Nadal's comeback: Should have waited another month or two

Apun94

Apun94

Hall of Fame
I think Nadal was "forced" to make a comeback right now. Ideally he would have liked to take another couple of months, but considering RG in 3 months time, he had no option but to start playing tournaments now. Obviously he cares too much for RG and the clay court season and would not want to miss it.
Discuss
 
I disagree OP. He has made two finals in his two comeback tournaments, winning one.

There is clearly a lot of rust but waiting a few more months would not help with that.

Anyway, he could have taken 2 more months off and still had 4-5 clay tournaments before RG. I think he was essentially ready to come back for AO but didn't want to do it on hardcourt against top competition.
 
I actually agree, but Ralph is so obsessed with taking control of the clay season with a win at MC that he wanted to get in shape in tiddly piddly events before MC starts. A control freak if ever I knew one. :shock:
 
He looked very rusty as you would expect.

If he is fit then as he gets more matches you would expect him to start playing much better.

If his knee is not right then it will be very difficult to get back to that level.

He needs to find that power and good length of shot as most likely he will have to go through Djokovic to win RG and anything but Rafa at his best wont do that.
 
NO NO NO, I am not commenting about his level of play. That is obviously going to take some time. No doubt. But the worrisome thing is that he has said it in almost each of his interviews that the knee still bothers him and pains him. Now I know that he needs match fitness, but him stressing that almost everyday (maybe subconsciously) is a bit tricky, to say the least.
 
Yes but he and his doctors have stated all along, before he came back, that there would be pain for a little while.

I don't know what this says about his future, but he had to come back at some point. It would be rusty play and painful knees, but that is the case no matter how long he waited.
 
tacou said:
I disagree OP. He has made two finals in his two comeback tournaments, winning one.

There is clearly a lot of rust but waiting a few more months would not help with that.

Anyway, he could have taken 2 more months off and still had 4-5 clay tournaments before RG. I think he was essentially ready to come back for AO but didn't want to do it on hardcourt against top competition.
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Not to mention, coming back for the golden swing allowed him to play some tournaments against weaker competition vs. coming back in April and facing stacked draws right out of the gate.
 
cknobman said:
According to Nadal (his own words) his tendon is completely healthy but he still has pain.
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Correct. Because the tests his doctors did have shown the improvement and now the tests show the tendons are 100%. That's why Nadal is playing a lot of tennis, because he knows the pain is not an indication of damage. Plus he said his knee felt fine in the Nalbandian match.
 
it was good to comeback when he did after 7 months out..playing on clay in front of fans that dont get the top players over there much..

so he has had 8 singles matches with another tourney this week and he had a few doubles too....so after this week he can see where he is at and decide weather to miss the 2 HC masters in usa and go again on clay in europe...or maybe just play miami masters..no way both of them though.
 
Apun94 said:
I think Nadal was "forced" to make a comeback right now. Ideally he would have liked to take another couple of months, but considering RG in 3 months time, he had no option but to start playing tournaments now. Obviously he cares too much for RG and the clay court season and would not want to miss it.
Discuss
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If 7 months isn't enough then additional 1 or 2 more months will not make any difference.
 
How about retiring since he obviously hasn't the required for the job physique?
Enough already of this knee-drama, I say.
 
RAFA2005RG said:
Correct. Because the tests his doctors did have shown the improvement and now the tests show the tendons are 100%. That's why Nadal is playing a lot of tennis, because he knows the pain is not an indication of damage. Plus he said his knee felt fine in the Nalbandian match.
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I sure hope Nadal does not know that cause he would be 100% wrong.
Pain is a clear indication something is wrong.
There are so many credible professional sources to back that, I am not going to even bother posting links.

Where on earth did you hear that "pain is not an indication of damage"?
 
He has definitely said his knee is much, much better than some months ago, but I don't think he's said it is 100% fine.
 
Crisstti said:
He has definitely said his knee is much, much better than some months ago, but I don't think he's said it is 100% fine.
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I don't believe him when he says his knee is better now. How could it be when all he has done since his comeback is complain about how bad it hurts and how it is affecting his movement so drastically? If his knee really was any better, I doubt very much he would be in as much pain as he is, even after 7-8 months off the tour.
 
cknobman said:
I sure hope Nadal does not know that cause he would be 100% wrong.
Pain is a clear indication something is wrong.
There are so many credible professional sources to back that, I am not going to even bother posting links.

