Yeh, well it’s a major drag for those players who step up to the plate, knock Nadal back, only to have him call the trainer, and then run like the bulls of Pamplona and win the match.

There has to be a limit on calling these breaks. It should only be between sets. This is getting crazy.

June 27th, 2010 at 1:13 am

Haha Nadal you sly genuis. Well done use the rules to your advantage You needed that extra sit down.

NADAL FRENCH & WIMBY DOUBLE CHAMP!!!!

June 27th, 2010 at 2:28 am

even this article is buying into the stupidity.
nadal’s ‘timely’ medical timeout…

as i said, if any of the idiotic anti nadal clan watched the match, they’d have seen nadal was on top of petz in the 4th set before the timeout.

you don’t take a ‘tactical’ timeout when you have the momentum.

June 27th, 2010 at 4:27 am

Hi Guy,

I am not anti Nadal , but sometimes its hard to accept the fact that every match he lost he came up with his knee problems.

June 27th, 2010 at 4:50 am

Petz looked tired and his level obviously dropped in the forth set before Rafa took the MTO. Petz also took the timeout when Rafa won the fourth set. I don’t believe there is any gamesmanship here. Rafa is always worried about his knees understandably as we all are. I love to enjoy the great tennis from these guys. I can’t understand why some people are so hateful of Rafa. I just think they are not happy whenever he wins because Rafa is the biggest threat to Roger. I am just a Tennis fan. I like both Roger and Rafa a lot. They both can produce breath-taking Tennis. I am just so worried that Roger might lose his motivation after winning so many grand slams. Hopefully we can see great tennis from these players for a couple of years more.

June 27th, 2010 at 6:19 am

If 5 minutes break can change the game, coaching centres will include it in their curriculam. The authorities would make changes in rules to deny advantage to any of the players. It appears too far fetched. If the rules permit a facility, availing it in a just manner or unjust manner is within the rules only. If the other player gets so much distracted by this 5 minutes break, there might be some shortcoming in his mental strength too. Moreover,it would be a matter of interpretation whether the player did it with good intention or bad intention. Fans would defend it and ill disposed would call it cheating. Here both Rafa and Petz called for the trainer, but Rafa only is being targeted for unfair practice. This appears unacceptable.

June 27th, 2010 at 6:47 am

jane – I saw your post on the other thread that you are looking forward to watch all matches today.

There is no tennis today jane. the famous middle sunday. remember?

June 27th, 2010 at 6:51 am

s/b — the infamous middle sunday…

June 27th, 2010 at 6:52 am

MINDY:

THIS IS FOR YOU. Please read what I’ve written below, if you come here again. I’m waiting.

Hope you understand why I pasted all the comments(upto the time I saw before going to bed) from WIM.ORG on here on the previous thread.
Look, first of all, I got surprised reading some views brought to here from WIM site, I never thought Rafa’d be criticised to that extent all the way over there at WIM official site. I went to WIM site to ind out the truth for myself, read about the match and read a couple of comments to find out that I was right. It wasn’t at all negative comments about Rafa all the way down there. That’s why I posted many comments from WIM site to show that Rafa’s not being admonished the way it actually is made out to be here by posting certain anti-Nadal comments, the pro-Rafa comments posted on WIM site far exceed the anti-Rafa comments. That’s why I copy pasted. But still, if you think I have done anything wrong, then feel free to tell me. I respect you and would welcome anything that you have to say to me as I know I’m also far from perfect.

June 27th, 2010 at 8:15 am

Medical time-outs should result in a point penalty to discourage players from using them for gamesmanship. If a player is legitimately injured and his performance is sub par because of it then it is well worth it to give up one point in exchange for treatment. However, if you are just trying disrupt the rhythm of your opponent you will think twice about giving up a point.

