Whose career has been impaired most by injuries?

[Nadalgaenger]

Which current ATP player’s career has been limited most by injuries?

Here are the arguments for each:
Delpo: Massive game in 2009, awesome promise, brutal groundstrokes on both wings impaired significantly because of injuries and surgeries on both wrists. Might have 4-5 slams if he had been healthy.

Nishikori: Would be a slam winner and perennial top 5 player if his body didn’t constantly break down. As it stands, may never win a meaningful title despite excellent technique and talent.

Nadal: Could he rival the slam record if he had been healthy throughout? Missed several slams due to injury and hampered at various others. What might he have achieved with fewer ailments?

 

[EloQuent]

Easily Delpo. Even Federer said he could have been #1. Nadal had a career. Nishikori was never going to be an ATG.

/thread

 

[Nadalgaenger]

Easily Delpo. Even Federer said he could have been #1. Nadal had a career. Nishikori was never going to be an ATG.

/thread

I would vote Delpo as well. Are there any players in recent memory who have had their careers wrecked by injury?

Delpo may actually have a shot at another slam this year. He’s looked strong lately.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

No mention of Soderling? He had to completely retire cause of his illness.

DelPo is up there but at least he was able to come back.

 

[EloQuent]

I would vote Delpo as well. Are there any players in recent memory who have had their careers wrecked by injury?

Delpo may actually have a shot at another slam this year. He’s looked strong lately.

there are players who've been injured like Raonic, but not like he was gonna be a top player anyway.

I keep hearing about Felix AA getting injured and hoe much potential he has, not sure that counts

 

[EloQuent]

No mention of Soderling? He had to completely retire cause of his illness.

DelPo is up there but at least he was able to come back.

Soderling is a good one. But hard to tell if he'd have won slams. Was mainly a clay player, beat Nadal the one time.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Soderling is a good one. But hard to tell if he'd have won slams. Was mainly a clay player, beat Nadal the one time.

Career high number 4, two French Open finals. Had to retire at the peak of his game. Held 5 titles when he finished, one of which was a Masters on hard. Was only 27 when he retired. Definitely think he had a shot at some point.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Career high number 4, two French Open finals. Had to retire at the peak of his game. Held 5 titles when he finished, one of which was a Masters on hard. Was only 27 when he retired. Definitely think he had a shot at some point.

Beat Federer and Nadal at RG in back to back years and was a solid No. 5.

 

[Shaolin]

Brian Baker

Tommy Haas

Kei

Delpo

/thread

 

[WhiskeyEE]

In recent years, Joachim Johansson and then Del Potro. Nadal? Give me a break.

Soderling's problem wasn't an injury. Same with Ancic. But you could add them if we're considering any physical ailment.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Delpo

 

[Backspin1183]

Nadal has the second most successful career of the open era after Fedr. I don't think he has been that unfortunate with injuries. You could have added Soderling or Haas instead of him.

Del Potro could and should have been more successful than Wawrinka. His injuries meant that he couldn't compete at his best for half or most of his prime years. Without his wrist problems who knows if he could have won a couple more Slams and a few Masters 1000s.

 

[Druss]

Why is Nadal even on the poll? He's never had career threatening injuries or major injuries that severely hampered his level of play. Think Hewitt, Kuerten, Haas etc.

Back to OP: Del Potro and it's not even close.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Brian Baker

Tommy Haas

Kei

Delpo

/thread

Forgot about Baker. Fought through adversity to crack the top 60 at some point and then injuries ruined him from then on. People were talking about him cracking the top 30 or better for a while.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

Why is Nadal even on the poll? He's never had career threatening injuries or major injuries that severely hampered his level of play. Think Hewitt, Kuerten, Haas etc.

Back to OP: Del Potro and it's not even close.

Nadal is on his (at least) fifth career ending injury.

