Rafa's Appendix And Novaks Baby And Their Impact On The Race For Number One

Despite Nadal missing the whole of the American hard court season Djokovic was unable to capitalize and with his relative poor form and Rafa returning it looked like their could have been an interesting race to the number one position...

However Nadal was diagnosed with Appendicitis at the weekend throwing his participation for the rest of the season in doubt. It appears he has been advised to treat it at least initially with large doses of anti biotics but it is not clear and maybe he doesn't know if or when surgery is required. With surgery a recovery period will be required and that will mean missing both practice and play.

Djokovic is on baby watch with his first child due probably within weeks. He has made it clear how much he's looking forward to parenthood and that (of course) family comes before tennis. No doubt he will want to be there for the birth and take a few weeks paternity leave. Another factor that may influence Djokovic's play is the absence of his rival. Boris Becker (Djokovic's coach) said that Djokovic's motivation was affected when Nadal didn't play at this years US Open.

So both Nadal and Djokovic are on ambulance watch. So are the rest of the players because without them their chances of adding points will be higher. So will any players still hoping to qualify for the WTF. So will any tennis fans with an interest in how the last few tournaments in 2014 play out. So will a certain Swiss player (who's name can't be mentioned in close proximity to Nadals ) because he may just have a chance of sneaking the top spot if both Ambulances arrive in the next week or two. Should we all check a medical dictionary? Can appendicitis be treated with antibiotics? What is the recovery time for surgery? How long does it take to fly from Shanghai to Monte Carlo? When was the last sighting of Jelena?

A friend of ours just got over appendicitis with antibiotics and doesn't need surgery at this point- though it can crop back up. She was in real pain in the beginning before they figured out what it was, but once the antibiotics reduced the inflamation she described it to my wife as similar to mild cramps that woman experience from time to time.......

I didn't think Nadal looked physically compromised at all today. I didn't see wincing, he was running everything down, bending. It's prob more of a mental hardship at this point... knowing surgery might be in the cards,etc.

To be frank im surprised Nadal went out and played today, I know he wants matches but appendicitis is OK until its not, and its a medical emergency if it ruptures. He seemed OK if not confident to hit anything but half pace sometimes, but he needs to think about his body a bit more.

For Novak, I imagine he will pull out of the year as soon as his baby is born, but MIGHT play the WTF depending on when the baby comes. He'll see being with his new family as more important, and good on him.

Even impending fatherhood seems to have had an effect on Djokovic (possibly to the detriment of his tennis). This is from his recent blog about his foundation :-
"But I have a more important agenda too: as a father to be, I want my child to be proud of me not only because I can hit the yellow fluffy ball better than the other guy."
Altered priorities it seems, and in a good way.

http://blog.novakdjokovicfoundation.org/philantropy/novak-djokovic-online-shop-launch/

Truffin. That's interesting about your friend. Has she been told she won't need surgery unless the pain returns? Or has she been told it's a temporary measure so that surgery can be postponed? Presumably she's not been left with permanent mild cramps?

Nadal arrived in Shanghai from Beijing on Saturday night, experienced pain during the night then called a doctor on Sunday morning. He was told to go to hospital were initially they wanted to operate immediately but then decided to try anti biotics first. Presumably a very strong sort as he had to return to hospital on both Monday and Tuesday morning for further treatment. Obviously he was unable to practice. On Tuesday evening he practiced for 45 minutes and decided to play. He said if he had had to play on Tuseday he obviously wouldn't have been able to. He also said he had had a horrible time. So I doubt anyone was surprised that he lost.

I think in both cases, the headlines are probably more dramatic than the real situation.

The comments I saw from Rafa seemed quite positive. He doesn't expect to be particularly impaired, although it would seem that today was probably a bit soon for a peak performance.

As for Djokovic, he has said that he doesn't expect to skip any tournaments. Personally, I suspect Paris must be in doubt though, even if the baby is on time. I'd be surprised if he skipped London. He could well bring Jelena and the baby with him, it's only a short hop from Monte Carlo.

I hadn't seen that comment from Becker about Novak's motivation being affected by Rafa's absence. I suspect it's nonsense but, if it's true, Novak is a fool.

HM Murdoch wrote:

I hadn't seen that comment from Becker about Novak's motivation being affected by Rafa's absence. I suspect it's nonsense but, if it's true, Novak is a fool.

What did Becker say !?

It Must Be Love wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:

I hadn't seen that comment from Becker about Novak's motivation being affected by Rafa's absence. I suspect it's nonsense but, if it's true, Novak is a fool.

What did Becker say !?

From memory, something similar to what McEnroe said when Borg retired, only this was just for that tournament i.e. Rafa's absence caused Djoko to lose a bit of interest/motivation for the USO.
Which sort of gives lie to the idea that when a top player pulls out injured the others rub their hands with glee and get more motivated.