June 27th, 2010 at 9:30 am

Kimmi, my post actually said, I am happy not to be *missing* matches today. : ) But thanks; I know the middle Sunday policy. Cheers! : )

June 27th, 2010 at 10:26 am

Kimmi, my post actually said, I am happy not to be *missing* matches today. : ) But thanks; I know the middle Sunday policy. Cheers! : )

June 27th, 2010 at 10:26 am

aahhh jane, i got it all wrong earlier. you sure wont miss anything today. Enjoy your motoring holiday.

novak gets a tough one tomorrow. maybe not, we will see but he has a good record against hewitt he beeat him twice on grass..unbelivable with that stats

June 27th, 2010 at 11:01 am

I did not see Nadal’s match yesterday and so will not comment on the medical time out or courtside coaching allegations, but I will say this. All the more reason why there is so much to admire about Federer. He does not have a coach, never looks in the direction of his folks in the stands, has never ever had a trainer on the court in his entire career (even when he had mono or back problems), never resorts to time-delaying tactics between points while serving, and has never ever defaulted midway in a match because of injury. He is tennis’ ultimate puritan, and he is also brutally honest. When he took the bathroom break at the AO (which is within the rules), he actually said without any provocation that the glare of the sun was bothering him and he hoped the bathroom break would help.

I don’t think there’s a player today or in recent past who played by the rules and is more honest than Federer. He does not believe in false modesty, and I wish others would learn from him.

June 27th, 2010 at 11:13 am

” (federer) has never ever had a trainer on the court in his entire career (even when he had mono or back problems)”

tennis ace – federer has used a trainer on the court several times. the one that comes to mind is his match against murray, I think it was masters cup 08. back problem.

And some other times (i think one of his match with canas) to udjust his tapes and/or blisters.

he is definetly done it but not very often.

June 27th, 2010 at 11:25 am

I just dont understand why a lot of people react negatively when it is Nadal who calls for a MTO. I’ve seen other players who calls for MTO but I don’t often hear any complains from fans about cheating or what. Does Nadal have to be limping or crying in pain before calling a MTO just so other people will think that it is legit? MTO is within the rules right? So if it is unfair or regarded as a form of cheating, then why allow it?

As a Nadal fan, I must admit that I really get affected by all these comments. Some may even consider it hateful comments coz it is obvious with the choice of words. If other people think that Nadal is a disgrace to the game of tennis, then why bother watching his matches right? with all due respect, just skip his matches and save yourself from disappointment bcoz no matter what Nadal does you will always find a way to hate or show your disgust in him. And in the end, you end up hurting yourself and hurting people like me who have pure admiration for Nadal.

June 27th, 2010 at 11:44 am

Aleish:

People would always ask questions about players. So please don’t get too upset over it, if possible. It’s normal over here. What is most important for you as for other Rafa fans is that he’s still in the tournament with a chance to win. So keep rooting for him. I know that’s the same thing I do even when people question certain acts of Federer. Of course, I do one more thing, that’s defend Federer! ;)

Whether people are wrong or right about one’s fave player is not the end of the world as there’d always be people arguing in favour of our fave guy while there’d also be some others always arguing against him. Hope you are cool now! :)

June 27th, 2010 at 11:54 am

Maybe Nadal has to pee in his pants first before calling a bathroom break if the opponent is playing well so other critics of Nadal can really make sure that calling a bathroom break or any break is legit. Shame that no matter what he do, there will always be people who will drag everything just to make him look like a loser and a embarassment to the game.

These breaks are all part of the game. I just dont get it when people seem to make a big deal out of it when it is Nadal who uses these breaks. Im starting to think that Nadal does not have the right to use these breaks.

June 27th, 2010 at 11:59 am

nadal’s career isnt over but it might as well be if he is going to have knee problems from now on

June 27th, 2010 at 12:14 pm

Hi Huh!