Where on earth did you hear that "pain is not an indication of damage"?
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Crisstti said:
He has definitely said his knee is much, much better than some months ago, but I don't think he's said it is 100% fine.
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Clarky21 said:
I don't believe him when he says his knee is better now. How could it be when all he has done since his comeback is complain about how bad it hurts and how it is affecting his movement so drastically? If his knee really was any better, I doubt very much he would be in as much pain as he is, even after 7-8 months off the tour.
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http://www.vamosbrigade.com/articles2013/lequipeinterviewfeb13.html
Q: What’s the predominant feeling today? Relieved to have been able to put an end to the forced stop, joy to be able to play again, stressed out of fear of not going to do well or fear of still hurting…?

Rafa: Fear? No. Stress, yes. That’s normal. I feel relieved and joyful, that’s certain. In fact, the theme of the moment is patience. I need to take it step by step and accept that I’m not going to be at my maximum level right away. I haven’t played in seven months. If I’m not humble, it’s not going to work. I’m not afraid because I know in what state my knee is in. Since three weeks, all the tests I have undergone have shown perfect results. The truth is that my left knee is in fantastic shape compared with the other one (laughs). I know now that if I run, I won’t risk torn tendons. That’s “importantissime”. The doctors have promised me that. So, it’s alright, no anxiety. Even if the tendon still gives me pain...

Q: Is that pain normal. Did the doctors warn you about it beforehand?

Rafa: Yes, they told me that it would disappear gradually. Normally, it should be gone by the end of February. I will regain my normal mobility on court. I just need to give my patellar tendon time to get used to intense efforts.
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Thanks for wasting my time. Hard to believe some around here still aren't aware of this fact.

terracotta2.jpg
 
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Rafa's situation is a Catch 22. He could have held off from returning a few months to give his knees some additional rest, but the longer he remained away from the tour the harder it would have been to have a chance to regain his shape and have a chance to win anything this season. Clay has historically been Rafa's bread and butter, and the time to return was now.

We'll see where the ramping up to RG goes. It's a big unknown right now. We shouldn't rely on Nadal's past performance to predict what may happen.
 
If enough rest has been given and tests showed it basically healed,
it actually helps to recover by playing with slight pain.

...
...
...

but as I understand, his knee issue has pretty good chance to be re-occurring.
If fact, it looks like it re-occurs every 2 year or so, since he was 17 or so. :-|
 
Look at the years he's had the most problems in:

2009 - when he won the Australian Open with marathon semi and final.

2012 - when he took Djokovic to 6 hours in the final.

Both those years were disasters.

As long as he stays away from Australian Open marathons, he'll be fine. The Australian Open is worse for the body than the US Open, because the Australian Open is slower and has longer rallies. Long rallies are fine on clay, but suicide on hardcourt.

Nadal has had to retire from the Australian Open 2010 vs Murray, and all but retired in the Australian Open 2011 vs Ferrer when he tore a muscle very early in the match. The list of Nadal's problems attributed to the Australian Open is immense.

He should skip the Australian Open every year. But if he plays it, he should at least not play Indian Wells/Miami, and take plenty of time to recover for Monte Carlo.

In 2012 he complained of problems at Indian Wells which were obviously related to the Australian Open, and then withdrew at the SF stage of Miami. And ended up taking injections to numb his knee for the Roland Garros SF and F. Obviously his team screwed up big time by allowing him to play Indian Wells and Miami when he really needed to rest the knees all the way until Monte Carlo.

2009+Australian+Open+Day+12+-4H33f44-nil.jpg
 
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Im so tired of guessing that status of rafa's knees.

Im still trying to wrap my brain around "the knees are perfectly healed but still painful but now they are injured with completely new injuries and I cant play but now I can play because my knees are healed but they are still painful?
 
Obviously his team screwed up big time by allowing him to play Indian Wells and Miami when he really needed to rest the knees all the way until Monte Carlo.
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It seems pretty naive to think that skipping the AO and some other hardcourt tournaments will magically save Nadal's knees and his career. Claycourt might be a bit better for his knees, but even on claycourt he wears his knees down.

Rafa seems to be in a very tricky spot right now with his health. I really hope he pulls through and becomes 100% again but I doubt he believes that himself. Let's hope the situation will improve in the next few months otherwise it might be game-over as I don't think he will keep playing when his knees show no signs of further recovery.
 
