Rafa starts with some spanish smack talking, I like it!

"It's funny, no?" Nadal said after a two-hour workout on Saturday. "I saw the match yesterday on the TV when he was in the fifth set moving fantastically well, and they show images from 2 hours, 50 [minutes] before and seems like he was destroyed. Two hours 50 later, he was in perfect condition. So is difficult to imagine that he has these problems. I don't know."

Against Murray on Friday, top-ranked Djokovic looked out of breath during the second set and again when he moved forlornly back to his chair after dropping serve to go down 2-1 in the third set.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/australian-open-tennis/news/article.cfm?c_id=500857&objectid=10781934

Novak as an artist is a bit emotional and dramatic. But he has a lengthy history of respiratory problems that culminated in nasal surgery. On the other hand Nadal is right Novak did act like he was about to die and then 5 hours into the match he is the fitter guy. I don't know it could be psychological, it could be real, or he could be playing opossum. If Novak is acting for the crowd or for his opponent, I think it is great why not try to use every tool to within the rules to psyche out your opponent.

What do you mean he starts...has he ever stopped?

http://tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=16096&zoneid=25

yeah, well six straight losses does make it hard to keep up the nice guy routine. Maybe a little bad blood in the camps.

I was expecting more...

Don't think Nadal is liking how the organisers and press are all talking about Novak and not him anymore. Sour grapes for table 3 please!

He's going to win tommorow so I don't think he really has a problem. He just called it as he saw it.

He's going to win tommorow so I don't think he really has a problem. He just called it as he saw it.

Only if Novak retires during play.

Maybe he saw this;

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/tennis-busted-racquet/novak-djokovic-shouldn-t-eat-shadily-during-changeovers-182248071.html

Maybe I'm the only one that doesn't think Nadal plays any sort of mind games. Unlike others that feel the need to talk themselves up he appears quite comfortable in his skin. He knows he is good and doesn't feel the need to tell anyone about it. Why not praise other players. In the end talk doesn't alter anything.

hawkeye wrote:Maybe I'm the only one that doesn't think Nadal plays any sort of mind games. Unlike others that feel the need to talk themselves up he appears quite comfortable in his skin. He knows he is good and doesn't feel the need to tell anyone about it. Why not praise other players. In the end talk doesn't alter anything.

Yes, I think it must only be you.

socal1976 wrote:"It's funny, no?" Nadal said after a two-hour workout on Saturday. "I saw the match yesterday on the TV when he was in the fifth set moving fantastically well, and they show images from 2 hours, 50 [minutes] before and seems like he was destroyed. Two hours 50 later, he was in perfect condition. So is difficult to imagine that he has these problems. I don't know."

Anyone remember the Roddick SARS comment? And Nadal making comments like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPgWoOon8-w

What happened to the hotel chair/MRI episode or the Del Potro/W/MRI episode?

NS has an article on 'excuses'. I think it is very amusing.

hawkeye wrote:Maybe I'm the only one that doesn't think Nadal plays any sort of mind games. Unlike others that feel the need to talk themselves up he appears quite comfortable in his skin. He knows he is good and doesn't feel the need to tell anyone about it. Why not praise other players. In the end talk doesn't alter anything.

No you are not the only one who thinks that way.

Tip: he wasn't talking him up, he was saying he feigns illness and fatigue.

This is laughable from The Nadull.

This is the guy who's been taking questionable mto's all his career (remember hamburg against fed, wimby against petschner) and has a laundry list of excuses ready for any eventuality. The same guy who just announced that he's going spend February recuperating the (phantom) injured shoulder, who apparently had the worst pain ever in his knee whilst sitting on a chair and now wears a bandage that seems to grow larger with every match. He'll probably onto the court tomorrow with a plaster cast abd then proceed to run around like a gazelle for 5 hours. What a joke! He is the last person to tAlk about gamesmanship.

The mask really is slipping. First the attack on federer and now this. It seems the real nadal is coming to the fore now that he us breaking free of the shackles of uncle toni. The cleverly crafted humble persona is a crumbling facade.



emancipator

At times I felt Murray, Ferrer, the commentators and the audience all fell for this dead man walking routine, it looks like Rafa has seen through it.

Speaking out his mind before the match could be disadvantageous. He could be right or wrong, but it can provide a handle to Djokovic to irritate him during the match. Further, it might be interpreted as if Djokovic is in Rafa's head.

Eskay wrote:Speaking out his mind before the match could be disadvantageous. He could be right or wrong, but it can provide a handle to Djokovic to irritate him during the match. Further, it might be interpreted as if Djokovic is in Rafa's head.

I agree with this statement, I am not a doctor and haven't examined and tested Djokovic. Maybe he is a bit dramatic, but I know that he has had well documented respiratory problems in the past that have lead to him having nasal surgery and seeking treatment by specialists. And remember what happened after the Roddick Sars comment Laverfan, Novak put a butt kicking on Roddick in New york and proceeded to taunt him in front of the New york fans, which wasn't smart and caused him to get booed for the next match incessantly till the point that it became a real distraction in his next match. I don't think Novak will take the bait this time, instead it will give him some motivation but I think he is mature and smart enough now to use this as a tiny bit of added motivation to focus his mind. And Eskay is right, this kind of comment from Nadal isn't typical, Fed is the king of knocking his opponents and not doing the polite thing in interviews, but Nadal tends to play these sort of things down. Now that he has come out and said this it does show that Novak has gotten to him a little bit.

I too am no specialist, but there could be some who hide injuries and some who exaggerate them. Some are comfortable being viewed in front - I am not sure whether Roger falls in that category. Some perform better if viewed as underdog. Majority of spectators tend to go with the underdog. Public sympathy and rooting in the stands could be a significant factor in a match. Mind games are played not only with the opponent but own self also.

Exactly Eskay, Nadal I think is trying to play a bit of mind games with Novak and also with himself. Trying to establish some of that fire that he seems to have against everyone but has lost in his matchup with Novak. This is going to be a real interesting match. Any time you get 1 and 2 in a grandslam you don't need any added motivation, but maybe Nadal wants to get even more focused and pumped.

Eskay wrote:Speaking out his mind before the match could be disadvantageous. He could be right or wrong, but it can provide a handle to Djokovic to irritate him during the match. Further, it might be interpreted as if Djokovic is in Rafa's head.

After all those beatings Rafa took last year I'd be amazed if Novak wasn't in his head!