Im keepin’ it cool. I just feel the need to defend Rafa. Somehow, I think it is also unfair to judge Rafa and singling him out coz I dont hear a lot of complaint when it is other players who uses these BREAKS. Only when Rafa is the one who uses it that other people make a huge fuss about it. But what can I expect, life indeed is sometimes not fair.

June 27th, 2010 at 12:49 pm

@aliesh

“Maybe Nadal has to pee in his pants first before calling a bathroom break……”LOL!

You crack me up :) That was a good one. I started out on another thread with this and I will stick with it. There are rules and if you play within them and /or an ump lets you slide with no penalty it is what it is. Get over it or call the ATP and complain. Next story…..

June 27th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

As the No. 1 player, players like Federer and Nadal are held to a different standard as they are not only role models but also advertisements for the sport of tennis. We have a right to keep asking questions for an athlete who keeps getting the benefit of doubt.

The Nadal camp has a long history of playing the injury card in their public relations.

In November 2007, Federer decimated Nadal 6-4 6-1 in one hour at the semifinals of the ATP Year-End Championships in Shanghai. It was a devastating victory that underlined Federer’s winning record over Nadal for that year, with wins against Nadal on all surfaces.

A few days later, Nadals coach Toni publicized the excuse for his nephew’s loss. Toni talked of a “very serious” foot injury that Nadal was carrying. “He has to learn how to live with it and so far he has managed for two years. .It’s very serious. I don’t know [if it's career-threatening]. I’ll let the doctor reply to that. He has to take a lot of precautions when he plays.”
http://tinyurl.com/28csn2y

Toni’s comments created worldwide headlines from Nadal’s serious foot injury to his career in jeopardy. The latter was not very good for sponsors to hear. So within a day or so, Nadal told the newsmedia that there was nothing to worry about.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7117076.stm

The three people who know most about Nadal’s injuries are Nadal, his coach Toni and his private doctor. So go figure.

A brave and independent tennis writer needs to analyze all matches where Nadal called for the trainer over the last 5 years and analyze for frequency and patterns when he calls for medical time outs.

June 27th, 2010 at 2:22 pm

Hi skeeze!

Good to hear you have had a good laugh on that one. You’re not the only one who can crack up a joke, you know. But I always enjoy reading your WTF posts. lol Actually, I was dead serious when I typed it. Sometimes it’s really hard to take all this negativity towards Nadal. But like what I’ve said, life is not fair. Just have to be happy that my fav got through two tough 5 set matches.

Lookin’ forward though for more great matches from the remaining players. Enjoy! Cheers!

June 27th, 2010 at 3:12 pm

Good for ya Aleish that you’re cooling off again! Enjoy!!! :D

June 27th, 2010 at 3:25 pm

Im always cool Huh. Maybe the way I constructed my sentences sounded like I wasn’t. hehe But Im cool. Just have to let out what I have in mind. Im excited for tommorrow’s matches though. Here’s hoping that we get good results from our respective favs!

Go Federer!
Go Roddick!
Go Murray!
Go Djokovic!
and…. of course
VAMOS RAFA!!!

June 27th, 2010 at 3:48 pm

Ok Aleish! :P

Here goes my list:

Go Rod! :)
Go Muzza! :)
Go Hewitt! :)
Go Fed! :)
Go Sod! :)
Go Nole! :)
and for you too:
Go Rafa! :)

June 27th, 2010 at 4:13 pm

aleish 17

Both Nadal and Federer get far more scrutiny than other players for the simple reason they have been so dominant. Part of the price of success, I suppose, is that you attract the funny farm, and I include in that obsessive fans (not you, though, you’re a nice Nadal fan!).

That’s just the way it goes. Part of the rich human comedy, you might say…..

June 27th, 2010 at 4:22 pm

Yes Grendel:

Aleish really is a super nice Nadal fan. She’s a beautiful heart for everyone. :P

June 27th, 2010 at 4:31 pm

Nadal has always psyched out players by making them wait ( extra times between serves, adjusting himself etc etc).

