Herioc Nadal confirms return to tennis

First topic message reminder :

Golden Career Grand Slam Holder 11-time Winner Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will enter the Chile Open, which starts on 4th February.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/01/Features/Nadal-To-Play-At-Vina-del-Mar.aspx

Earlier he accepted a wildcard to return at the Brazil Open, which starts on 11th February but has not also confirmed he is playing Chile too, which starts a week earlier.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/01/Features/Nadal-Set-For-Sao-Paulo-Next-Month.aspx

This comes as a surprise considering Nadal was meant to return for the Mexican Open later in February, but he has been feeling good in training and hence pre-poned his return.

Rafael Nadal, founder of the charity 'Rafael Nadal Foundation', helps to provide an opportunity for children and adolescents with disabilities, those coming from underprivileged surroundings and those limited by an unfortunate family environment, who run the risk of being excluded from society. His three projects include: Vicente Ferrer Foundation in Antapur, India; the Special Olympics; and the Aldeas Infantiles SOS. His work in India was noted worldwide, as the Rafael Nadal foundation set up tennis schools which also provided education; for children of all ages and backgrounds.



Amritia3ee

wow what a let down, my title translation was way better.

LuvSports! wrote:wow what a let down, my title translation was way better.

I had to change it, because apparently by old 'title' broke the house rules... as Socal would say... killjoys.
It's a shame some moderators feel they have to obey every single rule without any room for common sense.

i dont care my title was still better god nab it!

I hate to break it to you LS, but your translation was actually wrong.

It Must Be Love wrote:

LuvSports! wrote:wow what a let down, my title translation was way better.

I had to change it, because apparently by old 'title' broke the house rules... as Socal would say... killjoys.
It's a shame some moderators feel they have to obey every single rule without any room for common sense.

Now I'm really hurt. I can't take the abuse. The dark cloud of depression sweeps over me like a strong era.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

LuvSports! wrote:wow what a let down, my title translation was way better.

I had to change it, because apparently by old 'title' broke the house rules... as Socal would say... killjoys.
It's a shame some moderators feel they have to obey every single rule without any room for common sense.

Now I'm really hurt. I can't take the abuse. The dark cloud of depression sweeps over me like a strong era.

Are you ok Julius?

I've spoken to my therapist. He said "Everything in Moderation". It helped a bit.

This says it for me.

Qote from S.I.Com
"Beyond the Baseline"
Courtney Nguyen


Tennis needs Nadal. His brand of relentless, punishing, physics-defying tennis is unmatched. I couldn’t help but smile after he hit one of those patented running forehands down the line that curled in like a banana Wednesday. That’s a shot I haven’t seen in seven months. With each leaping fist pump, snarl and “Vamos,” Nadal breathes life into the game not because he’s more of anything — intense, skilled, exciting, you name it — compared to the other men. It is simply because he has his own brand of that something that the greats all have that make you lean forward with anticipation to see what they’ll do next.

Certainly his come back would help tennis from the boring interest lacking tennis of Djokovic.

I have often wondered to myself what it is about Rafa that makes him compelling viewing FOR ME.. and it is summed up in the last sentence of that quote- Exactly

It is simply because he has his own brand of that something that the greats all have that make you lean forward with anticipation to see what they’ll do next.

.

Well I am happy for you haddie that he is back, if he is healthy he will be a force at the very top of the game, I am very confident that he will be back and be better than people are assuming. I think more than anything his body needed the rest and I doubt that he will have problems in south america, it will be a victory tour.

sirfredperry wrote:I'm pleased Rafa is playing again and I don't even like his style of play. He brings something else to the top of the game and I, for one, hope he gets back to his best before too long.
It's a bit swings and roundabouts for him at the moment. He will soon have a mass of points to defend as he eases himself back in. But then, on the other hand,when he's fitter he can go into the second half of the season knowing that there is nothing to defend for eight months.
It would certainly give a season a different look if Rafa was only average during the clay court season but finished strongly at the end of the year.
As for predictions, I reckon he will be in good enough shape by RG to be favourite to take the French title again. The top guys may want him to do well by then as the better he does the better their chance of avoiding him at RG.

