Nadal : "This court has two and half problems"

[OverratedIvanovic]

Rafael Nadal, who has criticized the ATP for allowing next week’s Madrid Masters tournament to color its clay blue, practiced on the surface on Friday and then launched into further criticism. Nadal says visibility is an issue, and suggests that the second of three Masters Series clay events should not make such a radical change in the middle of the clay season.

"This court has two and half problems," he told reporters. "The main thing for me is that on back fence that the advertising [signage] is low and in addition, the LEDS (lights) are the same color of the court. You lose a lot of the sight of ball when your opponent hits it at that height. Changes must be done. Also, the court is more slippery than usual, because I do not know if you have too little clay, it's hard underneath it, and [maybe] if you paint it blue its more slippery ... I am not a technician, but I've noticed it. There are times when the court is soft, but that’s a less worrisome problem."

The second-ranked Spaniard, who lost in last year’s final to Novak Djokovic, added while the problems are the same for every player, "some benefit players who are more powerful, who don’t have footwork so defined, players like [John] Isner, [Milos] Raonic, or [Roger] Federer—it’s a court that rewards the serve more than usual."

Source - http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=17515&zoneid=25

What does he mean by two and a half problems and is he implying that Federer doesn't have good footwork ? :roll:

WTH Rafa

 

[Murrayfan31]

Perfect. You know you are doing things right when Nadal is complaining. Tiriac is a God.

 

[kragster]

I'm a huge Rafa fan but he needs to stop whining so much and get on with the tennis.

 

[Clarky21]

This was mistranslated,but I won't even bother to explain it since it will do no good anyway.

And I agree he needs to stfu and get on with it. He is becoming quite the whiner,and it's getting tiresome.

 

[courtking]

I really like Nadal fighting spirits and etc but lately he's whining too much.. Gosh.. If I were wining 7-8 times in a row I don't mind a little change.... either blue clay, red clay, black clay and whatever.. Nadal would have no problems to play on clay.. .. He should stop whining and move on.. the court is already set up to play on blue clay..

 

[Bartelby]

Its new, he's famous and everybody wants to know his opinion.

There's only one real gripe he has with the blue clay and that is it's slippery.

 

[merwy]

who don’t have footwork so defined, players like [John] Isner, [Milos] Raonic, or [Roger] Federer—it’s a court that rewards the serve more than usual."

Oh no he didn't!
How can he make such a ridiculous statement?
And I see that he's already starting to make excuses, trying to make himself look like the underdog..:neutral:

 

[Murrayfan31]

I think he is saying that Federer's serve is getting rewarded more as that is a big weapon of his along with Isner and Raonic.

 

[Clarky21]

who don’t have footwork so defined, players like [John] Isner, [Milos] Raonic, or [Roger] Federer—it’s a court that rewards the serve more than usual."

Oh no he didn't!
How can he make such a ridiculous statement?
And I see that he's already starting to make excuses, trying to make himself look like the underdog..:neutral:

He didn't. It was mistranslated.

 

[joechiang]

He didn't. It was mistranslated.

Then what did he exactly say?

 

[Sentinel]

I'm a huge Rafa fan but he needs to stop whining so much and get on with the tennis.

This was mistranslated,but I won't even bother to explain it since it will do no good anyway.

And I agree he needs to stfu and get on with it. He is becoming quite the whiner,and it's getting tiresome.

Come on, Rafa has every right to express himself. I can bet that if Federer was saying the same things, you would be defending him with your life !

 

[Frying Pan Forehand]

credit to TenniseaWilliams.

 

[OverratedIvanovic]

^^ epic gif

 

[Clarky21]

Come on, Rafa has every right to express himself. I can bet that if Federer was saying the same things, you would be defending him with your life !

I would? Not hardly. And I did defend Nadal because he didn't say that Fed has poor footwork. I just wish that he would stop focusing so much on the circus clay and focus more on getting his tennis together so he can at least make the semi here.

 

[bluetrain4]

I'm a huge Rafa fan but he needs to stop whining so much and get on with the tennis.

