Rafa: "not having one of the best players of the history in the draw of Grand Slam is always an important miss, no?”

intrepidish said:
Virtually everyone thinks it's a shame that Novak took himself out of the running. Rafa and his fans are no exception.
Click to expand...
Yup.. post AO I was really hoping that Novak does a U-turn on the vaccination and save us all the drama..

I hope Australia clears him to play in 2023 early and there is no nonsense drama over his possible 3 year ban.

I want to see more Novak-Rafa matches outside clay even if Rafa ends up losing. The entertainment factor is just too good and time is running out for these matches to manifest.
 
clayqueen said:
Novak is the one who chickened out. Rafa is there waiting like he was waiting at the AO.
Click to expand...

But Djokovic was ready to play. He was already practicing at RLA. It took a government intervention to stop him from winning.

If Rafa really wanted to meet Djokovic, he wouldn't have dropped a 2-0 set lead to Tsitsipas (LOL) last year.
 
Mustard said:
Nadal has been warning Djokovic all along, for well over 2 years now.
Click to expand...
And you think Djokovic himself didn't know this would happen? From April 2020:

“Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel. But if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision. I have my own thoughts about the matter and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I don’t know.

Hypothetically, if the season was to resume in July, August or September, though unlikely, I understand that a vaccine will become a requirement straight after we are out of strict quarantine and there is no vaccine yet." - Djokovic

www.reuters.com

Djokovic opposes compulsory coronavirus vaccination

Novak Djokovic faces a dilemma if it becomes compulsory for players to get vaccinated before they can begin competing once the tennis season resumes following the hiatus created by the coronavirus pandemic, the world number one said on Sunday.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
JustMy2Cents said:
video here...
people here picking holes in this statement are so myopic.
think what Djo said and did after the Russian/Belarus ban at Wimby. Did he create a ruckus, or withdraw as you expect Rafa to do?
https://twitter.com/x/status/1563274629942091776
Click to expand...

"...in some way we know that Novak will not play for a while if nothing changes in terms of the rules. We know that since months ago.'" 8-B

In other words, "if you don't want to get the vaccine, then you can have some troubles":-D
 
Last edited:
intrepidish said:
Virtually everyone thinks it's a shame that Novak took himself out of the running. Rafa and his fans are no exception.
Click to expand...
tumblr_p8xi13fXvW1wu8tuto1_400.gif
 
pj80 said:
A day after this news broke, Rafael Nadal was asked what his thoughts were on Djokovic’s situation.

“From my personal perspective, it’s very sad news,” Nadal said. “It’s always a shame when the best players of the world are not able to play a tournament because of injuries or because of different reasons. In this case, not having one of the best players of the history in the draw of Grand Slam is always an important miss, no?”

“As I said, tough for the fans, tough for the tournament,” Nadal added. “In my opinion, tough for the players, too, because we want to have the best field possible. But, in the other hand, I repeat what I said plenty of times: the sport in some ways is bigger than any player. I missed a lot of important events in my tennis career because of injuries, without a doubt. Last year I was not here. Two years ago I was not here. The tournament continues. The world of tennis keep going.”


“Without a doubt, Novak is one of the most important players of the last 20 years, the history of our sport,” Nadal said. “In a personal way I feel sorry for him that he’s not able to travel here.”

The two tennis players will compete together next month on Team Europe for the Laver Cup. It’s unknown whether Djokovic will play in any tournaments ahead of the Laver Cup.

Rafael Nadal Comments on Novak Djokovic’s U.S. Open Absence (msn.com)
Click to expand...

Respect for Nadal. Spoken like a real champion.

No issues with him winning the title, I never held any of it against Nadal, since it all started in Jan, he did what he had to do. He understands. Good luck to him and his decent fans.
 
Nadal - GOAT said:
Yup.. post AO I was really hoping that Novak does a U-turn on the vaccination and save us all the drama..

I hope Australia clears him to play in 2023 early and there is no nonsense drama over his possible 3 year ban.

I want to see more Novak-Rafa matches outside clay even if Rafa ends up losing. The entertainment factor is just too good and time is running out for these matches to manifest.
Click to expand...

Spoken like a true Nadal fan. This is what we want, the best versus the best. That is the whole purpose of sport, to put yourself up against the best the world has to offer and to test yourself. Good luck to you for this final slam. :) (y)


D.Nalby12 said:
They don't because deep inside even Nadal is happy to see Djokovic out.
Click to expand...

