Rafael Nadal dismisses claim his serving technique caused Paris Masters injury

clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Rafael Nadal believes his injury had nothing to do with his altered serving style.
By UCHE AMAKO
PUBLISHED: 19:48, Sat, Nov 2, 2019 | UPDATED: 20:23, Sat, Nov 2, 2019

Rafael Nadal has ruled out the possibility his abdominal injury was caused by the change to his service motion. At the start of the year, Nadal debuted a new serving technique which his coach Carlos Moya said was designed to make his motion ‘more fluid’.

In Paris, Nadal did not drop serve in his three completed matches but it was while practising his serve this morning that he pulled up with an issue.

However speaking in his press conference after withdrawing, Nadal dismissing a suggestion that his serve was an issue.

“No. I have been serving like this during the whole season. It is not a different movement at all,” he said.

“No. That’s not an issue in my personal opinion. Last year probably yes when I came here.

“That was the first tournament that I changed the movement on the serve. When you change things this kind of stuff can happen because it is a risk and you involve different muscles.

“But I have been serving like this for one year and I didn’t have one issue.

"We can call it unlucky, we can call it different things, but it happened today. And when things happen, the only thing that you can do is accept it.

“And even if it's a tough situation for me, I need to stay positive.

“It has been a negative week at the end because to finish like this is always a negative thing but the rest of the things of the week have been very positive. Good practise before the tournament started. Super good energy during the whole tournament from the crowd. I enjoyed a lot playing here in Bercy.

www.express.co.uk

Rafael Nadal rules out claim his serving technique caused injury

Rafael Nadal believes his injury had nothing to do with his altered serving style.
www.express.co.uk www.express.co.uk
 
Popeyes-1228-Highway-36-Hazlet.jpg



Hoping for just enough crisp to stay #1 8-B
 
clayqueen said:
Rafael Nadal believes his injury had nothing to do with his altered serving style.
By UCHE AMAKO
PUBLISHED: 19:48, Sat, Nov 2, 2019 | UPDATED: 20:23, Sat, Nov 2, 2019

Rafael Nadal has ruled out the possibility his abdominal injury was caused by the change to his service motion. At the start of the year, Nadal debuted a new serving technique which his coach Carlos Moya said was designed to make his motion ‘more fluid’.

In Paris, Nadal did not drop serve in his three completed matches but it was while practising his serve this morning that he pulled up with an issue.

However speaking in his press conference after withdrawing, Nadal dismissing a suggestion that his serve was an issue.

“No. I have been serving like this during the whole season. It is not a different movement at all,” he said.

“No. That’s not an issue in my personal opinion. Last year probably yes when I came here.

“That was the first tournament that I changed the movement on the serve. When you change things this kind of stuff can happen because it is a risk and you involve different muscles.

“But I have been serving like this for one year and I didn’t have one issue.

"We can call it unlucky, we can call it different things, but it happened today. And when things happen, the only thing that you can do is accept it.

“And even if it's a tough situation for me, I need to stay positive.

“It has been a negative week at the end because to finish like this is always a negative thing but the rest of the things of the week have been very positive. Good practise before the tournament started. Super good energy during the whole tournament from the crowd. I enjoyed a lot playing here in Bercy.

www.express.co.uk

Rafael Nadal rules out claim his serving technique caused injury

Rafael Nadal believes his injury had nothing to do with his altered serving style.
www.express.co.uk www.express.co.uk
Click to expand...

Here is the full transcript of his press conference:

ASAP Sports Transcripts - Tennis - 2019 - ROLEX PARIS MASTERS - November 2 - Rafael Nadal

ASAPSports FastScripts, a system using state-of-the-art technology created to produce verbatim FastScripts of press conferences and player/team interviews at sporting events around the globe.
www.asapsports.com
 
Rafa tore his stomach muscle at 2009 US Open (and it was strained before that US Open), so its nothing to do with the new serving technique :)
But I guess people forgot that, because they still talk about Del Potro's win like it was a God-like performance, when it fact Rafa was only serving 90mph 1st Serves and Del Potro was simply taking advantage....
 
