running and gravity steps, which is more forgiving on non-HC surfaces. Honestly, I think it's the changing of direction which is actually hardest on his body. The long points itself themselves are not that big of a factor; on clay he finishes off most opponents in 3 sets anyway.
 
N

NamRanger

G.O.A.T.
Hewittfan22 said:
And you think that Nadal doesnt do much running on clay where he dominates, he does just as much running on clay as he does here on hard. He has to grind even more on clay cause points are longer even though he is controlling the points most of the time. It probably takes just as much toll on his physical if he was playing on clay, thats his game, his game is built to play physical. Yes clay courts are relatively softer than hard courts but to someone who is only 21 years old,professional athelte and someone who is in tip top shape won't make any difference. There is a chance he might follow the path of Chang and Hewitt which they were completely dominant when they were early 20's and as they got older they couldnt do same running which really hurt their game.
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Every counter puncher has burned out after their early 20s. There hasen't been a single counter puncher ever in the history that has really lasted.
 
yellowoctopus

yellowoctopus

Professional
Nadal is a fighter

Like him or not...he fights. Unfortunately sometimes it's kinda dirty (unsportsman-like). You have to appreciate that (the fighting part) if you are truly a sport fan.

May be he SHOULD pace himself a bit on the hard courts. McEnroe mentioned a few times that with all the hard running he does, injuries are inevitable and probably will be part of his tennis career. I would like to add to McEnroe's comment and also point to Nadal's shoulder.

Tennis, like baseball, is a throwing sport (you actually throw the racquet at the ball, if you think about it...without letting go of the racquet in most case). Nadal's forehand seems to employ more demand on the shoulder. His racquet is also on the lighter side, which requires even more from the shoulder. The frequent over-the-head whipping forehand (I know there's a more official term for this type of forehand but cannot remember) has to be brutal on the rotator cuff.

In conclusion, the numbness in Nadal's hand is likely due to the beginning of a rotator cuff problem. It's probably a combination of a demanding forehand and his service motion (too much arm and not enough legs).
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
Your face should retire, at least from life. Your inability to refrain from writing stupid posts put you at a huge disadvantage here. You've had a very long history of posting and I doubt you'd post anything stupid. And yet, you surprise us all.
 
T

Tiki-Taka

Guest
One Aussie Open, three US Opens and over a decade later, world number 1 Nadal is still avoiding retirement. :)
 
D

Deleted member 743561

Guest
Slightly D1 said:
Iconic thread bump. Really puts into perspective how much tennis fans actually know about the level these guys are playing at.
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At last, I've achieved iconic status.

In case you were being facetious, there are hundreds more where this came from. Have at it.
 
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