God, yes. I'm sure his complaints might be legit. But, just shut up. It;s blue for this year at least, get over it. In the overall scheme of his tennis career and life, I can't see why he can't just let this go.

 

[namelessone]

Seeing as Nadal is Fed's nr.1 cheerleader, I doubt he said or thinks that Fed has sloppy footwork.

 

[Bud]

Nadal has a valid point. It's pretty dumb changing things so radically when you have a tournament series leading up to a GS. ATP clay courts are red and should remain that way.

Madrid has become a clown show with the blue clay and the air-headed models pretending to be ball kids. Next, Tiriac will add a 3-ring circus to the 'magic box'.

Thanks goodness the ATP finally came to their senses and placed Rome right before the FO.

 

[Bartelby]

Yes, if you're going to experiment it might be wise to test it under real conditions a bit more than they obviously have.

It will be interesting to hear other opinions.

 

[primetennis]

The Madrid draw is out...
Fed n djokovic in the same half...AGAIN!!!
Murray ruled out..
another free ticket for rafa to the final..
it's the same story all over again.......

 

[Bud]

The Madrid draw is out...
Fed n djokovic in the same half...AGAIN!!!
Murray ruled out..
another free ticket for rafa to the final..
it's the same story all over again.......

Need a tissue, buddy?

We get to see another Djokovic v Federer grudge match. Let's face it, Djokovic v Federer is more interesting than Nadal v Djokovic or Nadal v Federer

BTW, which previously banned member are you?

 

[primetennis]

Need a tissue, buddy?

We get to see another Djokovic v Federer grudge match. Let's face it, Djokovic v Federer is more interesting than Nadal v Djokovic or Nadal v Federer

BTW, which previously banned member are you?

i agree that fed-novak is way more interesting than any of the other match-ups you mentioned..but fed in nole's half in each and every tourney barring one or two???that's just ridiculous..
why have nad-favored draws every single time???
BTW, I am a new member and I didn't have any account prior to this.

 

[The Dark Knight]

I really like Nadal fighting spirits and etc but lately he's whining too much.. Gosh.. If I were wining 7-8 times in a row I don't mind a little change.... either blue clay, red clay, black clay and whatever.. Nadal would have no problems to play on clay.. .. He should stop whining and move on.. the court is already set up to play on blue clay..

What else has he " whined" about?

 

[Rhino]

Perfect. You know you are doing things right when Nadal is complaining. Tiriac is a God.

Agreed.

Does Rafa ever stop complaining? It's just a colour dude. Play tennis and get over it already.

 

[nadal_slam_king]

You guys want Nadal to lie when they ask him about the court? Nadal can't help it if he was raised to be honest. And considering he's not hurting anyone, why are you people complaining? Nadal has the right to express his opinion. Everyone else seems to express their opinion. Why is Nadal not allowed?

 

[Bartelby]

The other side of it is that, besides Federer, nobody is interested in anybody else's opinion.

And Federer tends to be uninteresting,

 

[PhrygianDominant]

Need a tissue, buddy?

We get to see another Djokovic v Federer grudge match. Let's face it, Djokovic v Federer is more interesting than Nadal v Djokovic or Nadal v Federer

BTW, which previously banned member are you?

i agree that fed-novak is way more interesting than any of the other match-ups you mentioned..but fed in nole's half in each and every tourney barring one or two???that's just ridiculous..
why have nad-favored draws every single time???
BTW, I am a new member and I didn't have any account prior to this.

Fed djokovic is more interesting. Although I would say that the draw favors nadal. watchagunnadoo

 

[Bender]

"some benefit players who are more powerful, who don’t have footwork so defined, players like [John] Isner, [Milos] Raonic, or [Roger] Federer—it’s a court that rewards the serve more than usual."

He says two different things in succession, going so far as to say that it "rewards serve" and you decide to ignore the first part for the latter.

Even if what he said were translated correctly (which apparently it isn't), it isn't in proper, grammatically-correct English anyway; Rafa could've meant either or both. It's likely that an "or" between "powerful" and "who" is missing.

