Nadal out for further 2 months

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/rafaelnadal/9517171/Rafael-Nadal-sidelined-for-another-two-months-with-knee-injury-and-will-miss-Spains-Davis-Cup-semi-final.html

Breaking news this morning, but not unexpected.

It looks as though Nadal's return to the tour may well be in the New Year. One thing I am confused about is both the Telegraph and the Daily Mail are saying that his injury is a partial tear of the patella tendon in the left knee. I thought the positive news from Team Nadal was that the tendons were good, but it was the impingement of the fat pad (Hoffa's syndrome) that had been identified as the problem and that the pain resulted from the fat pad being pinched by the bone?

This is really bad news. I can't believe how much I'm missing Rafa and I'm not even a big fan of his.
We've got so used to the big four and - crucially - we've got so used to them ALL reaching the semis. Great fighter that he is, Ferrer can't fill the void.
Now I'm not saying that any achievements by the other three for the next few weeks will be "tainted" or need an asterisk, but it's a great pity that Rafa aint around.
For his fans, the only consolation is that he rarely does that well at the butt-end of the season. He's never missed the European clay court season through injury and no doubt his aim will be to get fit enough to defend all his points up to the French next year.

I'll be frank. I would've been gobsmacked had he made it back for DC. Given the extent of his injury I can understand why team Nadal tried to put a positive spin on his comeback to avoid speculation about his long term future.

Tennis does feel dull at the moment given that he has been absent.

I think Rafa will begin a new phase of his career where he plays more on clay and less off. I think I even read it somewhere that he'd said that.

As sfp says, Rafa has only rarely performed at his best in this last part of the season. In fact - in terms of titles won - 2010 is perhaps the only year he enjoyed any notable success.

That said, the game is undoubtedly poorer without him around, and just as we often comment how fortunate we are to have so many excellent guys to entertain us at the top at the same time, then there is a loss to be felt when one of them is absent for a significant period

Here's wishing Rafa well for a successful return asap

sirfredperry wrote:... Now I'm not saying that any achievements by the other three for the next few weeks will be "tainted" or need an asterisk, but it's a great pity that Rafa aint around. ...

I am polishing my asterisk for after Roddick's retirement. He is still young and as this US Open has revealed could have turned it around. Yep for me the post-Roddick period will be one long asterisk.

regardless of whether you are a fan or not, no doubting what a huge loss he is to the game. Really hope he recovers quickly. Have managed to get tickets to go to World Tour Finals this year and if i had a choice, would love to see Djokovic or Nadal (or both of course). The beauty of that tournament is that regardless, you are going to see quality players. Cant be too picky

Would be nice at the same time to say that i have seen Federer play, he is one of the all time greats after all.

I'm anticipating Soderling and Nadal announcing their engagement...

Nadal out.

It seems inevitable and sensible - there's too much at stake and this will be the first proper rest he's given his knees since the problems first materialised. Now he's missed the USO there's nothing to race back to match fitness for - with all respect to the DC.

He'll be back earliest for the Aus Open (possibly a lead-up tournament) when he'll be dead rusty, although still almost guaranteed no worse than a #4 seeding. As BB suggests, the real interest will be whether he goes to South America after Aus Open and effectively 'tanks' IW and Miami.

For me if he were to do that it would be a sign of a serious underlying problem because even he won't want to risk being less than #4 throughout the clay season.

Nadal's suspension must be longer than expected

S'McQuirk. Best of luck with your WTF tickets. Was lucky enough to see the Rafa-Rog match last year. Only the second time that I'd seen Rog live (the other, amazingly, was the match v Sampras at Wimbledon in 01).
Rafa's not had the best of runs at the WTFs, but hope he can make it.

They should cancel the entire calendar until Nadal is back at 125% condition. This is like having F1 without Ferrari. Shockingly unacceptabile.

barrystar wrote:It seems inevitable and sensible - there's too much at stake and this will be the first proper rest he's given his knees since the problems first materialised. Now he's missed the USO there's nothing to race back to match fitness for - with all respect to the DC.

