Rafael Nadal had "Pain for Months,” Admits Coach Carlos Moya

[weakera]

He can’t beat Tsitsipas playing at that level either at the French. If djoker didn’t beat him tstsipas we would have squashed him in the finals this year

tstsipas is probably the best on clay right now. Choking aside. If he can get the choking under control when he has big leads, he’ll probably dominate both clay and hards

At 3/10 yes, but at 4.5/10 he beats Tsitsipas. He beat Tsitsipas in Barcelona remember.

 

[HelenCH]

It depends on the true nature of his foot injury. Players have to slide a lot on clay and that can wreak havoc on foot injuries and knees. It's also much harder to hit clean winners on clay and the serve is not the weapon it is on other surfaces. So longer rallies, more footwork, really takes a toll on the legs and feet.

My guess is he will prioritise Roland Garros for sure. He may even pass on the Australian Open. But even so, he is not getting any younger and winning seven Best of 5 Matches on clay given his circumstances will be a Herculean effort. If anyone can do it, Rafa can ... but it is a huge ask - especially if guys like Tsitsipas, Thiem and Djokovic are in form.

Yes, it's going to be hard for him. It's one thing to be getting older, but older and injured it's quite another. Oh well it's not that he was gong to be playing forever anyway.

 

[SeeItHitIt]

Nothing a TUE or three wont cure.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Rafa will comeback strong as always unless I see vibes of 2015 again I won't say he is done since this year never saw those vibes. Uf his confidence goes asdown as 2015 then again reaching back to top willbe impossible at this age but currently the losses he had were more closer and to good players

He will comeback but I think he’s probably accepted he’s lost the slam race to Djokovic and will never get the chance to hold the record himself.

Rafa is now relying on other players to stop Djokovic and that’s a terrible position to be in.

 

[Nadal_King]

He will comeback but I think he’s probably accepted he’s lost the slam race to Djokovic and will never get the chance to hold the record himself.

Rafa is now relying on other players to stop Djokovic and that’s a terrible position to be in.

Things change fast in tennis, remember 2016 when djokovic was just 2 away from Rafa and it was just a formality of him crossing rafa but 5 years since just has equallled a month back so you cannot predict anything but obviously chances are highly of Djokovic finishing easily first but I won't be surprised if it's Rafa since there is a probability of that as well. Remember till 2020 Djokovic nadal were almost equally splitting grand slams for 3 years it's just this year Djokovic has been at another level but djokovic always has low years after huge dominance in 3-4 years. So I would say let's see how things transpire in coming months, you might even have Djokovic just finish say 1 ahead of rafa-roger if likes of Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas just take it another level from now onwards

 

[TennisFan3]

Rafa is now relying on other players to stop Djokovic and that’s a terrible position to be in.

Honestly, Nadal is not bothered as much on the slam record as his fans are. I mean if he were, he would have tried playing Wimb/UsOpen or both.
Whether Novak wins or not, won't affect Nadal as much as his own failure to play would. Nadal was never expected to be the slam leader, because he had always trailed Federer and won less outside clay.

That said, Nadal would be disappointed by the last 2 years. He's hardly played and won very little. So in that sense he has definitely underperformed.

 

[TennisFan3]

Nothing a TUE or three wont cure.

That doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

[JasonZ]

Honestly, Nadal is not bothered as much on the slam record as his fans are. I mean if he were, he would have tried playing Wimb/UsOpen or both.
Whether Novak wins or not, won't affect Nadal as much as his own failure to play would. Nadal was never expected to be the slam leader, because he had always trailed Federer and won less outside clay.

That said, Nadal would be disappointed by the last 2 years. He's hardly played and won very little. So in that sense he has definitely underperformed.

nadal is as crazy about the slam record as djokovic. so is federer. so is serena williams. djokovic is just the only one who openly admits it. thats why i hope he gets it.

if not the slam race they would all have retired years ago.