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

You wait two hours for a break of serve and then two come along at once.

Hungry Horace has played pretty well so far.

PS: Pressure back on Rafa and will remain on him, unless he breaks.

2 more points for an upset. Can Horace do it?

3 match points to Zeballos.

Heroic Outsider Records A Completely Incredible Opset?

What an FH from Horace, 3 MPs. FH winner, and Horace wins!

FFS.

what a load of Frak Poopie

Both shirts are off.

let's hope he wins sao paulo next week

zeb was amazing.
some of his shots were really good.

but I think nadal can improve for next week.

Didn't see that coming (can't see the match where I am this week).

I suppose only to be expected - no, understood - on comeback I suppose.

bogbrush wrote:Didn't see that coming (can't see the match where I am this week).

I suppose only to be expected - no, understood - on comeback I suppose.

Zeb played some really good tennis.
Nadal lost his intensity- it's difficult I think coming from so many months out and having to play a whole week.

It Must Be Love wrote:what a load of Frak Poopie

Congratulate the better player on the day, IMBL!

You should be happy Nadal is on the mend.

laverfan wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:what a load of Frak Poopie

Congratulate the better player on the day, IMBL!

You should be happy Nadal is on the mend.

I did say he (Zeb) played well and hit some amazing shots.

Nadal now playing doubles final.

All in all Nadal has got a lot of match practice this week, so that's positive.

I think this is Nadal's schedule for the next few months before FO:

Chile 250- (Singles +Doubles)
Sao Paulo 250 (Singles +Doubles)
Buenos Aires 250
Acapaulo Mexico 250
... 1 month break

Monte Carlo 1000
Barcelona 500
Madrid 1000
Rome 1000


So hopefully if he plays all these events he'll get enough match practice before FO.

Well he'll be accustomed to clay, that's for sure.

Dont be too hard on Rafa IMBL, even though I know you'll be disappointed at the loss.
Here's my match report/take on things from today. BTW I haven't seen him play his other matches this week.

Firstly, congrats to Zeballos, played out of his skin, served out of a tree, held his nerve and really deserved the win on the day

It just shows you the depth in tennis these days if the top guys drop 5-10% or so. It's tough between 30 and 100 now, really tough, there are quality players littered all over the place and the top guys won't play the lower ranked guys all that often, so when they do it can create interesting match-ups and become a dogfight as the lower ranked's play with nothing to lose, like lower league teams in the FA Cups. In that respect they don't play like they normally would. Being the underdog gives some guys a huge boost.

It was also a surprisingly quick court and that probably made life more difficult for a guy not quite up to full speed with his timing. Such a great win for the Argentine though, I'm really pleased for him as its probably made his career now...and it would have made no difference to Nadal had he won it.

I suspect after the first few rounds Nadal probably gave everyone the expectation that the final would be straight forward. The others probably rather fell over in awe of playing Nadal whereas Zeballos played with nothin to lose, went for his shots and played some fantastic tennis today. Just as I said earlier today...if they swing the racquet, which they do as underdog, and play the match of their lives then they can do it!

But lets look at that missing 5-10% though.

Nadal is back and that's good...considering he's long out of the game we could see his stamina is amazing still. He's just ridiculously naturally fit...it was the other guy breaking down. However, that's not what lost him the match. It was sharpness, tactics, power, match nerve and technique...things that will take time to slot back together again.

Sharpness...nowhere near as quick as normal to getting to balls outwide, missed loads back into court, wasn't reading the serve at all, missed far too many returns or pushed them back in
Tactics...too many mid court balls, lack of depth, too far behind the baseline, didn't use angles
Power...serve was ok-ish but his groundies were probably lacking at least 10mph off normal..that gave Zeballos much more time to tee off. Nadal's characteristic wide angled shots were largely missing today too.
Match nerve...tight at the start, the middle and the end...that simple missed volley on break point down in the 3rd was all match nerve getting to him. It's not about bottle, just the quick decision making of match sharpness lacking.
Technique...slower on core rotation - alot slower infact - needs much more speed there as was getting caught slow many times under pressure and directed balls wide as his core wasnt rotating fully in time, also his BH follow through was truncated, footwork was sluggish at times...especially up and down

All this isnt surprising. After 7 months out, and months where he wouldn't have been able to move much at all, there are lots of things to improve on, lots. That takes time...for Nadal, for Federer, for anyone coming back at pro level. Toni will know these things, and Rafa too. But at least he's back on tour and he can now build for the future knowing what he needs to do. All the above will improve with every match. In many respects the result today might be just the best thing for him as it points exactly to where work and focus is needed.