This reflects very much my own feelings - not least the two comments expressed in the opening sentence.

Good to have him back, and personally I'm convinced he will be as big a threat as ever in all the (first half of season) 500 and above events in which he competes, ie once his warm-up South American swing is over and he's match-fit again.

The only area where I would question sfp's post is the possibility of Rafa racking up big points by finishing strongly at the end of the year. This would indeed be something different because in fairness his post-Wimbledon part of the season has - by his own stellar standards - been pretty mediocre on average throughout his career on the tour, with the very notable exception of his USO 2010 triumph of course. I would imagine that of all the titles he has amassed to date, no more than around 10% of them have come post Wimbledon.

Having watched parts of this tournament since last year, they've fairly spruced it up for Nadal's appearance.

Nadal wins 1st set vs 7th seed Gimeno-Traver....6-1.

6-1 6-4, not a bad effort at all.

hawkeye wrote:So South America gets Roger closely followed by Rafa. They wait ages for a multi slam winning all time great and then they get two one after another.

Don't you feel silly when you doubted Nostrafreakingdamus and his prognostication of Nadal going to south America, I suggest you write a lengthy article demanding UNcle toni cut me in on a percentage. You were knocking the south american swing big time. If I was pro star I would make sure to make that trip. Buenos Aires and Acapulco, not bad work if you could get it. The women there sparkle, absolutely sparkle. Plus it maximizes his clay court play.

Horacio Zeballos won the 1st semi, Chardy v Nadal starts pretty soon.

On-form Chardy #25 ATP ranking despatched 6-2 6-2.
Can't believe he's lost 14 games all tournament so far...
Good to see him back...and summarily dismissing rivals too.

socal1976 wrote:

hawkeye wrote:So South America gets Roger closely followed by Rafa. They wait ages for a multi slam winning all time great and then they get two one after another.

Don't you feel silly when you doubted Nostrafreakingdamus and his prognostication of Nadal going to south America, I suggest you write a lengthy article demanding UNcle toni cut me in on a percentage. You were knocking the south american swing big time. If I was pro star I would make sure to make that trip. Buenos Aires and Acapulco, not bad work if you could get it. The women there sparkle, absolutely sparkle. Plus it maximizes his clay court play.

Ha ha! You are correct and I can remember thinking that South America would be a bad move for Nadal. On this I will bow to both yours and Rafa's/Uncle Toni's superior tennis scheduling skills. It seems to be going OK. Nice to return with so much support and packed stands. He looks like he's having fun and has managed to also pick up a slams worth of cash without having to face that devilish Djokovic...

It's impressive stuff for a comeback, but let's remember this field is even worse than that at the Brisbane Open a month or so ago

Add the fact, its on the dirt. Add the fact. that all these 'rivals' are beaten before they enter the court and I supposed it's to be expected

Be interesting to see how it's get on agains the Top 10 plus the likes of Raonic

I still think we won't see the very best of him (if we do at all after such a serious injury) until, ironically, the autumn hard court season - i.e. the O2

What are you talking about banbrotam? Nadal's draw in Vina Del Mar looks almost identical to Andy's route to the semi's in Australia. But Rafa only played uninjured opponents...

No banbro I think you are right.. but its been great to see his confidence build with every match he plays. The Chilean crowd have warmed to him and made him welcome and that too has helped with his confidence. From little acorns big oak trees grow and I think from this little beginning (with the proviso of the infamous knees of course) Rafa will go on to bigger things in the due course of time.

hawkeye wrote:What are you talking about banbrotam? Nadal's draw in Vina Del Mar looks almost identical to Andy's route to the semi's in Australia. But Rafa only played uninjured opponents...