Yes, of course he is. But the competitor in him will be sad also.
 
Last edited:
Whisper said:
Right now Nadal is a better player on hardcourt than Djoker. Nadal beat Medvedev in AO final while Djoker lost easily in straight sets to Medvedev in USO final, so logically Nadal would beat Djoker in straights.
Click to expand...
Is this serious or trolling? Such is GPPD that I feel compelled to ask.
 
MichaelNadal said:
Be admirable and deal with it then.
Click to expand...

In the big picture this is a sad way to end the long and incredibly exciting slam race, even I think so as a tennis fan who gravitates towards Federer. I can only imagine how this must feel for hardcore Novak fans...
 
junior74 said:
In the big picture this is a sad way to end the long and incredibly exciting slam race, even I think so as a tennis fan who gravitates towards Federer. I can only imagine how this must feel for hardcore Novak fans...
Click to expand...

Even if we ignore Novak fans , there are lots of tennis fans who have lost interest in the Slam race debate after Politics intervened with the Sport and destroyed the Slam race .
Even if Novak wins the Slam race , still the dark phase ( 2022 ) where politics destroyed Slams won't be forgotten .
 
Whisper said:
Right now Nadal is a better player on hardcourt than Djoker. Nadal beat Medvedev in AO final while Djoker lost easily in straight sets to Medvedev in USO final, so logically Nadal would beat Djoker in straights.
Click to expand...
Lol. So Djokovic was a better clay court player as compared to Nadal last year. Okay - agreed on this one.
 
maratha_warrior said:
Even if we ignore Novak fans , there are lots of tennis fans who have lost interest in the Slam race debate after Politics intervened with the Sport and destroyed the Slam race .
Even if Novak wins the Slam race , still the dark phase ( 2022 ) where politics destroyed Slams won't be forgotten .
Click to expand...

True. People still remember what happened in 1974, a year where potentially Connors may have won the Grand Slam.

The events this year have been too controversial and made a historical impact on the slam race of this era, when that slam race is talked about in the future, this dark chapter will always be mentioned.
 
mahatma said:
Lol, he missed - so that he can play FO in the best possible physical state. Also he knew, he had no chance in USO. It was a choice between trying for USO vs trying for FO. Ofcourse he took FO as his best possible chance - good for him.
Click to expand...
I totally understand that you are looking for a silver lining in your cloud, so I'll let you get on with it.
 
It's like having a chess tournament in a building that doesn't have a ramp for chess competitors in wheelchairs. It's called discrimination and unfair rules. Wrong building for the tournament guys! So what ATP/ITF or whoever is in charge of tournament organization does? Well, simply if the host (USA Govt.) doesn't install a ramp to the building to suit all the participants, the organizer is obliged to change the building and have their tournament somewhere else. Simple as that. Otherwise the tournament is null and void.
 
Indigo said:
It's like having a chess tournament in a building that doesn't have a ramp for chess competitors in wheelchairs. It's called discrimination and unfair rules. Wrong building for the tournament guys! So what ATP/ITF or whoever is in charge of tournament organization does? Well, simply if the host (USA Govt.) doesn't install a ramp to the building to suit all the participants, the organizer is obliged to change the building and have their tournament somewhere else. Simple as that. Otherwise the tournament is null and void.
Click to expand...
More to the point, what is the mighty PTPA doing about the boss unable to take his place in the USO 2022 draw? Was the PTPA not set up to take control of how tennis is run? Not a pip from PTPA co-founder Pospisil.
 
Indigo said:
It's like having a chess tournament in a building that doesn't have a ramp for chess competitors in wheelchairs. It's called discrimination and unfair rules. Wrong building for the tournament guys! So what ATP/ITF or whoever is in charge of tournament organization does? Well, simply if the host (USA Govt.) doesn't install a ramp to the building to suit all the participants, the organizer is obliged to change the building and have their tournament somewhere else. Simple as that. Otherwise the tournament is null and void.
Click to expand...

Bingo, because by staying where you are, you willingly adopt the rules of the country. So all this talk about USO not banning players...yes they are, by hosting it in a place where said players are banned from being in.
 