But I take nothing away from Zeballos though, he played a good 50 or so places above his ranking today and was the deserved winner. Onto Acapulco...after the doubles, bet he's well in the mood for that now.

IMBL, he might play Miami (if all goes to plan...IW is turgidly slow). If he's still lacking a lot of edge then Toni may not expose him until Monte Carlo, instead working on specific things back in Majorca. We'll see...

I did not see this coming. All in all, hard to tell what to take from this. Back after 7 months, the losing finalist in a meaningless turnament. I thought he would either lose in an early round or not at all, but I do not think this loss says much at all one way or another. He just needs to get as many matches as possible under his belt and I still think he can be back to normal by MC, and certainly by RG.

SB... I think after such a long time out Nadal is not match fit to play a whole week, and have full intensity for the final.
Watching the doubles final now... Nadal looks exhausted. He needs more match practice.

It Must Be Love wrote:SB... I think after such a long time out Nadal is not match fit to play a whole week, and have full intensity for the final.

I watched the tail end of the match and I had the feeling that HZ was looking more tired of the two. Rather than guessing that the full week was too much, I would tend to guess that he is not quite the same level where he normally would be, so a combo of an opponent's good day and his so-so day is more likely to result in a loss than usual - whether in the final or anywhere else.

But maybe you are right, I did not see enough of the match to feel strongly about it.

HZ had BPs in the first game on Nadal's serve.

@Lydian... It is good to see him back after such a long layoff. The expectation that he would come back as if the gap meant nothing is a fallacy, no matter what his fans would want to see otherwise.

The European Clay season is what he should try and get to without aggravating any injuries further.

It is obviously something that you can't repicate in practice playing another pro in a real match and Nadal is going to have to work out the kinks he can't comeback and be the same Nadal without some match play. Still I think by RG and wimby he will be there contending. Afterall it all comes down to those two tournaments for Nadal's season in most years. This was a good warmup session for Nadal.

Very disappointing when you know the match was within Rafa´s grasp but much credit has to go to Zeballos he played some awesome tennis at times as well as his "never give in" attitude. Towards the end of the match I thought Rafa looked as you would expect... weary. He did play too far back on many occasions.. and won some superb points when he came inside the court.
All this said I would have loved to see him win but realistically he has achieved much this week. Zeballos comments about Rafa in his presser were wonderful.
But Zeballos well played

I think he's done well for a comeback

My worry, is that he says his knee is still troubling

Not the type of problem you want if facing the Top 3 who are simply going to try and get him to do as much lateral movement as possible and have the ability to do it

They say the knee may still hurt for some time whilst its healing...it might need a few months yet to see if the non-surgical route has worked. If not he faces surgery or retirement. But he has been told to still expect some discomfort in the joint. Medically, pain in itself isn't the issue...it's what's causing it, I'm sure he's having a lot of focus poured onto it.

Haddie, have you seen the full presser of the match?

So, onto São Paulo now. Nadal is #1 seed, Almagro #2. All 8 seeds are in the top50.
Zeballos is there too but would have to meet Almagro early in R2 and I don't believe he'll be able to pull off the giant killing act again. Almagro will be a real test for Nadal (again) if they meet in the final, that's for sure. No easy routes back as a tennis pro...

Draw here: http://www.atpworldtour.com/Share/Event-Draws.aspx?Year=2013&EventId=533&Draw=ms

Yes a very good work out for Rafa but like banbro I am worried that Rafa reports the knee is still troubling him. Not good. Lets hope it clears up. At least Rafa is back putting ranking points back on the board.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes a very good work out for Rafa but like banbro I am worried that Rafa reports the knee is still troubling him. Not good. Lets hope it clears up. At least Rafa is back putting ranking points back on the board.

Personally Craig I fear that Rafa´s knee will always be a problem .. to a greater or lesser degree. The question will remain as to whether it will hold up long enough for him achieve the goals he has set himself. Surgery is an option but my gut feeling is that Rafa will not opt for it. This next few months will tell him (and us) where his future is going.