Hawkeye, let's not get silly - you know the point I'm making, please don't bring try an denigrate Andy at every one of my posts

Whislt you will argue that this event was full of clay court specialists making their ranking irrelevant, even so they are third rate compared to Rafa on one leg!! The Chardy dismissal is impressive though

Unfortunately, as happened in 2009, Rafa will be judged on his success against Top 10 players and some will class him as a failure of he has a losing record against the Top 3, this year

Ridiculous of course, but it's a harsh world

Nadal's draw in Chile hasn't been too hard, but coming back from injury it's always tough.

banbrotam. Rafa is judged using much harsher criteria than that! He has to beat not only top ten opponents but every opponent. Any slip up goes down in history. Not only that but he has to do it in style. On clay if a player manages to take a set off him or even get to five games in a set they can dine off it for life. Some players even boast about doing so in practice. All the players are after him and play with nothing to lose whilst he plays with nothing to win. I'm surprised his head doesn't hurt as much as his knees.

Also of course it matters little who he beats on the way he has to come away with the trophy.

hawkeye wrote:banbrotam. Rafa is judged using much harsher criteria than that! He has to beat not only top ten opponents but every opponent. Any slip up goes down in history. Not only that but he has to do it in style. On clay if a player manages to take a set off him or even get to five games in a set they can dine off it for life. Some players even boast about doing so in practice. All the players are after him and play with nothing to lose whilst he plays with nothing to win. I'm surprised his head doesn't hurt as much as his knees.

Also of course it matters little who he beats on the way he has to come away with the trophy.

I cant help but agree.. "the world expects" !!!

Haddie-nuff wrote:

hawkeye wrote:banbrotam. Rafa is judged using much harsher criteria than that! He has to beat not only top ten opponents but every opponent. Any slip up goes down in history. Not only that but he has to do it in style. On clay if a player manages to take a set off him or even get to five games in a set they can dine off it for life. Some players even boast about doing so in practice. All the players are after him and play with nothing to lose whilst he plays with nothing to win. I'm surprised his head doesn't hurt as much as his knees.

Also of course it matters little who he beats on the way he has to come away with the trophy.

I cant help but agree.. "the world expects" !!!

The price of success.

Some pay a bigger price than others though

Well it's been a long long wait, he missed a big chunk of last year through injury, but for Spain (and indeed the tennis world in general) it's great to see him plying his trade once again.

Ok, so Chile was maybe not the biggest stage for his return to the court and his first round match was - in truth - something of an anti-climax. But nevertheless it's a long-overdue and welcome return for Pere Riba

I tend to agree with hawkeye's sentiment.

Nadal has created such a clay monster that nothing less than total annihilation over his opponents is seen as a sleight on his form/ability.

The fact he's come back after such a long lay off and lost no more than 5 games per match tells us of the inherent ability he has...because he can't be match fit or at full stamina...he's simply winning matches through sheer quality of his play/strokes which just overwhelm the opposition. The actual quality of his strokes are something he never gets the credit for IMO because people are always comparing them vs. the style of Federer. From a technical perspective, I actually prefer watching Nadal's FH as its unorthodox, unpredictable and unreal in the level of speed and spin it produces...those stats the other day show he ralleys at 10mph av. speed (88mph) more and higher av.RPM than anyone else...inc. Federer.

We know the bigger tests await but anything less than an easy passage and win in this 250 will be pounced upon by his detractors. This tournament is just testing the knee out and getting matches on a softer surface to build the muscles around the knee under match conditions, nothing more. I'll be interested to see his reaction if (!) he wins the trophy later today.

I'm not sure the organising committee of this event paid his appearance fee for him to lose.

I agree Lydian. This tournament has been a means to an end for Rafa.. from watching his first match I have watched his confidence grow with every point he has won. Taking chances more often than he was. Even his walk around the court has more bounce to it. He does not appear to be favouring that leg . Though sensibily he does not go for the "unreachables" that he would once have done (and may well do again as his knee gets stronger). This was a confidence boosting exercise and he has had a good work out. Performing better than I think even he thought.. Yes the real trial will come when he goes back to the "playground" with the big boys.. but for now he is doing the right thing.. not doing too much too quickly.

djlovesyou wrote:I'm not sure the organising committee of this event paid his appearance fee for him to lose.