 

[Badabing888]

Nadal has been so affected by injuries that he’s played over 1000 matches during his career and never had major surgery. When he took a break after losing to Rosol at Wimbledon in 2012 because of his knees they were so bad but still didn’t stop him playing golf during his time off, where he has to bend and torque on them. The whole the back injury was so bad it stopped him winning the 2014 AO final but was not that bad it stopped him winning Rio on clay 3 weeks after the AO14 final

This whole thinking that if Rafa has not been affected by injuries he would be rivalling Roger’s 20 is BS. His injuries are the result of his style of play. He can’t play that way and not suffer some injuries. It’s just impossible. But he knows his body and when it’s hurting not to push and when to rest it.

 

[Druss]

Brian Baker

Tommy Haas

Kei

Delpo

/thread

Of course, how can we forget Brian Baker?! And here we are talking about Nadal...my goodness.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Nadal has been so affected by injuries that he’s played over 1000 matches during his career and never had major surgery. When he took a break after losing to Rosol at Wimbledon in 2012 because of his knees they were so bad but still didn’t stop him playing golf during his time off, where he has to bend and torque on them. The whole the back injury was so bad it stopped him winning the 2014 AO final but was not that bad it stopped him winning Rio on clay 3 weeks after the AO14 final

This whole thinking that if Rafa has not been affected by injuries he would be rivalling Roger’s 20 is BS. His injuries are the result of his style of play. He can’t play that way and not suffer some injuries. It’s just impossible. But he knows his body and when it’s hurting not to push and when to rest it.

I think many different players have had worse goes at injuries than Nadal. Lleyton Hewitt was a solid top 5 player until surgery displaced him and he never got back to his old level because every time he tried to make a run for the top 10 he was sidelined by more injuries/surgeries.

Andy Murray might fit that same category in the future (but we'll see).

I think Marat Safin also had a rough time with injuries. He was sidelined for most of 2003 with injury, came back in 2004 and made it back to the top 5 only to be sidelined with more injuries after he won the Australian Open.

 

[kOaMaster]

Tommy Haas is very high up here, I believe that he could have been the biggest rival for Fed 2003-2005 if it wasn't for his injuries.

Del Potro would be my 2nd guess.

Brian Baker is too off here, he might have been a great player but there are too many ifs and buts.

Nishikori? Not really. Nadal? Seriously?

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Tommy Haas is very high up here, I believe that he could have been the biggest rival for Fed 2003-2005 if it wasn't for his injuries.

Del Potro would be my 2nd guess.

Brian Baker is too off here, he might have been a great player but there are too many ifs and buts.

Nishikori? Not really. Nadal? Seriously?

Tommy Haas was never going to be Roger's biggest rival. He was a solid player but he isn't as good as he is cracked up to be. Only managed No. 2 in the world and a MS title pre-injury and at his "peak".

Brian Baker on the other hand wasn't going to be a great player or even No. 2 at any point, but he could have been much more than he was before injury ruined his career (in singles).

 

[mike danny]

I think many different players have had worse goes at injuries than Nadal. Lleyton Hewitt was a solid top 5 player until surgery displaced him and he never got back to his old level because every time he tried to make a run for the top 10 he was sidelined by more injuries/surgeries.

Andy Murray might fit that same category in the future (but we'll see).

I think Marat Safin also had a rough time with injuries. He was sidelined for most of 2003 with injury, came back in 2004 and made it back to the top 5 only to be sidelined with more injuries after he won the Australian Open.

His second surgery in October 2005?

He missed the masters cup that year because of the birth of his child. I don't understand when he got injured.

 

[WhiskeyEE]

Tommy Haas is very high up here, I believe that he could have been the biggest rival for Fed 2003-2005 if it wasn't for his injuries.

Del Potro would be my 2nd guess.

Brian Baker is too off here, he might have been a great player but there are too many ifs and buts.

Nishikori? Not really. Nadal? Seriously?

Tommy Haas had a lot of injuries, but they didn't ruin his career.