But yeah, sure, feel free to insist Rafa is insulting Roger by claiming Roger has a better serve/more powerful and such if you want.

 

[zagor]

I think he is saying that Federer's serve is getting rewarded more as that is a big weapon of his along with Isner and Raonic.

But that always seemed to be the case though, even before the switch to blue clay. I remember Fed saying something to the effect that faster conditions in Madrid make it easier for him to shorten points against Nadal (I'm paraphrasing).

High altitude is probably the reason.

 

[Speranza]

The other side of it is that, besides Federer, nobody is interested in anybody else's opinion.

And Federer tends to be uninteresting,

Holmes: Accepting that as truth (for the sake of this discussion), then why would it be that even though he has 'uninteresting' opinions, people still like to hear them?

 

[Speranza]

Perfect. You know you are doing things right when Nadal is complaining. Tiriac is a God.

Watson: The bold made us laugh aloud

Holmes: The rest, not so much.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

Rafael Nadal, who has criticized the ATP for allowing next week’s Madrid Masters tournament to color its clay blue, practiced on the surface on Friday and then launched into further criticism. Nadal says visibility is an issue, and suggests that the second of three Masters Series clay events should not make such a radical change in the middle of the clay season.

"This court has two and half problems," he told reporters. "The main thing for me is that on back fence that the advertising [signage] is low and in addition, the LEDS (lights) are the same color of the court. You lose a lot of the sight of ball when your opponent hits it at that height. Changes must be done. Also, the court is more slippery than usual, because I do not know if you have too little clay, it's hard underneath it, and [maybe] if you paint it blue its more slippery ... I am not a technician, but I've noticed it. There are times when the court is soft, but that’s a less worrisome problem."

The second-ranked Spaniard, who lost in last year’s final to Novak Djokovic, added while the problems are the same for every player, "some benefit players who are more powerful, who don’t have footwork so defined, players like [John] Isner, [Milos] Raonic, or [Roger] Federer—it’s a court that rewards the serve more than usual."

Source - http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=17515&zoneid=25

What does he mean by two and a half problems and is he implying that Federer doesn't have good footwork ? :roll:

WTH Rafa

Perfect. You know you are doing things right when Nadal is complaining. Tiriac is a God.

Agreed.

Does Rafa ever stop complaining? It's just a colour dude. Play tennis and get over it already.

c'mon guys... he's improving: he didn't even mention that the blue color was dangerous for his poor little knee !

seriously... what a whining rusty peak injured golden bull !

 

[Jeepers]

I got two and a half problems but Nole aint one

 

[pound cat]

I think he is saying that Federer's serve is getting rewarded more as that is a big weapon of his along with Isner and Raonic.

That is exactly what he said..

 

[Bartelby]

Federer has an aura stemming from his achievements that make what he says interesting even when its not.

 

[The Bawss]

It's going to be pretty awkward if Nadal wins after all this whining.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Also, the court is more slippery than usual, because I do not know if you have too little clay, it's hard underneath it, and [maybe] if you paint it blue its more slippery ...

this may be serious
I'm trusting Nadal on this

 

[veroniquem]

Agreed.

Does Rafa ever stop complaining? It's just a colour dude. Play tennis and get over it already.

It's not just a color, it's a dye and it affects the quality of the clay. All players are complaining about it right now, not just Rafa.

 

[Castiel]

I'm glad Federer and Djokovic are in the same half.
Definetly more interesting match up.
All I want is to finally watch some good quality that these two always brings to the court!
Much better than watching Nadal spank Federer. (Not that he always spanks him but come on.. clay.. and things have changed since madrid 09, nadal is in great form, federer's is still unknown)
I hope to see a decent fight in the finals against Nadal, but I have a feeling that despite the blue clay and stuff and all of his complaints, he (Nadal) is very very likely to win this.

 

[marcub 2.0]

Color is totally irrelevant to Ralph being a primadonna. What else is new over here.