JuliusHMarx wrote: only this was just for that tournament i.e. Rafa's absence caused Djoko to lose a bit of interest/motivation for the USO.

wowzers

No - not a total surprise. The top players don't fear each other, they want to beat each other. That's the competitive mindset of the top sportsperson.

hawkeye wrote:Truffin. That's interesting about your friend. Has she been told she won't need surgery unless the pain returns? Or has she been told it's a temporary measure so that surgery can be postponed? Presumably she's not been left with permanent mild cramps?

Nadal arrived in Shanghai from Beijing on Saturday night, experienced pain during the night then called a doctor on Sunday morning. He was told to go to hospital were initially they wanted to operate immediately but then decided to try anti biotics first. Presumably a very strong sort as he had to return to hospital on both Monday and Tuesday morning for further treatment. Obviously he was unable to practice. On Tuesday evening he practiced for 45 minutes and decided to play. He said if he had had to play on Tuseday he obviously wouldn't have been able to. He also said he had had a horrible time. So I doubt anyone was surprised that he lost.

No, the cramps went away completely during the round of antibiotics.. I didn't explain properly I guess.. Once the antibiotics kicked in, it reduced the pain to something similar to cramps, and then those went away as the antibiotics did their job and the infection/inflammation went away. My understanding and mind you- it's just my wife telling me what our friend told her- is that she's completely healed and no surgery is needed at the moment, BUT- once you get it- it can come back almost at any time which then would require surgery. I guess like a cancer going into remission, but it's always possible it can come back.

Her pain was horrible at first though- so what you describe with Nadal certainly fits the scenario- the antibiotics probably kicked in and reduced the pain to where he could play (lets face it- all the players have some types of pain in their bodies constantly) and the hope is that the antibiotics will end the problem for now or hopefully for the future.

Novak isn't the other players. He probably thinks he is a little better and wants to prove it by beating Nadal. Nadal is perhaps his yardstick. Why else would he say he wants to beat him at the FO. He does say that rather than he wants to win the FO. Nadal has also said a few things about being motivated because of a particular player but I suppose because who the particular player is we are not allowed to discuss it here

It is also true that some of the other players use Rafa as motivation. In fame and kudos it can be rated higher than a slam. Just ask Rosol, Krygios and Soderling to name but a few. I would even imagine Lopez is feeling pretty pleased with himself despite the circumstances.

Truffin thanks for the information and I'm glad your friend recovered. This could be good news for Rafa too because antibiotics definately sounds preferable to surgery.

Have just read quotes from Nadals press. Just before playing he had a visit from ATP doctors who tried to persuade him not to play... Probably as much because of the aggressive antibiotics as the appendix. He also said he will seek further advice when he gets home but is still intending to play Basil, Paris and the WTF and perhaps have surgery after that.

hawkeye wrote:Novak isn't the other players. He probably thinks he is a little better and wants to prove it by beating Nadal. Nadal is perhaps his yardstick. Why else would he say he wants to beat him at the FO. He does say that rather than he wants to win the FO. Nadal has also said a few things about being motivated because of a particular player but I suppose because who the particular player is we are not allowed to discuss it here

Do you mean Roger Federer, The Swiss Shanker, The Basel Bungler himself?

Either way, Rafa's season is likely a write off given a period of absence to ensure the stomach has calmed down. Even if it was mild cramps, not a burst appendix, the bacterial infection would have robbed him of energy and this was the way he looked in Beijing too...surprisingly flat for a guy who'd had 3 months off. He does seem bad lucked at times. Oh well...all eyes to Australian Open.

This is a bit cheeky from the Independant:

"Never one to blame physical issues for misfortunes, Nadal said that he had felt “for sure not perfect” during the match. He added: “I feel a bit more dizzy now, but that’s it. Nothing that I have to worry about.”

Meow! Lowest form of wit.

I hope Rafa is fit for the 02, but if he's not gonna be in shape to compete then he should just drop out now and have the op.

Rafa's season this year is very similar to Fed last year except Rafa is a GS champ.

I am very surprised on Rafa's early return and thats clubbed with Appendix , if its serious then Rafa better get it done as early as possible, first for health and safety reason and 2nd this part of the season has never been productive for Rafa so he could atleast get back to his best on clay season next year.

Meanwhile feel sorry for Mayer thou, if only that volley could have dropped a few millimeters on the other side he could have had the greatest win of career.

Ha ha! invisible coolers about this part of the season never being productive for Rafa. He was only beaten by Djokovic last year. So I suppose every player other than Djokovic was unproductive? That's a big club I was watching on Sky yesterday and Miles Mclagan was saying how Nadal never does well in the American hard Court season (Canada, Cinci and the US Open) because of the long lay off after Wimbledon. I couldn't help but think it was a deliberate case of amnesia because how could anyone in tennis not remember last year

If Mayer had won one of those match points it would also have affected the rankings.