Compare him to someone like Joachim Johansson, who was compared to Andy Roddick, made the USO semifinal and was ranked #9 in the world at age 22, and basically had to retire after his breakthrough year due to severe shoulder problems.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

His second surgery in October 2005?

Specifically the one on his foot, yes. Before that he wasn't too bad but was a little rusty due to lack of matchplay.

Another thing that isn't talked about much is after his ranking already dropped in 2006 he was never given a clean, easy draw to the QF. He had to battle against guys like Gasquet, Del Potro, etc to even get a look-in in his later years.

 

[mike danny]

Specifically the one on his foot, yes. Before that he wasn't too bad but was a little rusty due to lack of matchplay.

Another thing that isn't talked about much is after his ranking already dropped in 2006 he was never given a clean, easy draw to the QF. He had to battle against guys like Gasquet, Del Potro, etc to even get a look-in in his later years.

Well he reached the Wimb and USO semis in 2005 and played Fed tough in the latter. So he was still playing well.

I don't understand when did he get injured after the USO 2005. Was it in Bangok in 2005?Was it Bangok 2005 that forced him to haveva second surgery? He missed the masters cup mostly because of the birth of his child.

 

[zagor]

Delpo by a mile. One of the most clear-cut cases of a great potential career derailed by injuries you're ever gonna see.

 

[Gary Duane]

Delpo by a mile, but surprised to see mostly a consensus.

 

[Deleted member 3771]

Nadal and daylight 2nd. As Becker said, the only reason Nadal doesn't not have the slam record is the injuries. It cost him a pile of slams.

 

[qindarka]

Nadal and daylight 2nd. As Becker said, the only reason Nadal doesn't not have the slam record is the injuries. It cost him a pile of slams.

Yes, without injuries, he would have won:
AO 2006
USO 2007
FO 2009
W 2009
USO 2009
AO 2010
AO 2011
W 2012
USO 2012
AO 2013
AO 2014
USO 2014
FO 2016
AO 2018

Truly the most unlucky player of all time, he should be sitting on 30 slams right now.

 

[kOaMaster]

Tommy Haas was never going to be Roger's biggest rival. He was a solid player but he isn't as good as he is cracked up to be. Only managed No. 2 in the world and a MS title pre-injury and at his "peak".

Tommy Haas had a lot of injuries, but they didn't ruin his career.

Alright, maybe it wasn't just the injuries but just right on his "peak" his parents were severely injured in an accident which made him struggle a lot (he skipped tennis for weeks as #2, including Wimbledon). When he went back to tennis, he injured his shoulder, missed more than a year of tennis and never came back as good as he was before.
I think he definitely was a potential major winner and maybe even a candidate for #1 in 2003. At that time he had winning records against for example Roddick, Moya (or Federer), he was 3-4 against Hewitt. At the age of 23 he still had plenty of the future ahead of him.

But of course this is speculation and compared to a guy who never made it to even the top 25, it leaves less of potential against the top (this is also why I would completely rule out Nadal).

 

[Badabing888]

Nadal and daylight 2nd. As Becker said, the only reason Nadal doesn't not have the slam record is the injuries. It cost him a pile of slams.

And aren’t injuries part and parcel of any players’ career? Injuries have so curtailed Rafa’s career that he’s managed to play over 1000 matches and not needed to have major surgery.

What Slams did the injuries cost him? AO14? Yes, his back injury was so bad he still managed to play and win Rio 3 weeks after that final.

Slams he missed he was not fit to take the court and play, so would not have won them anyway.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

"a good poll always needs a trolling option."

this is a good poll

 

[Red Rick]

Define hampered

In relative terms, Del Potro

In absolute terms, Nadal


I love me some Kei Nishikori, but I don't really see the argument for him winning Slams. He's just too serve deficient to get a shot in most Slams. He had his shot against Cilic and was running on fumes by then. Probably takes a few of them ATP 1000s though, and spends a lot more time in the top 5.