Pftt! What a load of "Frak Poopie"! Well thats my honest interpretation of what went on in the Vina Del Mar final.

Nadal's take on things was perhaps more important. He is also perhaps a little more gracious...

"Everything was very positive," he said. "It's true I wanted to win the final, and it's true I didn't play my best match this afternoon. There are a lot of things that show I'm not perfect yet.

"I hope this is the beginning of a lot of tournaments and a lot of good results for me."

"It was a week when we didn't know how the body would respond, the knee," he said. "At least we have seen we can compete up to a certain level. It's true I have had good days and bad days that impact on my play."

Zeballos said the two chatted briefly, and Nadal offered some advice.

"He told me: 'Enjoy this title, this is your first, so just enjoy it,' " Zeballos said.

http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/8934497/rafael-nadal-loses-horacio-zeballos-chile-singles-final

Wow, what a performance by Zeballos! Was the 3rd set as entertaining as the 2nd? I think perhaps more a case of a good performance by Zeballos than a bad one from Rafa. I think on 5 sets on a slower clay Rafa would still have won it though.

I thought Nadal was actually playing quite well all week. He looks 80%-90% back to his best and 80-90% fit already to me. He was missing a certain sharpness maybe.

They met at RG 2010 and Nadal won 6-2 6-2 6-3...I think that tells us the normal course of events.

Yesterday was simply a case of Zeballos playing the match of his life and Nadal being unsurprisingly under-par. Nadal usually likes fast clay (e.g. Rome) too.

I don't really agree Rafa is anywhere near his best. Appearances can be deceiving. Yes, he can still hit the ball well at times (he's an all-time great, you'd expect that) but often without purpose/tactics.
His movement was much slower, as I mentioned above he's not rotating his core quickly...this will take ages to get back to 100% - that will really affect his returns for example, and ability outwide which was also well off yesterday...hardly got a ball back from outwide and this is normally his characteristic strength. His anticipation lessened and he wasnt using the angles of the court as he normally would. In particular, his returning was dreadful. To an average armchair viewer he probably looked good for the 7 months off, but to me there are gaps in his armoury all over the place if you critically analyse his game - which is what I'm doing to make an honest assessment. Its all not surprising of course...but the omissions are there nonetheless so I wouldn't expect him to just roll through these South/Latin American events from here on in.

Well you could be right. You could be seeing things I'm not. I could see he is the same but not quite the same, but can't quite put my fingers on all the reasons like you. I do think if you look at Zeballos form in 2010 he wasn't the same player and probably didn't play as well then although I didn't watch the 2010 match. Not saying yesterday's Zeballos would have beaten 2010 RG Rafa (!) but would have at least been closer sets.

Just got on to you tube and they have a lot of highlights already on there, managed to catch up with the 3rd set from yesterday. Someone has edited together every point but cut out all the waiting between each point. Only 11 minutes long to watch the entire set (quality wasn't great). It's good when you get this, but only amateurs do it. Why won't Eurosport or BBC or Sky do this kind of thing for their re-runs. It would be a lot better for me. Instead of just showing the key moments of the match like tiebreaks and ends of sets and breaks they could show much more of the match.

Would be great if we could have edited matches like that all the time

Fair comments HB...you might argue Zeballos has dipped since 2009 when he reached his first ATP final though. He's a solid Challenger Tour player and I tend to think he played above his ability yesterday, aided by average Nadal play. I don't mean to be a know-it-all in analysing Nadal, I'm involved in a lot of coaching so tend to look at technique, movement and tactics.

At the end of the day we just know that wasn't the FULL Nadal on court yesterday so it was the perfect time for anyone to face him. The shame for Zeballos is that his win will always be in the knowledge that he beat a rusty clay legend coming back to tour again - that said, of course he'll take the win and his maiden title. I don't mean to belittle his achievement at all, he was good enough to win on the day against most with the level he played but we can never fool ourselves into thinking anything else but Nadal having very obvious shortcomings in just about every department. It was only his raw natural talent that enabled him to push a seasoned, in-form clay-savvy guy playing the match of his life all the way to the end.