I thought I was going to die when I had kidney stones that's the true meaning of terror. Appendicitis is nothing to moan about in comparison. Tennis players these days are fairies, I would hazard a bet that Laver would laugh at today's so called injuries

hawkeye wrote:Ha ha! invisible coolers about this part of the season never being productive for Rafa. He was only beaten by Djokovic last year. So I suppose every player other than Djokovic was unproductive? That's a big club I was watching on Sky yesterday and Miles Mclagan was saying how Nadal never does well in the American hard Court season (Canada, Cinci and the US Open) because of the long lay off after Wimbledon. I couldn't help but think it was a deliberate case of amnesia because how could anyone in tennis not remember last year

If Mayer had won one of those match points it would also have affected the rankings.

This part of the season means after USO till end of WTF, and Nadal has been beaten by many Jack and Jill players let alone Djokovic in this time frame.

Secondly if Nadal goes injured he won't be beaten by anybody else, for that sake in this year since Wimbledon Nadal has lost just 2 match.

When you talk about Amnesia , you even forgot you have Amnesia , otherwise how on earth you would forget all his losses during this time frame.

This is nothing new, Nadal only ever loses because he's injured. This is an important forum principle.

bogbrush wrote:This is nothing new, Nadal only ever loses because he's injured. This is an important forum principle.

No one says Nadal only ever loses because he's injured, apart from Federer fans trying to be snide. He has appendicitis, and was clearly all over the place against lopez.

Hawkeye pretty much does.

How do we factor in that Roger has had two babies this year, or don't they count?

NO! Because he's already had one so having twins is easier. Duh.

Yeah, I have four and by the 3rd you hardly notice.

It Must Be Love wrote:

bogbrush wrote:This is nothing new, Nadal only ever loses because he's injured. This is an important forum principle.

No one says Nadal only ever loses because he's injured, apart from Federer fans trying to be snide. He has appendicitis, and was clearly all over the place against lopez.

Says a lot about Gasquet...

bogbrush wrote:How do we factor in that Roger has had two babies this year, or don't they count?

In terms of the race from where we are now to the end of the season, wouldn't you agree that impact of the arrival of Djokovic's baby is much more the unknown factor than the arrival of Fed's healthy twins which happened 5 months ago? There are still some unknowns around Federer like whether he will skip Paris to be fresher for Davis Cup, not so much around his family.

YvonneT wrote:

bogbrush wrote:How do we factor in that Roger has had two babies this year, or don't they count?

In terms of the race from where we are now to the end of the season, wouldn't you agree that impact of the arrival of Djokovic's baby is much more the unknown factor than the arrival of Fed's healthy twins which happened 5 months ago? There are still some unknowns around Federer like whether he will skip Paris to be fresher for Davis Cup, not so much around his family.  

In terms of the race I'd say anything that's happened during the year being measured matters. Federer & Djokovic will both have had kids in the year; neutral as can be I'd say.

Well over the 12 months, yes. Djokovic got married after Wimbledon too and didn't seem to have his head in the right place in the US summer swing. I suppose they've both done pretty well to be no.1 & 2 with all these distractions, but some of that is just other players faltering and points below them being spread out. I've not specifically checked, but feels like neither has the kind of points in the race required to be no.1 in recent years.

With Stan & Cilic winning Slams that's inevitable. It's far less concentrated at the top, thank God.

Well viewed in a certain way we have Roger 4 , Novak nearly 1 and poor Rafa 0 ...

But the impact on the WTF is more about timing rather than quantity. Although there is no guarantee that Jelena isn't about to produce triplets.

hawkeye wrote:Truffin. That's interesting about your friend. Has she been told she won't need surgery unless the pain returns? Or has she been told it's a temporary measure so that surgery can be postponed? Presumably she's not been left with permanent mild cramps?

Nadal arrived in Shanghai from Beijing on Saturday night, experienced pain during the night then called a doctor on Sunday morning. He was told to go to hospital were initially they wanted to operate immediately but then decided to try anti biotics first. Presumably a very strong sort as he had to return to hospital on both Monday and Tuesday morning for further treatment. Obviously he was unable to practice. On Tuesday evening he practiced for 45 minutes and decided to play. He said if he had had to play on Tuseday he obviously wouldn't have been able to. He also said he had had a horrible time. So I doubt anyone was surprised that he lost.

If he was coming back into the hospital, could just be for check ups, could be iv Antibiotics

bogbrush wrote:This is nothing new, Nadal only ever loses because he's injured. This is an important forum principle.

Of course; when fit, the only person to have ever beaten Nadal fairly is uncle Toni. No slacking...