Del Potro was a great prospect but he was no bigger prospect than Andy Murray. I don't think he walks away with much more than 3 Slams.

Nadal without injuries would probably be the GOAT right now.

 

[Druss]

Yes, without injuries, he would have won:
AO 2006
USO 2007
FO 2009
W 2009
USO 2009
AO 2010
AO 2011
W 2012
USO 2012
AO 2013
AO 2014
USO 2014
FO 2016
AO 2018

Truly the most unlucky player of all time, he should be sitting on 30 slams right now.

Did you include the slam were his little toe nail cracked? So actually it could have been 31.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Well he reached the Wimb and USO semis in 2005 and played Fed tough in the latter. So he was still playing well.

I don't understand when did he get injured after the USO 2005. Was it in Bangok in 2005?Was it Bangok 2005 that forced him to haveva second surgery? He missed the masters cup mostly because of the birth of his child.

I am not too clear on exactly when he decided to have the second surgery, but I think it was after the US Open sometime and he was testing it out in Bangkok and it wasn't great. Probably another reason why he didn't play at the Masters Cup is he may not have been 100% yet from surgery. The birth of his child was probably priority No. 1 anyway but he didn't play Paris or Madrid either.

Or a second theory is that he underwent the actual surgery in the off season in 05 and returned afterward to a lower level due to two reasons, one being the actual surgery and the other being lack of training/preparation. He seemed pretty undercooked the next AO, losing to Chela in a tussle. Chela wouldn't have been sympathetic in the least either and probably extracted sweet revenge.

 

[junior74]

Yes, without injuries, he would have won:
AO 2006
USO 2007
FO 2009
W 2009
USO 2009
AO 2010
AO 2011
W 2012
USO 2012
AO 2013
AO 2014
USO 2014
FO 2016
AO 2018

Truly the most unlucky player of all time, he should be sitting on 30 slams right now.

 

[Shaolin]

Forgot about Baker. Fought through adversity to crack the top 60 at some point and then injuries ruined him from then on. People were talking about him cracking the top 30 or better for a while.

I feel worst for Baker than any other player…the guy has so much game…who knows how high he could've gone. At least Kei, Delpo etc stayed healthy enough to reach slam finals and more. Baker it was one catastrophic injury after another.

 

[EloQuent]

"Nadal without injuries would be GOAT" strikes me as delusional. I can equally make the case that Federer's mono+backerer+knee cost him a good 5-8 slams. Or that Djokovic is the moral winner of the last 7 slams.

But that's not how it works. All careers have ups and downs. Well, not all. Delpo's is mainly downs.

Fact is that Nadal never had a real dominant period outside of clay and that's because his playing style isn't conducive to successful years back to back. And that's fine, really, if he didn't work so hard he wouldn't have had so much success. But it's not a reason to award him imaginary titles.

/rant

 

[bhpower]

What about Nalbandian?
He had multiple injuries throughout his career including both wrist and hip surgeries.
He missed a lot of tournaments and got injured to some extent in all his four slam semi finals reached.

 

[mike danny]

Delpo IMO.

Nishikori even when healthy could not win big titles and was barely reaching semis of majors. Only 2 major semis or better during 2014-2016 says it all.

Delpo would have been a contender for most slams after 2009. I'm impressed the guy managed to once again return to the top 10. For a second time after surgery.

Nadal has won 16 slams, the second most of all time. I can't feel sorry for him given the career he has built for himself. The guy never even had surgery so I doubt his injuries have been that serious. And I'm not going to give him imaginary slam titles given that he wasn't guaranteed to win them.

 

[Poisoned Slice]

del Potro

 

[73west]

What about Nalbandian?
He had multiple injuries throughout his career including both wrist and hip surgeries.
He missed a lot of tournaments and got injured to some extent in all his four slam semi finals reached.