For e.g in the 2008 wimby final, assuming Nadal spend 15 seconds extra per serve, that would mean he made Fed wait for
5 sets = 5 *6 service games = 30 service games = 30 * 4 = 120 services = 120 * 15 seconds wait time = 20 minutes extra wait during the match

This would be enough to make sure Fed had to play in the dark by Nadal’s match delaying tactics.

It was totally unfair on Fed that he had to play in the dark. Who knows what the result would have been had they been playing in the light.

Not to mention Fed has to remain in alter position for these 20 minutes maybe draining him of precious calories which would have resulted in his loss.

I am a Fed fan and certainly want Nadal to be healthy and play for a long time. But please, respect the rules of the game.

June 27th, 2010 at 9:20 pm

Nadal accused of Gamesmanship by Boris Becker

Nadal “was also accused by former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker of gamesmanship…He needed attention from the trainer three times on an arm muscle problem and a thigh injury. But there seemed little wrong with him when he was on court and Becker accused him of deliberately using delaying tactics to upset Petzschner’s rhythm. Becker said: “Nadal was very quick without any problem so I don’t know what that break was all about. It wasn’t physical. It was tactical.” Petzschner claimed: “It was pretty clever of him to do that. I thought he was moving great.”"
http://tinyurl.com/27yartx

June 27th, 2010 at 10:41 pm

Nadal has never been nominated for the ATP Sportsmanship Award. It appears that the tour players are seeing something about Nadal that his fans are not in a position to observe on a daily basis.

The ATP Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award goes to “the player who, throughout the year, conducted himself at the highest level of professionalism and integrity, who competed with his fellow players with the utmost spirit of fairness and who promoted the game through his off-court activities.”

Earlier this year fellow players voted Roger Federer as the winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for a record sixth consecutive year. Edberg is the only other player to earn the award five times (over an eight-year span).

The link below gives you the ballot form for the 2007 Sportsmanship Award, the nominees and the weighted voting procedure used by the players. The players can choose from about 4 to 6 official nominees and/or nominate their own player.
http://www.itwa.org/itwa_info/2007_ATP_Awards.doc

June 27th, 2010 at 10:49 pm

Hi Dan, I am on a holiday in So-Cal so am missing Wimbledon for the most part, catching bits and pieces of matches in some places. It’s a bit of a drag. But we’re having fun. All the best to you and yours. The waiting is the hardest part.

Kimmi, thanks, and yeah, Nole has his hands full to get past Hewy tomorrow. We’ll see. I have to check the schedule to see what I’ll be missing. LOL. Well I might see a little in the morning tomorrow.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:58 am

Becker became a Whiner Extraordinaire once it was obvious that his countryman Petzschner has petered out, way before the Nadal MTO.

Petzschner said in his presser he’s pissed with himself for allowing the 3-min MTO disrupt him. What kind of a pro he is who cannot keep his concentration? It’s a lame excuse, there was no momentum of his to be broken, he was already beaten before that. In all fairness, the 3 minutes were God given for him, he was clearly knackered, and proceeded to swiftly lose the match.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:02 am

seriously, becker should stop insinuating things that has not been proven. Maybe he should look at how in conduct himself during his professional career before passing remarks on others. This is uncalled for. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. As long as Nadal told MTO without the rule of tennis why not. atleast so far u don’t se Nadal using 4 letter word or swearing or throwing racket. My you, Fed did curse acouple of times OK. Please winning ATP sportsmanship doesn’t mean a thing. Yes, Edberg is one hell of great player and gentleman. As for the rest, I don’t think so. Sometime the commentators comments should be taken with a pinch of salt. I saw the whole match and I am amaze how the umpire can heard what TOni is saying to Nadal. In fact Nadal was not even paying an attention and focusing on his game. He looked so shock when out of the blue the umpire gave him a code violation. To be honest, fortunately this inspire him to play better. FOr some player, that could cost him the game because emotionally it is affecting a person. Mourier should never do tat especially in such critical moment. If the player were to be Roger/Safin/John Mccroe or some hot headed guy, see what happen!! It won’t go away so peacefully.. So let’s give Nadal a break