He'll be back earliest for the Aus Open (possibly a lead-up tournament) when he'll be dead rusty, although still almost guaranteed no worse than a #4 seeding. As BB suggests, the real interest will be whether he goes to South America after Aus Open and effectively 'tanks' IW and Miami.

For me if he were to do that it would be a sign of a serious underlying problem because even he won't want to risk being less than #4 throughout the clay season.

I think he must be intending to play Indian Wells and Miami 2013 barry, because he has agreed to play an exhibition at Madison Square Gardens in March with Juan Martin Del Potro, and while the reputed £1,500,000 fee he will receive might be considered incentive enough, it would make sense if he was intending to also view it as part of his preparation for the masters tournaments in the States. Link below:

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/tennis/nadal_to_compete_in_exhibition_at_cyOUb5RUVoXqqy3W1JIpMP

tickets on sale from 9th October

I wonder why the Nadal team didn't disclose the tear to the patella tendon at the same time as going public with the diagnosis of Hoffa's syndrome. It certainly is worrying if contrary to reports this Spring that the tendons were better than ever, that they are still showing wear and tear - though I never understood how degenerative damage could totally heal.

The Nadal press release refers to the tear, and his Doctor is apparently giving a conference tomorrow http://rafaelnadal.com/np/NP_03092012.pdf.

I am bemused that this is (as far as I am aware) the first mention of the tear - it would be bizarre if the tear had occurred or only been noticed in recent weeks, but it's also odd given the focus on his knee that it has not been mentioned before (unless I'm mistaken) Sometimes I find his 'team' and their attitude towards information hard to fathom.

In response to TP - I expect Nadal to play IW and Miami, my query was more whether he'll give them his absolute whole-hearted attention or whether he'll be taking it relatively easy with his eye on the clay or even playing more clay to 'compensate'.

I suppose the question is will Nadal make it for AO 2013?

At Nadals age Borg was retired with 11 grand slam singles titles. I think Nadal could take time out and then have a "second career" in tennis, winning grand slams but perhaps being a little less competitive on the hard courts.

Barrystar: He could have torn something when building up his fitness etc. after his post Wimbledon niggly injury. Maybe we will never know the full details

Nore Staat wrote:
Barrystar: He could have torn something when building up his fitness etc. after his post Wimbledon niggly injury. Maybe we will never know the full details

Of course he could - but that would be a somewhat bizarrely clumsy mistake to make would it not? We may never know the details, and I don't suggest that we have a right to them, but if you are giving out information it's better to be consistent and if there are changes to explain them.

I must admit to having my doubts about Rafa. He's going to find it very difficult to come back to anywhere near his form of a couple of years ago if this lay-off lasts into the beginning of next year.

newballs wrote:I must admit to having my doubts about Rafa. He's going to find it very difficult to come back to anywhere near his form of a couple of years ago if this lay-off lasts into the beginning of next year.

Might be, but it was only 3 months ago when Rafa was blowing away everyone on the (red) clay courts

Just wonder how much that 6-hour AO final took out of Rafa, or is it more general wear and tear that has laid him low. Must say that I thought he was imperious in the clay court season this year and I had him down to win Wimbledon.
I'm only glad this did not happen any time during the period 07-09. At least now there's three guys at the top capable of making it competitive for each other. With no Rafa around in 07-09 Fed would won even more GS.
I think Rafa is playing it safe. Would so long a lay off have been announced if there was a big clay court tournament in, say, late October?

prostaff85 wrote:

newballs wrote:I must admit to having my doubts about Rafa. He's going to find it very difficult to come back to anywhere near his form of a couple of years ago if this lay-off lasts into the beginning of next year.

Might be, but it was only 3 months ago when Rafa was blowing away everyone on the (red) clay courts

Quite.

