Should Rafa skip grass?
- Thread starter Eye Test
- Start date
Sport
G.O.A.T.
Only of Queens. Nadal will not stop playing Wimbledon as long as he is a professional tennis player, even when he is 40 years old.
Btw, he is only 32. Federer stopped playing on clay at age 34.
Also, Djokovic is 31. Can you imagine how ridicoulous it would be if Djokovic decides to skip the whole grass season next year?
Btw, he is only 32. Federer stopped playing on clay at age 34.
Also, Djokovic is 31. Can you imagine how ridicoulous it would be if Djokovic decides to skip the whole grass season next year?
PMChambers
Hall of Fame
No, just follow Borg skip the minors and focus on Major. Doubt he's a real chance beyond QF but it's been shown that missing warm up events and focus on climatising for the surface works It's not as though he's out of match practice, just needs to get used to bounce, pace and movement. He's doing Ok.
hoodjem
G.O.A.T.
Why not? It worked for Ferd last year.
cc0509
Talk Tennis Guru
Are you Octobrina or BeatlesFan, claiming to know intimate details about players they unduly obsess over?
What a presumptive and illogical statement to make and you're likely to be very wrong.
I guess it's a tough call for him. I think USO is nr1 goal late season. He needs rest after a tight clay schedule and had to pull out of Queens. He has said himself it's tougher to move from one surface to another than In his younger days. So question is If he has any chance at all without playing any warm ups. Dont think he will play W for the points, only if he thinks he has a shot at winning It.
roger presley
Hall of Fame
Too young for that,Federer is almost 37.
Sport
G.O.A.T.
There is nothing illogical about my statement, it is a logical possibility that Nadal keeps playing Wimbledon at age 40. Ken Rosewall played a Grand Slam final at age 40. We will see. I will believe otherwise when I see a healthy Nadal skipping Wimbledon.
cc0509
Talk Tennis Guru
He'll skip it. If not this year then definitely as he gets older. You're going to be wrong, I'm sure of it.
texasleaguer
Rookie
he should skip ON grass. add it to his other useless movements.
titoelcolombiano
Legend
Not this year. He needs as many points as possible as he is a real shot at a 5th YE # 1 which is massive for him.
VaporDude95
Banned
Federer has more of a chance to end at Number 1. Nadal can’t even play on grass or indoors these days.
Slightly D1
Professional
I think he should skip everything but Wimbledon
D
Deleted member 688153
Guest
He's smart. He'll skip the second week of Wimby as usual to rest up for HC.
titoelcolombiano
Legend
Yes ok - just like last year. He ended # 1 without needing many grass or indoor points at all.
A
ATPtennisFan
Guest
Rafa should skip tennis
Julian Houston
Semi-Pro
This year kinda harder for both. Zverev has highest shot to get YE#1. He will go deep in every hardcourt event.
titoelcolombiano
Legend
There is no guarantee of that. Traditionally the players in the top two in the race post-Wimby go on to YE # 1 - Rafa & Fed should have a healthy lead at that stage.
Zverev will be in with a shot if they both come down with major injury lay-offs that prevent them from competing in the North American hard court season.
Turning Pro
Hall of Fame
Don't worry. He skipped queens last year yet still played wimbledon. Smart move imo. Just in it for the slams.
AlexanderTheGreat08
Hall of Fame
No
VaporDude95
Banned
That’s because he gained so many through the HC and clay season. He’s defending them all this year. Big difference.
VaporDude95
Banned
Either way, he isn’t making it past the 4R of Wimbledon, so I don’t see what all the fuss is about.
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
Rafa should skip all the grass tournaments leading up to Wimbledon but play Wimbledon. That way, he will be fresh and ready to go deep!
AlexanderTheGreat08
Hall of Fame
Federer is defending too
VaporDude95
Banned
Yeah I know... but Fed has a lot to gain especially in Cincinnati, Paris and the USO.
Nadal is basically out for the indoor season and is defending the USO.
titoelcolombiano
Legend
First of all, YE # 1 has nothing to do with defending points. At the end of the season, whoever has accumulated the most is the # 1 at the end of the season. Rafa leads the race so far.