June 28th, 2010 at 6:29 am

What Becker said was on the minds of all neutral observers with 20/20 vision. It was clear that Nadal was running around like a rabbit both before and after his medical time out. There did not seem to be any physical problem in Nadal’s game other than the fact that his opponent was able to keep up the pressure on Nadal. Thus it is logical to consider that Nadal used teh MTO as a tactic to throw off his German opponent.

What kind of pro — a top ranked player at that — needs to keep taking medical time outs in certain matches where he was being pressured? He’s even done it against Federer a few times (Rome, Wimbledon, Hamburg, etc.) in situations where the Spaniard seems to need the time to think about the match and/or disrupt his opponent’s rhythm. Every player has used MTOs at some point in his career but some use it more often than others.

Even if Nadal’s medical timeouts were genuine, then it indicates that he has to resort to an unsustainable physical game in order to beat his opponenets. That is, in order to win, Nadal has to play beyond the limits of his body’s physical capacity. If all ATP players iresponsibly did that, including Federer, then not only would Nadal lose his advantage (because every player would be playing even better until injury forces them to take a break), all tennis matches would be continually disrupted by medical timeouts taken by both players. Players like Federer, who take care of their bodies and who (relatively) do not whine about their injuries, are penalized by players like Nadal who overextend their bodies and who make a soap opera of their injuries to gain sympathy.

Had Nadal not taken that medical timeout, there was a good possibility he would have lost the fourth set cuz the momentum was with the German.

Poor Petzschner was not prepared for Nadal’s gamesmanship. The German does not have the experience of playing top ranked players frequently. Federer was the only other top player that the German played, so he must have thought that all top players would play as fairly and professionally as Federer did. The shock of Nadal’s gamesmanship must have unsettled the poor German who was playing his first Centre Court match.

In hindsight we can understand why Nadal — a player who wants to win at all costs — was paradoxically willing to chicken out of wimbledon last year. If he could not win, he did not want to lose to Lleyton Hewitt again in an early round.

June 28th, 2010 at 10:27 am

Well, Federer too is one hell of a great gentleman, no matter how much you reject it!

And it’s amazing that people here compare Fed to McEnroe or Safin in terms of behaviour. Very funny! It is in fact Murray who often behaves like a brat, most disgusting behaviour can be seen from him; and like some retarded one, always uses the famous “four letter” word, similar to J,Mac. Muzza’s much more similar to JMac in terms of ugly behaviour and also he resembles Safin in terms of displaying frustration.

June 28th, 2010 at 10:29 am

colin: “so far u don’t se Nadal using 4 letter word or swearing or throwing racket.”

See your idol’s behaviour when a hawkeye challenge went against him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak8GRRFBN54

This clip was just 3 months before Nadal started using hawkeye to upset Federer’s rhythm at Wimbledon. In one instance, Nadal challenged late on a Fed serve that hit the line and chalk flew — Nadal challenged after he had walked over to the other side of the court and Federer was starting his service motion. There was a look of disgust on Federer’s face when Nadal used that bit of gamesmanship.

To the players, winning the ATP Sportsnmanship award means a lot to them. They know that their peers te pro players — not koolaid drinking fans — are the best judge of each player’s character and honesty. So it means a lot when players choose Federer as the player who displays the most sportsmanship… and do not bother to nominate Nadal. The players know that the rare times that Federer cursed, he was probably justified in doing so and therefore give him a break. Players are smart enough to look for patterns in behaviour, and obviously they see patterns in Nadal’s behaviour that are red flags.