Raphael Nadal said:
Rafa tore his stomach muscle at 2009 US Open (and it was strained before that US Open), so its nothing to do with the new serving technique :)
But I guess people forgot that, because they still talk about Del Potro's win like it was a God-like performance, when it fact Rafa was only serving 90mph 1st Serves and Del Potro was simply taking advantage....
Click to expand...
Thank you for that tale from the vacuum era. :eek:

Now that year Nadal was fresh as a daisy at RG and brimming for the Madrid final after his short match with Djokovic, no?:unsure:
 
Raphael Nadal said:
Rafa tore his stomach muscle at 2009 US Open (and it was strained before that US Open), so its nothing to do with the new serving technique :)
But I guess people forgot that, because they still talk about Del Potro's win like it was a God-like performance, when it fact Rafa was only serving 90mph 1st Serves and Del Potro was simply taking advantage....
Click to expand...

Rafa tore his stomach muscle before the 2009 US Open, in Cincinnati.

EIsTpbbWwAAmWYh


An MTO during Rafa's R3 at the 2009 USO:

rafael-nadal_1476208c.jpg

17-tutti-gli-acciacci-di-rafael-nadal.jpg
 
Meles said:
Thank you for that tale from the vacuum era. :eek:

Now that year Nadal was fresh as a daisy at RG and brimming for the Madrid final after his short match with Djokovic, no?:unsure:
Click to expand...

That year, Rafa had patellar tendonitis in both knees.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Wimbledon 2009: Defending champion Rafael Nadal pulls out because of injury

An emotional Rafael Nadal announced on Friday night that he would not defend his Wimbledon title after deciding that his painful knees would not allow him to compete at anything like his best.
www.telegraph.co.uk
 
His serve was so inaccurate in the USO final. Would not surprise me to learn he has had lingering abdominal issues.
 
weakera said:
His serve was so inaccurate in the USO final. Would not surprise me to learn he has had lingering abdominal issues.
Click to expand...
It wasn't injury. It was nerves. Once Fed and Djoker went out, the pressure on Nadal became 100x.
Anything less than a championship win would have been a colossal failure.
Also let's appreciate Medvedev in the final. The Russian started to exert insane pressure on Rafa from set 3. That causes inaccuracy in serve too.
Kinda like the Fed fans complaining Fed's poor serving vs Nadal in AO 2009 etc.
 
Raphael Nadal said:
Rafa tore his stomach muscle at 2009 US Open (and it was strained before that US Open), so its nothing to do with the new serving technique :)
But I guess people forgot that, because they still talk about Del Potro's win like it was a God-like performance, when it fact Rafa was only serving 90mph 1st Serves and Del Potro was simply taking advantage....
Click to expand...
It was a God-like performance from Del Potro regardless of Rafa's level. Just like Soderling played soooo great in the RG 2009 match. Sure in both matches Nadal had some physical issues. So?? We still have to give credit where credit is due.
 
Last edited:
TennisFan3 said:
It wasn't injury. It was nerves. Once Fed and Djoker went out, the pressure on Nadal became 100x.
Anything less than a championship win would have been a colossal failure.
Also let's appreciate Medvedev in the final. The Russian started to exert insane pressure on Rafa from set 3. That causes inaccuracy in serve too.
Kinda like the Fed fans complaining Fed's poor serving vs Nadal in AO 2009 etc.
Click to expand...

His serving was garbage in the first set though. So there goes half the claim.
 
TennisFan3 said:
It wasn't injury. It was nerves. Once Fed and Djoker went out, the pressure on Nadal became 100x.
Anything less than a championship win would have been a colossal failure.
Also let's appreciate Medvedev in the final. The Russian started to exert insane pressure on Rafa from set 3. That causes inaccuracy in serve too.
Kinda like the Fed fans complaining Fed's poor serving vs Nadal in AO 2009 etc.
Click to expand...
Yes. For a moment, Medvedev reminded me of Djokovic in the USO final (not saying he is as good as Djokovic, just pointing out a simmilarity in the "robotic/terminator/wall" style). In the 3th set, Medvedev activated his B game, which is more aggresive than his A game. And he was like a robot, reaching all balls, serving great and hitting clean winners. I have a lot of expectations for Medvedev in the future. Such a talented player.
 