 

[smash hit]

This is what Raonic thinks of the blue clay, "Hitting on the Smurf clay, the bounce is lower and the 2 courts I practiced on were a bit more slippery than usual"

 

[DjokovicForTheWin]

LOLLLLLLLLLL, Nadal making excuses already!!! And now those excuses have seeped over to clay. This is really pathetic everyone. This guys seriously needs to shut the F up. What a loser.

 

[Sentinel]

It's going to be pretty awkward if Nadal wins after all this whining.

Rafa's got Madrid in the bag already, nothing can be awkward now. Awkward when he started a sweep of the clay season after declaring how scared he was about his left knee. I don't see him losing any match for the next decade, except maybe for a fixed exho.

Nole and his one fan will be eating crow by May end.

 

[alidisperanza]

Perfect. You know you are doing things right when Nadal is complaining. Tiriac is a God.

I really like Nadal fighting spirits and etc but lately he's whining too much.. Gosh.. If I were wining 7-8 times in a row I don't mind a little change.... either blue clay, red clay, black clay and whatever.. Nadal would have no problems to play on clay.. .. He should stop whining and move on.. the court is already set up to play on blue clay..

Indeed.

Black clay would be wicked-- hot as hell, but wicked. Play on Basalt anyone? :twisted:

I got two and a half problems but Nole aint one

Epic

This is what Raonic thinks of the blue clay, "Hitting on the Smurf clay, the bounce is lower and the 2 courts I practiced on were a bit more slippery than usual"

So glad someone has a sense of humor.



Personally, I was never a fan of Nadal. I respect his ability but that's about it. I find it ironic that he mentioned the footwork aspect of it-- don't you think that those with worse footwork would have a harder time? Smaller steps allow you to adjust, big lumbering ones-- ehhh

Coming from someone with atrocious footwork, I find it much easier to play on Red clay than Har-tru. On the former, I can slide and work with the surface while on the latter, I find myself trying to plant my feet and falling

 

[marcub 2.0]

Perfect. You know you are doing things right when Nadal is complaining. Tiriac is a God.

Ditto. Claycourt tennis is boring more often than not. A change that would at least make the ball more visible is more than welcome.

It's just beyond belief the stink that's being made about this. On the player's part the real gripe is not the color, it's that they weren't a decision factor. In other words - EGO.

 

[forzamilan90]

Nadal is such a great antagonist, hope Fed can win this one and shut some people up

 

[reversef]

Grumpy? We knew that he wouldn't be very happy. He had made a statement that he didn't want the blue clay (tradition, history and differences with the other clay tournaments). If you add that there is less clay (seems that Rafa has talked about that, and it wouldn't be surprising since that smurf clay is 40 times more expansive), that it's more slippery (dixit Raonic, dixit Rafa, dixit..... ) and that the bounce is lower (dixit Raonic as well), there is not much left for Rafa to enjoy about that blue clay. And it's in Madrid, thus his home Masters 1000.

 

[fasfsfgs]

Why would they paint the clay?

 

[stringertom]

I'm trying to take a census on Humbalito's list of complaints here to determine where the "half" a problem came to be:
1. Background color
2. LED's in signs
3. Lower bounce rewarded
4. More slippery
5. Not enough smurfclay
6. Soft in spots
7. Rewards players with "not proper footwork"
8. Helps big servers

Did I leave any out? If not, and all things being equal, each of those biotches must be .312 to equal 2.5, no?

This leaves me only two options to explain Gripealito's latest rant:

1. He is already setting up his excuse for a possible SF loss to Isner or a finals loss to the Fed/Raonic survivor.
2. While watching too many reruns of epic Charlie Sheen/2.5 Men, he has replaced his Mallorcan Kool-Aid with a heavy dose of tiger's blood and gone completely bozo!

 

[Sentinel]

^ I hope those cute puppies won't distract him too much.

 

[fasfsfgs]

"Top-ranked Novak Djokovic complains the surface makes it difficult to judge the ball's bounce."

"Organizers defended the decision to ditch the red dirt, saying players and TV viewers will be able to follow the ball better. The blue also happens to match the color of the tournament's main sponsor."

Source: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/39128-blue-smurf-clay-draws-mixed-reviews-before-madrid-debut