It is ridiculous for any tv watcher to claim that he is in a better position to know what the umpire (who is live on the scene) saw and heard between Nadal and his uncle. The umpire is in a good position to make that call, and given the player involved he would not have done so lightly. It appears that Nadal and his uncle have been doing this for many years, and once even Federer had to tell Uncle Toni to stop coaching Nadal during a match. It;s embarrasing when a top player gets such coaching.

June 28th, 2010 at 10:47 am

…”Please winning ATP sportsmanship doesn’t mean a thing…”

WTF?

June 28th, 2010 at 11:11 am

I can’t believe people are trying to defend nadal on the on-court coaching. Look at nadal’s reply when asked about it. he says he did not talk to toni in this particular match. He says he did it previously, but not in this match.

That Justine, nadal and most players other than federer, hewitt and maybe roddick rely too much on their box is just sad.

nadal not using cuss words? really? you need to realise english is not nadal’s first language. he says many a cuss word in spannish regularly.

June 28th, 2010 at 11:17 am

Dave:

The thing is Colin is a Murray fan, this Murray, whose on-court behaviour is far more ridiculous than even Rafa IMO.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:10 pm

“nadal not using cuss words? really? you need to realise english is not nadal’s first language. he says many a cuss word in spannish regularly.”

That’s the point, kudos to you Wim Champ!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:11 pm

@ Grendel and Huh!

Thanks! I guess I just have to accept that all these are part of the game. Rafa can’t please everyone.

They can dig in as much dirt as they want but they’ll never going to take away the heart of Rafa, the heart of a champion and a great fighter.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

“Please winning ATP sportsmanship doesn’t mean a thing.”

That’s the standard example of sour grapes! No wonder that a humble guy like JMDP was so much pissed off at the gamemanship of Murray and his mom, who were behaving like brats shouting and cheering the U.E.s of JMDP, trying every possible way to unsettle him!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

Aleish,

I really like you, you’re truly fantastic. :)
But sorry if I sometimes say a thing or two about Rafa, the senseless Federer criticism and its comparison to Rafa forces me to say at times things which I could have truly avoided for the sake of a healthy environment at tennis-x.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:29 pm

Huh: “The thing is Colin is a Murray fan, this Murray, whose on-court behaviour is far more ridiculous than even Rafa IMO.”

I agree. Murray’s on-court behaviour is certainly worse than Nadal’s. To be fair, a few top players from previous eras were worse than Nadal, though there was less denial about those players

But you hit the nail on the head. Federer’s critics senselesly criticize Federer, of all players, yet have no shame in coinnecting Nadal to Federer’s credibility whereever convenient.

The one admirable thing about Murray is that he tends not to retire from matches when he is losing badly.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:57 pm

Hi Huh!

I read your post on the other article about me rooting for Rod and Muzza. When I was still in college, I was always rooting for Andy R. However, I just lost track of tennis for years and years. My love for the game was revived when I began watching Nadal’s game. Believe me, at first I really don’t like him. He doesn’t have the beauty of Fed’s strokes. But seeing his never-say-die attitude on court and witnessing him chase every ball that comes his way converted my dislike into a great admiration.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

If we have a Nadal-Murray semi-final, they should make uncle Tony and Mommy Murray sit next to each other in the same box

June 28th, 2010 at 4:27 pm

Wimbledon Champ: “That Justine, nadal and most players other than federer, hewitt and maybe roddick rely too much on their box is just sad.”

Are you for real? Roddick does not rely on his box for anything. Maybe you watch some other Roddick but it can’t be Andy Roddick, of that I’m certain.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:40 pm

Oh, Nadal fans are so funny; always willing to distort the facts to suit their opinions. Even cursory viewings of the Nadal/Petzschner match show Phillip still blasting 100mph forehands past Nadal before both MTOs, not slowing down but overpowering Nadal actually. I have it recorded if you’d like to see it again, it’s all there. You just have to take off the Nadal-brand blinders and it’ll come through loud and clear.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:45 pm