Last edited:
weakera said:
His serving was garbage in the first set though. So there goes half the claim.
Click to expand...
No. That's not what I am saying. I said his game diminished when Fed/Djoker lost. That's when his serve and accuracy started dipping as he got nervous.
Nadal was serving bad against Schwartzman too. Have you ever seen an ATG blow a 5-2 lead? And Nadal did it TWICE. In consecutive sets. Why? Because he served like crap.
Same thing against Berrittinni in the SF. Where he had to rely on a choke by the Italian to win a set in the TB where he was down. Nadal's off-forehand ( his most offensive shot) and his serve were garbage, and so too was his ROS (by Nadal's standards).
The difference was that in the final Medvedev was good enough (or nearly good enough..) to take advantage of a sub-par Nadal.

Trust me. The last good match Nadal played in the UsOpen was against Cillic. After Novak/Fed lost, Nadal was too nervous.
He won the UsOpen with his B- game. And he barely did it..
 
Last edited:
Sport said:
Yes. For a moment, Medvedev reminded me of Djokovic in the USO final (not saying he is as good as Djokovic, just pointing out a simmilarity in the "robotic/terminator/wall" style). In the 3th set, Medvedev acrtvated his B game, which is more aggresive than his A game. And he was like a robot, reaching all balls, serving great and hitting clean winners. I have a lot of expectations for Medvedev in the future. Such a talented player.
Click to expand...

Great post. I agree 100%. The reason I think that Medvedev is most likely a multi-slam winner and future #1 is his adaptability and Tennis acumen.
He isn't anywhere close to being as talented as Djokovic/Federer/Nadal for ex. But he can really change his game and make his opponent play bad.
As he stands back, Medvedev doesn't take the ball early and is aggressive on ROS (as Novak does vs Nadal). But he still makes such excellent use of his weapons with pinpoint accuracy.

Best shots of Medvedev: CC backhand, Serve (underrated), Amazing DTL backhand (almost Novak like), windmill inside out forehand. Also his volleys, movement and overall touch are very underrated. Never seen such a tall player execute so well.
Add to that the sense of calm, confidence and excellent mental strength, and it's easy to see why he will be the next great player after Fedalvoic.
 
Rafa is paying his lack of dedication to the technical aspect of the game.

He was physically so overpowering in his youth it enabled him to be win matches he should have lost because his technique wasn't properly taught.

He needs to hire some good lefty servers like Ivanisevic or Tanner and revamp totally his service motion.
 
Tearing an abdominal muscle sounds painful as frack. I can especially imagine its worse for those with large abdominal muscles, like me with my 1 pack giant ab.
 
terribleIVAN said:
Rafa is paying his lack of dedication to the technical aspect of the game.
hampion
He was physically so overpowering in his youth it enabled him to be win matches he should have lost because his technique wasn't properly taught.

He needs to hire some good lefty servers like Ivanisevic or Tanner and revamp totally his service motion.
Click to expand...
Rafa has only ever had a stomach muscle injury in 2009 and 2019, so he's not paying a price, he's just getting injured as any 33-year-old 19-time slam champion should be injured :)
His service technique has clearly not caused injuries, otherwise he'd strain the stomach more than twice in the space of 11 years.....
Rafa is 25-2 on hardcourt, so no chance in hell of changing a technique.....
 
Raphael Nadal said:
Rafa has only ever had a stomach muscle injury in 2009 and 2019, so he's not paying a price, he's just getting injured as any 33-year-old 19-time slam champion should be injured :)
His service technique has clearly not caused injuries, otherwise he'd strain the stomach more than twice in the space of 11 years.....
Rafa is 25-2 on hardcourt, so no chance in hell of changing a technique.....
Click to expand...

He should have a much better serve than this.

The ship has sailed, anyway.
 
terribleIVAN said:
He should have a much better serve than this.

The ship has sailed, anyway.
Click to expand...
No he should not have a much better serve than this, otherwise he would.
Rafa and Toni gave 100% effort to his development, and that is why he has 19 slams and probably headed for 22+ :)
 
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