When it comes to defending points though, he's gone ok so far. He's only got 3730 to defend for the rest of the year with big point tournaments Wimby, Canada, Cincy, US Open, Shanghai, Paris and WTF to come - if you throw in Beijing, that's 8 tournaments to do it in. Your assumption that he won't go deep on grass or indoors has little to do with this scenario as he has a total of 360 grass / indoor points to defend.
He has shown that his hard court form is fine - last year he made the final in Australia, Indian Wells and Shanghai and won Beijing and the US Open. I think you are underestimating him a little.
titoelcolombiano
Legend
Nadal has left a heap of points on the table. Here is what he is defending for the rest of the year:
- Wimbledon - 180
- Canada - 90
- Cincinnati - 180
- US Open - 2000
- Beijing - 500
- Shanghai - 600
- Paris - 180
- WTF - 0
Big_Dangerous
Talk Tennis Guru
You're seriously going to compare the era in which Rosewall played in with the current one...
Big_Dangerous
Talk Tennis Guru
D
Deleted member 77403
Guest
No. Its a shot at a slam, and he needs every shot he can gets if he wants the slam record.
HetTheGreaterer
Banned
Nope....
He played on clay in 2015 and 2016
It was 2017, when a 35.5 years old fed said goodbye to clay forever
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
HetTheGreaterer
Banned
Last year....
Not this...
And when did he make final in IW?? Nope he did not...
He got mercilessly murdered by backhanderer in 4th Round at Indian wells 2017
Gary Duane
G.O.A.T.
@cc0509
It is incredibly illogical, and it shows a very poor grasp of history.
Rosewall never again played RG after 1969. He skipped Wimbledon most years after 1971. He skipped the USO 4 times. You don't really think he was not picking and choosing events according to ranking, points and money?
Those of us who are simply being realistic know that Nadal built his career on the clay season, so every year he puts every bit of energy he has into that season. That's the reason he's gassed every year after RG and has been for years. Nothing left in the tank, and injuries coming from too much clay.
Did you not see his arm/hand cramp in the final? He barely made it through RG, and it's going to get harder every year. 32 is still old for a tennis player.
He sacrifices everything, every year, to play without rest on clay, and his style of play leaves him either dead tired or injured at the end of RG.
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
Hmm. Haven't your heard that Rafa is 5 year younger than your favourite player.
VaporDude95
Banned
Since the Australian open, he hasn’t played ONE match off clay. He’s neck and neck with Fed, having not played off clay since January.
It’ll be tough for Nadal.
VaporDude95
Banned
He’s not making it past the 4R, so it’s not really “a shot at a slam”.
VaporDude95
Banned
I mean, the fact that he hasn’t played off clay since January is a LARGE factor as to why he probably won’t produce those results.
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
Hmm. Fed devotee, some people read the transcripts of (or listen to) Rafa's press conferences that are not 'intimate' events. For example:
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
Hmm. So, Fed devotee, your are claiming to know 'intimate details' (it's your phrase, see the link below) about Rafa.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/should-rafa-skip-grass.619054/#post-12381084
Eye Test
Rookie
Why bother playing grass where you are unlikely to win anyway when you can improve your chances at winning USO by giving your body a well deserved rest?
titoelcolombiano
Legend
That doesn't make any sense. Because he took Feb, March and April off the tour that equates to not winning much for the rest of the season. By that logic Fed and Rafa are both in big trouble later in the season.
titoelcolombiano
Legend
Since the 1st round in Miami Federer has played 0 matches - so by your logic, they both are in huge trouble in the second half of the year, results-wise, for taking a break for three months.
titoelcolombiano
Legend
Sorry - it was Miami, not Indian Wells. We were discussing his hard court form and big hard court tournaments that he played well in last year are a fair and reasonable way to tell if he is still capable on the surface - especially considering that Shanghai and Beijing where in the second half of last year. He didn't play too badly in the AO either up until the Cilic match.
duaneeo
Legend
Nadal made the 4R in 2014 and 2017. His confidence would get a tremendous boost if he's able to get beyond that round, and with the courts getting more beat up with every match, who knows what can happen.
Actually that’s wrong. Federer played a full schedule aged 34, and also played clay aged 35 after his knee injury.
It’s Rafa who has frequently skipped HC events only to be fresh and ready to tear up the clay season without fail year after year.
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