Indigo said:
It's like having a chess tournament in a building that doesn't have a ramp for chess competitors in wheelchairs. It's called discrimination and unfair rules. Wrong building for the tournament guys! So what ATP/ITF or whoever is in charge of tournament organization does? Well, simply if the host (USA Govt.) doesn't install a ramp to the building to suit all the participants, the organizer is obliged to change the building and have their tournament somewhere else. Simple as that. Otherwise the tournament is null and void.
Click to expand...
Are you suffering from delusions of grandeur? As soon as you've officially declared the 2022 USO null and void, let me know.
 
Hitman said:
Bingo, because by staying where you are, you willingly adopt the rules of the country. So all this talk about USO not banning players...yes they are, by hosting it in a place where said players are banned from being in.
Click to expand...
Look at his avatar are you sure he isn't mocking you.
 
Hitman said:
I don't a ..... if he is mocking or not. I agree with the statement being made.
Click to expand...
They can't move the tournament that easily and they really probably wanted to avoid the case where they exerted a bunch of effort to move the tournament only to have the US government relax its entry restrictions. It is unreasonable imo to expect them to do this.
 
optic yellow said:
They can't move the tournament that easily and they really probably wanted to avoid the case where they exerted a bunch of effort to move the tournament only to have the US government relax its entry restrictions. It is unreasonable imo to expect them to do this.
Click to expand...

I know the situation, that still doesn't change the point, they willinginly stay where they are due to the financials and logistics, but they also then adopt the banning policy of foreign unvaxxed nationals too. They just don't think it is worth it, and that is their business decision.
 
Hitman said:
I know the situation, that still doesn't change the point, they willinginly stay where they are due to the financials and logistics, but they also then adopt the banning policy of foreign unvaxxed nationals too. They just don't think it is worth it, and that is their business decision.
Click to expand...
But it's not like a questionable move ethically as opposed what we usually mean when we call something a "business decision". They have had the tournament there for a long time whereas COVID vaccine entry policies are very recent. Is it reasonable to ask them to move to prioritize avoiding a government policy that many people don't really disagree with?
 
optic yellow said:
But it's not like a questionable move ethically as opposed what we usually mean when we call something a "business decision". They have had the tournament there for a long time whereas COVID vaccine entry policies are very recent. Is it reasonable to ask them to move to prioritize avoiding a government policy that many people don't really disagree with?
Click to expand...

Reasonable or not, it is their decision, at the end of the day, as long they understand their choice, as a profitable business decision still resulted in not having all the best players in the world at their event, then that is all. It is called US Open, the Open part meaning Open to professionals...not Open to vaccinated players only.
 
Hitman said:
Reasonable or not, it is their decision, at the end of the day, as long they understand their choice, as a profitable business decision still resulted in not having all the best players in the world at their event, then that is all. It is called US Open, the Open part meaning Open to professionals...not Open to vaccinated players only.
Click to expand...
Or you could say it means Open to anyone who is able to be legally in the United States during the time of the tournament.
 
optic yellow said:
Or you could say it means Open to anyone who is able to be legally in the United States during the time of the tournament.
Click to expand...

Call it what you want, no problem, but the word Open has been tarnished here regardless with the event choosing to stay under such laws.
 
Roger and Novak had their time on tour when they ran free with little adveristy , I think we can all agree on that for numerous reasons, everything comes to balance and Rafa is knowledgeable enough to see that Macro view of life . 2022 so far global situations and narratives gave him a small advantage to take AO . Hope he can make the most out of these situations, and he pretty much did it at the AO wich was the hardest to win for a 2nd time. Hope Nole's ban from the AO gets slashed so he can play, it is a pollitical circus .
 
Autodidactic player said:
True. Novak chose not to play. A player injured so badly that they cannot play doesn't have a choice.
Click to expand...

Saying Novak chose not to play simply fails to pass the straight face test. It's U.S. Democrats. the people who support mandates are the people responsible for banning Novak from entering the country...a Country that was once free.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

clayqueen
Rafa Nadal - The most important professional tennis player in history
2 3
Replies
140
Views
8K
messiahrobins
messiahrobins
A
Ferrer: Rafa doesn't have pain in the knees.
Replies
33
Views
7K
NadalAgassi
N
S
Rafa always SMS-es Rogelio, no?
Replies
13
Views
3K
K-kita
K
T
WTF: Berdych - it’s the best tournament
2 3 4
Replies
157
Views
13K
Deleted member 743561
D
Achilles82
Federer had best season in tennis history (2006), not Novak.
2
Replies
61
Views
6K
jokinla
J
Back
Top