They were just happy to have him there..even Fernando Gonzales said that.. they would have bought tickets just to watch him practice.

Would have been a little nerve-wracking for them early on though.

I doubt he would want to blame an injury if he'd have lost early, so he would have had to go for something wrong with the conditions/event. I doubt they would want that sort of criticism.

Well if you heard what he said at the outset of this tournament .. he was not sure what to expect even of himself. He was prepared to lose because of the lengthy lay-off that he had.. so injury aside he new he was more than match play rusty. As I have said I do firmly believe he has surpassed his own expectations and it was obvious in the first set of his first match just how nervous he was.. like a kids first day at school. Now he has had some serious match play (and we know it is not against any of the high ranking players).. but he was made to work hard in his match against Gimeno-Travers .. which was good Im glad he was. The whole Chile exercise, in my view, was to build confidence and I think the Chilean crowd recognised that and have rallied around him accordingly. I dont think Rafa would have, in any way, insulted the match organisers by implying there was something wrong with the conditions not after the hospitality they have given him.

Lol DJ.

Can you imagine how Horacio Zeballos must feel having got to his 2nd ATP final, and the first over 3 years on his preferred surface, only to have to face the clay wall called Nadal at the other end. In many respects he can relax completely given he's such an underdog...just swing freely, hard and see what happens...like Soderling did...like Rosol did...and maybe just maybe you play the match of your life.

We that is a relief although I have always felt that Nadal would return and return quickly to the top of the game if his leg holds up. I think Nadal is still young and still an amazing specimen. Lydian is correct on Nadal's forehand, where federer's forehand is a neoclassical forehand, I mean it isn't like a connors forehand but federer's forehand is predicated on taking it early and flattening out for winners. Nadal's forehand is unique in that it beats you with angle and action as opposed to early striking and flat pace. While fed's forehand is similar to pete and andre's forehands the nadal forehand smashes all traditional forms. The lasso whip style, the extreme western grip, the wrist whip, and upper cut like swing path.

This might be a lowly 250 in a holiday destination, but as Borg showed, coming back isnt an exact science and to beat one of the form players on tour 2 & 2 in just his third match back is phenomenal.

As for technical issues on the forehand, I do sometimes wonder what Nadal could have achieved had he been professionally trained. Irrelevent matter though, 11 slams is more than all but 4 players in history could hope to amass.

Technical issues?

Not in a negative context, IMBL. I literally meant technical issues, i.e how different and basicaly self-taught his forehand is. Not to many people in any sport make big for any length of time doing things completely 'otherwise'

JuliusHMarx wrote:Does the English language have a simple word for someone who you really admire but only for a specific reason?

Groucho Marx isn't my hero, or my idol, but he's my.....don't know? Anyone?
Saying he's the person I admire above all others as a comedy performer takes too long to type.

Favourite comedian?

bogbrush wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Does the English language have a simple word for someone who you really admire but only for a specific reason?

Groucho Marx isn't my hero, or my idol, but he's my.....don't know? Anyone?
Saying he's the person I admire above all others as a comedy performer takes too long to type.

Favourite comedian?

No, he's more than that - a comedy inspiration of sorts.

Zeballos playing quite well here, Nadal still a set up though, on serve in the second.

Very solid performance from Zeballos so far, playing above himself I think, but wasn't mentally strong enough in the tiebreak - a couple of loose shots. Otherwise matching Rafa more or less (although Rafa holds more games to love).

Zeballos takes the 2nd set.

Superb set from Zebollas to win 8-6 in the tiebreak.

Enjoyed that a lot, but I think I'm going to bed. Zeballos looks a little tired physically and mentally to me.

There have been no breaks in the match yet (I believe?) but I predict Rafa to win the decider 6-2, 6-3 or 6-4. Night all. I don't think Zeballos will be able to keep that level up.

Oh for f*cks sake.

Good.