I have checked back vis-a-vis Nadal's playing record:

a. His longest lay-off before now was October 2005-February 2006 and he beat Fed in Dubai 2006 at his 2nd tournament after his return, namely shaking off the rust very quickly (aged 19!)

b. His lay-off in 2009 was much shorter and on his return he was consistent but not spectacular from August 2009 - April 2010, making at least the QF in every tournament all on his least favourite surface, albeit below his considerable peak. Once he got clay under his feet at MC 2010 he never looked back for the rest of the season and only Djoko stood between him and another stellar season in 2011 (that's tennis for you!).

[Edit - he also had a 4-month lay-off in 2004 between April and July, missing RG and Wimbledon]

I thought Nadal was done for as an all-court player after the 2009 lay-off and he made a fool of me and others who thought the same. This time does feel different though - he's 3 years older with another 200-odd matches under his belt (many gruelling) and no titles on hard since Japan in October 2010. I think he'll have his eyes on being in peak form for whenever he starts playing clay-court tennis in 2013, whether that is at MC or earlier on the South American swing and I don't see why he can't be the man to beat on that surface once again. I do, however, think that his days of winning the biggest tournaments on HC are likely to be close to over - I won't say never, but in my view such wins are set to be very much the exception in the future. We may look back on his career and remark that Djoko's coming of age in 2011 effectively closed a significant window on slam accumulation away from RG for Nadal.

sirfredperry wrote:Just wonder how much that 6-hour AO final took out of Rafa, or is it more general wear and tear that has laid him low. Must say that I thought he was imperious in the clay court season this year and I had him down to win Wimbledon. ...

I agree he looked imperious at Roland Garros - except when he was playing in the rain and the ball was soaking wet.

He also looked imperious at Wimbledon, except Rosol looked more imperious (imperiouser?) - we all know that the greatest risk for Nadal at Wimbledon is in the early rounds playing a big hitter hitting a purple patch, while the courts are still playing fast (no wear).

Nadal still almost won his match against Rosol, but his behaviour was unusual. Later he intimated that something was not quite right with him which he didn't want to elaborate on for fear that it would detract from Rosols performance. Then later he announced he had a small injury that would make him doubtful for the Olympics.

sirfredperry wrote: I think Rafa is playing it safe. Would so long a lay off have been announced if there was a big clay court tournament in, say, late October?

My thoughts exactly - as I said two posts ago, I think his eye will be on MC 2013 or any earlier start to the 2013 clay season he has planned. He'll know that's his best chance of kick-starting a decent season, and he ought to know that each year he has bust a gut to make the AO final has ended in a truncated season for him. He's got his AO, and as he said it's about prolonging his career as a top-class tennis player that counts now.

Whilst I don't suggest it has any bearing on the future, this is quite interesting - it compares Borg to Nadal up to Miami 2012, so Nadal has won MC, Barcelona, Rome, and RG since then.
http://www.tennis28.com/studies/Borg_Nadal.html

It's uncanny how Nadal was born almost 30 years to the day after Borg and Fed almost 10 years to the day after Sampras so we can follow their respective chronological careers very precisely!

http://www.tennis28.com/studies/Federer_Sampras.html

Fedal's birthdays are a less precise match, but the chronoligical comparison is still interesting...

http://www.tennis28.com/studies/Federer_Nadal.html

Does anyone think that the comment 'I have many years ahead of me' might refer to life, rather than career? I just wonder in the light of comments Nadal made earlier this year about not wanting to be too wrecked to enjoy skiing or playing golf with friends when he retires.

I don't think he is planning to go quite yet, but something feels different not helped by the fact that there have been several press releases since the Rosol defeat and injury diagnosed differently at least 3 times, unless the slight tear came when he was competing in golf tournament:

http://www.livetennisguide.com/2012/09/03/rafael-nadal-playing-golf-tournament/

Curiouser and curiouser - but do echo Sfp and hope to see him back soon. His absence didn't ruin the Olympics for me and nor is it spoiling my enjoyment of USO but I will begin to miss him very soon - he is not my favourite either, but he brings something special and unique to the court.