SLD76 said:
Im so tired of guessing that status of rafa's knees.

Im still trying to wrap my brain around "the knees are perfectly healed but still painful but now they are injured with completely new injuries and I cant play but now I can play because my knees are healed but they are still painful?
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You just need some better reading comprehension.
 
SLD76 said:
Im so tired of guessing that status of rafa's knees.

Im still trying to wrap my brain around "the knees are perfectly healed but still painful but now they are injured with completely new injuries and I cant play but now I can play because my knees are healed but they are still painful?
Click to expand...
:)
for sure 100% of the time i'm not 100%, no ?
 
According to this article, Nadal will skip both Indian Wells and Miami...

Rafael Nadal has opted to miss the first Masters 1000 events of the season in Indian Wells and Miami as his troubles with a persistent knee injury continue.
The 11-time grand slam champion, who plays the third tournament of his comeback after seven months on the sidelines in Acapulco this week, has decided to play only on clay courts between now and the French Open in May, according to Spanish sports daily Marca.

"It's better and I've been able to compete but it's still bothering me," he said on his arrival in Mexico.
"It's better on some days and worse on others, which isn't ideal for someone like me, because my idea of competing is based on giving it all at all times."

Read more at http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/194954.html#jfSmz7tjUgUlizEP.99 

So, I guess the speculation was correct. Will he be penalized?
 
Tafmatch said:
It seems pretty naive to think that skipping the AO and some other hardcourt tournaments will magically save Nadal's knees and his career.
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So if hardcourts weren't the root cause of Nadal's demise, what was?

You think Roland Garros 2008 and Wimbledon 2008 were the root causes of what happened in 2009?

You think Roland Garros 2011 and Wimbledon 2011 were the root causes of what happened in 2012?

Seriously?

I would encourage Nadal to skip the US Open and Australian Open. Its only a medical certificate away. And he's already the only man in world history to win slams on clay, grass and hardcourt in a calendar year. There is no reason left to play the hardcourt slams. Racking up Roland Garros titles is all that matters, and to a lesser extent Wimbledon titles.
 
mariecon said:
According to this article, Nadal will skip both Indian Wells and Miami...

Rafael Nadal has opted to miss the first Masters 1000 events of the season in Indian Wells and Miami as his troubles with a persistent knee injury continue.
The 11-time grand slam champion, who plays the third tournament of his comeback after seven months on the sidelines in Acapulco this week, has decided to play only on clay courts between now and the French Open in May, according to Spanish sports daily Marca.

"It's better and I've been able to compete but it's still bothering me," he said on his arrival in Mexico.
"It's better on some days and worse on others, which isn't ideal for someone like me, because my idea of competing is based on giving it all at all times."

Read more at http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/194954.html#jfSmz7tjUgUlizEP.99 

So, I guess the speculation was correct. Will he be penalized?
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Thank god. As I said, no point to playing hardcourts, and Nadal agrees. Let the good times roll on clay.
 
mariecon said:
well there are actually 720 pts. worth playing for on clay: The points that he'll lose.
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As long as Nadal stays outside of the top 4, I'll be happy.

I'm hoping for a Nadal vs Djokovic QF at Roland Garros, and a Nadal vs Federer QF at Wimbledon.

Hopefully Nadal will skip the US hardcourt events too and slide a bit further down so he can eliminate Djokovic in the 4th Round of next year's Roland Garros.

This is the way to wins slams and damage the careers of the other big names at the same time by sending them home early. No more cruising into the finals for these guys anymore.
 
RAFA2005RG said:
As long as Nadal stays outside of the top 4, I'll be happy.

I'm hoping for a Nadal vs Djokovic QF at Roland Garros, and a Nadal vs Federer QF at Wimbledon.

Hopefully Nadal will skip the US hardcourt events too and slide a bit further down so he can eliminate Djokovic in the 4th Round of next year's Roland Garros.

This is the way to wins slams and damage the careers of the other big names at the same time by sending them home early. No more cruising into the finals for these guys anymore.
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Yes, Nadal will go further down the rankings, like 200 or so, so that he can play from qualifying and defeat more players on clay and show his supremacy.
 
RAFA2005RG said:
As long as Nadal stays outside of the top 4, I'll be happy.

