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good article:
Rafael Nadal was telling fibs at the Australian Open - he is clearly a man in pain
By Simon Briggs, Tennis Correspondent, in Melbourne
Spaniard's determination to mask his frailties after defeat to Tomas Berdych was understandable, but he was kidding nobody
In the nicest possible way, Rafa, we have to say that you told a bunch of fibs in Melbourne after your defeat to Tomas Berdych.
You fibbed because it was expedient. And you fibbed because the etiquette of the locker-room frowns on players talking about physical aches and pains after a defeat. But there can be little doubt that you fibbed.
Asked about the pill that you swallowed early in the third set of your 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 blowout, you replied “Yeah, happened nothing. I am feeling well. That's it. That's part of the things that happen sometimes during the matches, but nothing important to say.”
Feeling well? Come off it, Rafa. It might be true that you played a respectable standard of tennis in that third set. Respectable, though nothing special. But for the first two sets you were operating at what the Australians – with their felicity for vivid language – would refer to as “half rat power”.
The most revealing thing is that – up until around the hour mark – you weren’t chasing down Berdych’s attacking shots when they went past you, but simply watching them fly by with that characteristic raised left eyebrow.
At one point, a ball bounced off the net-cord and died on your side of the court, and you didn’t even take a step towards it. You probably wouldn’t have got there anyway, but you have spent your career chasing down lost causes and achieving the apparently impossible. This morning, you were like a champion greyhound who, one strange day, failed to react when the hare was released.
Your explanation of the match – Berdych’s first win against you in 18 attempts – was gracious and detailed. “Coming back from an injuries,” the argument went, “you lose more easier the feeling than what you do when you are on rhythm, when you are with no injuries, when you are confident in yourself that you played a lot of matches.”
We aren’t disputing this point. It is true that you are coming back from a whole bunch of injuries, and illness as well. In physical terms, 2014 was a nightmare year for you. It started with the back spasms that ruined your final here against Stan Wawrinka, and then progressed through wrist trouble to appendicitis.
But to say that you lost because “I didn't play with the right confidence, with the right intensity, losing court, playing very short” can only be half the story. A lack of confidence wouldn’t normally stop you chasing the ball; if anything, it would probably make you more desperate in your defence.
The TV cameras picked up a couple of clues. A grimace while stretching out the right hamstring and back. A clutch of the right thigh when sitting down at a changeover. The right leg certainly didn’t seem to be working too well, judging by the way you struggled to push off towards your forehand side. The same forehand side, that is, that has chopped Berdych into tiny pieces of kindling in your last 17 meetings.
Down and out: Rafael Nadal looks disconsolate
We know that every tennis player has sore spots when he takes the court. We also know that you don’t like making excuses after a loss, feeling that it is disrespectful to your opponent. And we know that there was nothing malicious about your dissembling in the post-match press conference.
But this wasn’t the real Rafa out there against Berdych. This was a man battling his own body. And we’re worried about you, because that body doesn’t seem to be holding up too well these days.
Perhaps that was another reason why you didn’t want to talk about what you were really feeling on the court, especially during those first two sets. Perhaps you’re worried too, and just want to get back to see your medical advisors in Spain.
You did say before the tournament that “My back, I don’t have enough time having good feelings to say I am 100 per cent perfect, no? I need to take care about this for the moment.” We know that you had platelet-rich plasma injections in your spine last year, and that the trouble that afflicted you against Wawrinka never completely cleared up.
When Andy Murray had his own spinal operation 18 months ago, it was to deal with a combination of back pain and sciatica – which is defined as pain, numbness and weakness running down the legs. A similar sort of problem would be entirely consistent with your inhibited movement on the court today.
Ultimately, Rafa, we don’t know for sure. We can understand why you don’t want to talk about it, and we certainly hope you find a way to treat the issue. At the same time, though, we weren’t born yesterday.
Rafael Nadal was telling fibs at the Australian Open - he is clearly a man in pain
By Simon Briggs, Tennis Correspondent, in Melbourne
Spaniard's determination to mask his frailties after defeat to Tomas Berdych was understandable, but he was kidding nobody
In the nicest possible way, Rafa, we have to say that you told a bunch of fibs in Melbourne after your defeat to Tomas Berdych.
You fibbed because it was expedient. And you fibbed because the etiquette of the locker-room frowns on players talking about physical aches and pains after a defeat. But there can be little doubt that you fibbed.
Asked about the pill that you swallowed early in the third set of your 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 blowout, you replied “Yeah, happened nothing. I am feeling well. That's it. That's part of the things that happen sometimes during the matches, but nothing important to say.”
Feeling well? Come off it, Rafa. It might be true that you played a respectable standard of tennis in that third set. Respectable, though nothing special. But for the first two sets you were operating at what the Australians – with their felicity for vivid language – would refer to as “half rat power”.
The most revealing thing is that – up until around the hour mark – you weren’t chasing down Berdych’s attacking shots when they went past you, but simply watching them fly by with that characteristic raised left eyebrow.
At one point, a ball bounced off the net-cord and died on your side of the court, and you didn’t even take a step towards it. You probably wouldn’t have got there anyway, but you have spent your career chasing down lost causes and achieving the apparently impossible. This morning, you were like a champion greyhound who, one strange day, failed to react when the hare was released.
Your explanation of the match – Berdych’s first win against you in 18 attempts – was gracious and detailed. “Coming back from an injuries,” the argument went, “you lose more easier the feeling than what you do when you are on rhythm, when you are with no injuries, when you are confident in yourself that you played a lot of matches.”
We aren’t disputing this point. It is true that you are coming back from a whole bunch of injuries, and illness as well. In physical terms, 2014 was a nightmare year for you. It started with the back spasms that ruined your final here against Stan Wawrinka, and then progressed through wrist trouble to appendicitis.
But to say that you lost because “I didn't play with the right confidence, with the right intensity, losing court, playing very short” can only be half the story. A lack of confidence wouldn’t normally stop you chasing the ball; if anything, it would probably make you more desperate in your defence.
The TV cameras picked up a couple of clues. A grimace while stretching out the right hamstring and back. A clutch of the right thigh when sitting down at a changeover. The right leg certainly didn’t seem to be working too well, judging by the way you struggled to push off towards your forehand side. The same forehand side, that is, that has chopped Berdych into tiny pieces of kindling in your last 17 meetings.
Down and out: Rafael Nadal looks disconsolate
We know that every tennis player has sore spots when he takes the court. We also know that you don’t like making excuses after a loss, feeling that it is disrespectful to your opponent. And we know that there was nothing malicious about your dissembling in the post-match press conference.
But this wasn’t the real Rafa out there against Berdych. This was a man battling his own body. And we’re worried about you, because that body doesn’t seem to be holding up too well these days.
Perhaps that was another reason why you didn’t want to talk about what you were really feeling on the court, especially during those first two sets. Perhaps you’re worried too, and just want to get back to see your medical advisors in Spain.
You did say before the tournament that “My back, I don’t have enough time having good feelings to say I am 100 per cent perfect, no? I need to take care about this for the moment.” We know that you had platelet-rich plasma injections in your spine last year, and that the trouble that afflicted you against Wawrinka never completely cleared up.
When Andy Murray had his own spinal operation 18 months ago, it was to deal with a combination of back pain and sciatica – which is defined as pain, numbness and weakness running down the legs. A similar sort of problem would be entirely consistent with your inhibited movement on the court today.
Ultimately, Rafa, we don’t know for sure. We can understand why you don’t want to talk about it, and we certainly hope you find a way to treat the issue. At the same time, though, we weren’t born yesterday.