A little bit older, but very much in the same vein, is Marcelo Rios.
I really think he was on the verge of being a multiple major winner, and a series of injuries set him back. Not one big injury that made him miss 2 years or anything, but clearly a series of injuries (ankle, back) set him back right when he was poised to moved forward.

 

[TheMaestro1990]

Fedr

 

[Bartelby]

That door lintel was a career-ending injury right there.

 

[NatF]

Define hampered

In relative terms, Del Potro

In absolute terms, Nadal


I love me some Kei Nishikori, but I don't really see the argument for him winning Slams. He's just too serve deficient to get a shot in most Slams. He had his shot against Cilic and was running on fumes by then. Probably takes a few of them ATP 1000s though, and spends a lot more time in the top 5.

Del Potro was a great prospect but he was no bigger prospect than Andy Murray. I don't think he walks away with much more than 3 Slams.

Nadal without injuries would probably be the GOAT right now.

Federer without back problems, mono and knee surgery would still be GOAT

---------------------------------------

Del Potro would probably be a multi slam winner and consistent top 5 player without injuries, as it stands right now he's missed years at a time due to multiple surgeries. The answer from this list is clear.

 

[Red Rick]

Federer without back problems, mono and knee surgery would still be GOAT

---------------------------------------

Del Potro would probably be a multi slam winner and consistent top 5 player without injuries, as it stands right now he's missed years at a time due to multiple surgeries. The answer from this list is clear.

We'll never know. Nadal has definitely suffered more from injuries than Federer. Depends on their strike rate in hyptothetical Slams.

 

[LotusTang]

Nadal has been so affected by injuries that he’s played over 1000 matches during his career and never had major surgery. When he took a break after losing to Rosol at Wimbledon in 2012 because of his knees they were so bad but still didn’t stop him playing golf during his time off, where he has to bend and torque on them. The whole the back injury was so bad it stopped him winning the 2014 AO final but was not that bad it stopped him winning Rio on clay 3 weeks after the AO14 final

This whole thinking that if Rafa has not been affected by injuries he would be rivalling Roger’s 20 is BS. His injuries are the result of his style of play. He can’t play that way and not suffer some injuries. It’s just impossible. But he knows his body and when it’s hurting not to push and when to rest it.

Aside from having his appendix removed, I don't think Nadal has ever had any other type of Surgery.
He's has questionable PRP treatments, but not surgery no?

 

[NatF]

We'll never know. Nadal has definitely suffered more from injuries than Federer. Depends on their strike rate in hyptothetical Slams.

In terms of time off, yes absolutely. I doubt there's that much difference in terms of missed opportunities. Federer is just the better all round player all things being equal, despite Nadal's many injuries he's nearly always been fit to compete at his pet slam anyway.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

We'll never know. Nadal has definitely suffered more from injuries than Federer. Depends on their strike rate in hyptothetical Slams.

Don't know about "definitely". RAFA has been more inclined to take pull out of tournaments than Fed but Fed has played tournaments while injured (un)knowingly that (could) have affected his chances of winning titles.

 

[Terenigma]

I'm sorry but Nishikori being in the poll is a joke. Even healthy the guy is massively overrated by so many people on this board. I don't think his career has been impaired that much honestly. He's done about what he was capable of imo. I think you should replace him in the poll by Hewitt or even Soderling.

With that said tho, Delpo is clearly the one most impaired. He could of made a much bigger impact on the Big 4 than the rest of the big name players could of.

 

[zagor]

Nadal may be the biggest moral slam winner of all time but fact is, he managed to win a slam 10 years in a row (something neither Fed nor Sampras managed) and since 2004 he was healthly for like 11 out of 12 CC seasons which is by far his best part of the year and makes up for 10 out of his 16 slams.

Compared to supposed ironman Fed who for example was injured for 2010, 2013 and 2016 Wimbledons which were all decent opportunities to add to his tally.