If I put on my "Murray" persona, I don't miss Nadal one bit at all.

However, if I put on my normal "Appreciator of tennis" persona I think tennis misses him. Like above, any tournament won in Nadal's absence shouldn't be asterisked, the same if Djokovic or Federer is missing from the tournament. I think it's had an impact on the crowds too; there are a lot of Nadal fans out there, and a few of them wouldn't go near tennis if he wasn't there.

As I said after first hearing of his injury he should just shut it down till Australia basically. I think this mini-hiatus will be good for his body and his mind and I think he could have a very good 2013 if he does avoid hitting on hardcourts for that many months he should be fresh and ready to go next year. I said the same thing for Djoko after he hurt himself in the USO and he foolishly returned and played out a terrible indoor season clearly not 100 percent. Nadal who has more wear and tear and doesn't play indoors well should just call it a year.

Avoiding, managing and recovering from injuries is all part of the game of Tennis when viewed from a career perspective. The important thing is to play with a style that avoids chronic damage to the body. There are plenty of examples of sporting "cripples" of the past, where sporting legends have worn out their joints.

socal1976 wrote:As I said after first hearing of his injury he should just shut it down till Australia basically. I think this mini-hiatus will be good for his body and his mind and I think he could have a very good 2013 if he does avoid hitting on hardcourts for that many months he should be fresh and ready to go next year. I said the same thing for Djoko after he hurt himself in the USO and he foolishly returned and played out a terrible indoor season clearly not 100 percent. Nadal who has more wear and tear and doesn't play indoors well should just call it a year.

I agree with you about both players except that I don't expect great things from Nadal away from the clay in 2013. Am I right in remembering that Djoko was playing out 2011 in part to preserve his USD 1m bonus? If he was that's quite a dilemma as that is a lot of money to give up for a young guy who does not know what the future holds. I also think that Djoko rather nobly took his status as No. 1 pretty seriously.

I remember barry at the time he had the year end #1 sealed up and I could understand why he was coming back when he obviously wasn't playing near 100 percent physically. I guess a million bucks is a pretty big incentive but I think he has paid a price this year for coming back and having a crappy indoor season. If he spent those 2 months resting like he should he might have been much more mentally fresh during the spring and summer this year were he seemed to have some sort of mental fatigue or loss of focus.

Nadal I think if he does take a mini-hiatus will come back better even off of clay Barry. I think when his knees fill good like most athletes who have had injury issues when he feels healthy it gives him more confidence. So I think if Nadal does take a long break that he will come back physically fresher and that will impact him on all surfaces. But he will then have to work to shake off some serious timing and loss of match sharpness.

socal1976 wrote:I remember barry at the time he had the year end #1 sealed up and I could understand why he was coming back when he obviously wasn't playing near 100 percent physically. I guess a million bucks is a pretty big incentive but I think he has paid a price this year for coming back and having a crappy indoor season. If he spent those 2 months resting like he should he might have been much more mentally fresh during the spring and summer this year were he seemed to have some sort of mental fatigue or loss of focus.

Nadal I think if he does take a mini-hiatus will come back better even off of clay Barry. I think when his knees fill good like most athletes who have had injury issues when he feels healthy it gives him more confidence. So I think if Nadal does take a long break that he will come back physically fresher and that will impact him on all surfaces. But he will then have to work to shake off some serious timing and loss of match sharpness.

Quite so. Just to be clear, I remember that Djoko had #1 sealed up, I was saying that I think that as well as the USD 1m, part of him believed that the #1 player has certain obligations not to act selfishly and take a rest when he is capable of playing without risk of injury, albiet not at 100%.

We'll see with Nadal - you may well be right, it all depends upon how much Nadal can load onto refreshed knees, and if he starts in earnest at MC or the South American clay swing next year he's got his favourite clay then grass seasons to gain confidence on.