I'm hoping for a Nadal vs Djokovic QF at Roland Garros, and a Nadal vs Federer QF at Wimbledon.

Hopefully Nadal will skip the US hardcourt events too and slide a bit further down so he can eliminate Djokovic in the 4th Round of next year's Roland Garros.

This is the way to wins slams and damage the careers of the other big names at the same time by sending them home early. No more cruising into the finals for these guys anymore.
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I must say, you are loyal to the end. I'll give you that much.
 
tennisaddict said:
Yes, Nadal will go further down the rankings, like 200 or so, so that he can play from qualifying and defeat more players on clay and show his supremacy.
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The only guys who actually have a shot at stretching Nadal at Roland Garros are the big servers. You can't beat Nadal from the baseline at Roland Garros. The big servers like Isner have a better chance than Djokovic or Murray. And Isner is the only man ever to stretch Nadal to 5 sets at Roland Garros. So might as well play Djokovic/Murray early. I certainly wouldn't want him to play a big server early.
 
mariecon said:
I must say, you are loyal to the end. I'll give you that much.
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The end of hardcourts. I've been praying for this day since 2005. Finally a free reign to dominate clay full-time. No more distractions from the holy grail that is Roland Garros. You thought Nadal was dominant on clay from 2005-2012.....The Nadal clay era is just beginning.
 
RAFA2005RG said:
So if hardcourts weren't the root cause of Nadal's demise, what was?
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I'll tell you but you won't like it. Nadal's knees aren't made for this kind of life. His knees are weak and have always been weak. So why does he blame hardcourts for his own specific problems? And why are there so few players who agree with him? Why is no-one having those hardcourt-related injuries? There is no evidence whatsoever that hardcourt is shortening players careers.

Did you ever hear anyone who had a, let's say, backinjury complain about all the hardcourt events and how bad they are for his back?
 
To us its circumstantial evidence, because 2009 and 2012 are the only years Nadal played all 7 rounds of the Australian Open (including huge marathons), and they resulted in the 2 worst years of his career. But to Nadal its what he feels when he runs on those courts. Nadal can say with certainty what the hardcourts are doing to him.
 
RAFA2005RG said:
The only guys who actually have a shot at stretching Nadal at Roland Garros are the big servers. You can't beat Nadal from the baseline at Roland Garros. The big servers like Isner have a better chance than Djokovic or Murray. And Isner is the only man ever to stretch Nadal to 5 sets at Roland Garros. So might as well play Djokovic/Murray early. I certainly wouldn't want him to play a big server early.
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You mean like Soderling ?

I am thinking Rosol may also end up in qualifying and it would be a good revenge match if Nadal can meet him there in the qualifying couple of years down the line.
 
tennisaddict said:
You mean like Soderling ?

I am thinking Rosol may also end up in qualifying and it would be a good revenge match if Nadal can meet him there in the qualifying couple of years down the line.
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Here are the Roland Garros meetings between Nadal and Soderling:

2011 Roland Garros: 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(3)
2010 Roland Garros: 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
2009 Roland Garros: Soderling 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2)
2006 Roland Garros: Nadal 6-2, 7-5, 6-1

And that 2010 meeting was Soderling's peak level. He beat Federer that year at Roland Garros.

I wouldn't mind another Soderling clash.
 
RAFA2005RG said:
The only guys who actually have a shot at stretching Nadal at Roland Garros are the big servers. You can't beat Nadal from the baseline at Roland Garros. The big servers like Isner have a better chance than Djokovic or Murray. And Isner is the only man ever to stretch Nadal to 5 sets at Roland Garros. So might as well play Djokovic/Murray early. I certainly wouldn't want him to play a big server early.
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You're right. Soderling stretched him to 4 sets in 2009. :lol:
 
hardcourts are bad, very bad... a cheap econo-material to play on... i bet most of you guys haven't played on grass or red clay, i.e. proper tennis court... they both feel so much better, buttery on your joints...

why don't you guys just play on asphalt? same as most hardcourt imo...
 
Crisstti said:
You just need some better reading comprehension.
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Maybe you're right, after all this is the same Nadal who said before IW last year the knee was 100% healed with no problem, then complained of knee pain during IW, whilst playing singles and doubles and then complained in Miami, whilst also playing singles and doubles.

Then no talks of pain during clay season.

Yep, clear as mud.
 
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