Anyway, its done now...onto Sao Paulo, and its not an easy draw by any means with lots of big hitters like Belluci, Almagro and Nalbandian. I'm not sure he should be playing doubles again though...I suspect he did that last week to guarantee matches incase he didn't get past 1-2 singles matches. Probably the same thinking again but the trouble for him is that even when carrying more rust than a Lada Riva he still tends to win a lot of matches...as Cowan said yesterday "Form is temporary, class is permanent". The worry for me is that knee still...you could see him pushing on it during the presentation ceremony yesterday, it must be at the back of his mind all the time.

HE

Just asking you understand but is

Pftt! What a load of "Frak Poopie"!

Aimed at me ???

I think the big key thing here was court time and dipping his toe in the water so to speak. Winning the tournament would have been nice but holds no real importance (a 250 tournament). It was about getting back on the horse and trying out the knee and through time the rest will come back to him (hopefully) with more match practice. All in all a good week for Rafa.

Haddie-nuff wrote:HE

Just asking you understand but is

Pftt! What a load of "Frak Poopie"!

Aimed at me ???

Don't think so. IMBL wrote "what a load of Frak Poopie" when the match finished. HE was just echoing the disappointment, I believe.

Ok ...

Really nobody learned anything.

If he'd lost timidly early, he'd be in trouble. If he'd won it'd be great news for him. This is neither one thing nor the other, open to debate as to cause. Even Lydians detailed analysis leaves open the cause of those deficiencies, and how well they will be rectified in the months to come.

So, nobody is any the wiser. I remain of the view that he will come back to full power and trash a load of people but I think there are a couple of players who might now just focus on making him move a lot for a very long time, and that might trouble him. Doesn't mean they'll always win, but I suspect a go-to tactic against Nadal is emerging, one which might be most effective at the Slams.

By the way, looking to São Paulo, the player Nadal should look out for is Belluci - seeded to lose on the quarters before meeting Badal, but the guy can play and on home ground with a scalp to take would be interesting.

Haddie-nuff wrote:HE

Just asking you understand but is

Pftt! What a load of "Frak Poopie"!

Aimed at me ???

Haddie-nuff. How did you ever come to think I would aim something like that at you? Read my comment again it is quite clear (I think) that the phrase "Frak Poopie" was used to describe my feelings about the final in Vina Del Mar. I admit I stole those particular words from IMBL who IMHO has an excellent way with words.

Lydian. Enjoyed reading your insights. I think now have a better understanding of why a player might not want to play a slam "cold" after a period of injury. Well not any player who was playing to win...

Yes Hawkeye

Although I do admit 'frak poopie' may not be exactly what I had originally written, but it'll do.

IMBL. If I were you I'd keep quiet about that. I feel it is a much better description than what you may have typed.

hawkeye wrote:IMBL. If I were you I'd keep quiet about that. I feel it is a much better description than what you may have typed.

Marginally.

hawkeye wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:HE

Just asking you understand but is

Pftt! What a load of "Frak Poopie"!

Aimed at me ???

Haddie-nuff. How did you ever come to think I would aim something like that at you? Read my comment again it is quite clear (I think) that the phrase "Frak Poopie" was used to describe my feelings about the final in Vina Del Mar. I admit I stole those particular words from IMBL who IMHO has an excellent way with words.

Lydian. Enjoyed reading your insights. I think now have a better understanding of why a player might not want to play a slam "cold" after a period of injury. Well not any player who was playing to win...

On thinking about it again I realised I had not read the thread through properly.. something Im always accusing others of doing.. I should have realised .. sorry HE

Nadal played out of his skin just to make the score respectable.

Almost a huge upset in this final.

Zeballos was playing D+ and hopefully will play much better for the more important events.

As high as D+ hey? I'd say E- ....a terrible showing.
Not an ace in sight, kept losing his nerve at crunch moments, no penetration in his shots, didn't cove ground well, just waiting for his opponent to make mistakes. You'd hardly believe he's making finals in almost every event he plays in.

Ironically, this sarcasm levelled at Zeballos is conversely a fairly accurate assessment of Nadal.

You would not believe Lydian your first line I was actually in the middle of composing when you beat me too it.

I love JM.. he is such a card -... he has to say something and all he does is open his mouth and out spills the first stupid thing that comes into his head. God his brain must hurt

Brain??