Just shows that many professional athletes don’t advertise their ailments beforehand. Still doesn’t stop the armchair athletes from implying that they are faking injuries.

February 20th, 2013 at 1:10 pm

Well all we can do is wish her all the best and hope she’ll be as soon as possible !! :)

February 20th, 2013 at 1:36 pm

Umpires breathe a sigh of relief.

February 20th, 2013 at 1:36 pm

Serena didn’t do this;

-Entered the Tourney with a ( supposed ) injury and Played.
-Lost.
-THEN claimed she had a injury and used it as an excuse for her loss.

Kudos to her. If your not well enough to play and win, don’t play. Otherwise, STFU and play.

Get well soon #1.

February 20th, 2013 at 2:09 pm

skeezer so kindly posts: “If your not well enough to play and win, don’t play. Otherwise, STFU and play.”

Dang, didn’t realize you can’t claim any injury unless you win. Some players evidently don’t know it either….they play and lose and some play and win. They need to talk to skeezer. He obviously knows it all.

February 20th, 2013 at 2:22 pm

Point is, most athletes do not advertise their weaknesses/ailments/injuries before a match or tourney. That is just common sense.

February 20th, 2013 at 2:24 pm

“Dang, didn’t realize you can’t claim any injury unless you win….”

Too much Koolaid…LOL

February 20th, 2013 at 2:59 pm

Serena didn’t do this either;

-Entered the Tourney with a (supposed) injury/mono and Played.
-Lost.
-THEN claimed she had a injury/mono and used it as an excuse months after her loss.

just sayin’..

February 20th, 2013 at 8:22 pm

Serena did not play her best at when she faced Sharapova and watching her I felt her back and ankle must be causing her some discomfort. She showed her fighting spirit though, dug deeper and came out the winner. It was obvious that when she played against Aza in the final the next day that perhaps my suspicions were correct. IMO, she’s doing the right thing pulling out from dubai to rest and heal.

Those who have back pain and play tennis know all too well, how much an ankle problem can affect the player’s back, due to ompensation.

I hope she’s rested and healed for the NA, clay and grass season.

February 20th, 2013 at 8:34 pm

@furuq

feds “mono” is a fact, not a “supposed”. Do you want to show us all how he is “quoted” that one of the reaons he lost was that? i can point you to a FO loss by someone else who then after the fact said they were injured. Oh, and there is more. Do you really want to start comparing the injury excuse facts with other players? Lets compare, happy too ;)

February 20th, 2013 at 9:30 pm

skeezer

Calm down. You suffer from a Arro-withdrawal syndrome. It will be cured in a few weeks. Just stop interacting with people in the mean time, as you are bound to be irritable. You may also challenge people to fights. This is not good for you.

February 20th, 2013 at 10:57 pm

Serena is not a one-surface wonder who has to hide behind injuries.

No title outside clay since october 2010. guess the player.

Hint: drama queen faking injuries at 26 years old. LOL!

Hint 2: choked on a “banana” in FO 2005

Hint 3: cried “mommy! cramps!” in US open press conference.

February 20th, 2013 at 11:54 pm

Serena is 30+. no surprise in injuries there.

February 20th, 2013 at 11:55 pm

HR,

Don’t be upset that I don’t drink your Koolaid.
Am flattered by your attention. No need to worry about my calmness. I was born calm. Get back on the court and talk less, who knows, you may wind up playing better.

February 20th, 2013 at 11:57 pm

Jeez, Vamos syndrome is a nasty disease indeed, the way it’s attacking some people…….does it have a cure, me wonders?

February 21st, 2013 at 12:53 am

@ juljo724

after Federer lost to Berdych in four sets in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2010:

“I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play. You know, I am struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue. That just doesn’t quite allow me to play the way I would like to play. But I definitely gave away this match, I feel.”

some posters drink koolaid, some have it on an IV drip.

February 21st, 2013 at 3:05 am

volley. Fed received a lot of adverse press for that statement! Very unsportsmanlike indeed!!

February 21st, 2013 at 3:51 am

volley

Had to dig deep for that did ya? How many more post Fed injury excuses can you dig up for him? 1? 2?
Like I said, you want to compare Rafa’s constant iv drip of excuses to the entire field of players, you ‘ll lose. Keep whining.

February 21st, 2013 at 4:48 am

As everybody knows, when OUR player calls for a MTO, he’s injured; when the other player does it, it is gamesmanship. When our player retires, he was injured, when the other player retires, he is a quitter.

That apart, we should mention two things that make Rafa’s case a bit different: surprise injuries and cofusing injuries.

The surprise injuries: those are the serious injuries, unsuspected while he played, revealed after a defeat. Two of those: after his losses against Soderling and Rosol.

The problem is that those are very serious injuries, requiring a lot of time to recover. The pain certainly didn’t start in those matches. But, in both cases, Rafa played every single possible tournament on clay before the loss in question, and — I could be wrong there, single I am writing from memory — didn’t mention any pain, or an injury beforehand.

The confusing knee: it is the injury he got in his QF against Ferrer at the AO, when he really didn’t know which knee bothered him — right or left?

I understand that his statements about his knees are sometimes confusing: he is not an English native speaker, and I have myself a lot of difficulties to remember the adequate technical terms in English.

But the problem, for me, is that his injuries were very serious, in one hand, and there was no signs of them while he played, in the other.

Let’s review the others top four:

Whenever he is losing, Djokovic will be tempted to take an MTO.

Whenever he is losing, Murray will grab his tight.

Whenever he has lost an important match, Federer will declare that he should have won.

February 21st, 2013 at 5:04 am

Mat4,

Intuitive. Nailed it and objective. My only add is Fed claims to “he should have won” more than it tied to some suspicious type injury that caused it. I am not saying Fed has never played a post injury card, but he along with most players don’t make it a habit like “you know who”.

Btw, kudos to your man winning the AO whilst not whining and abiding by the time rule. Exquisite and well done.

February 21st, 2013 at 5:22 am

mat4,

:)

You’ve done it again.

February 21st, 2013 at 5:28 am

skeezer. You are such a fraud with your comments. Suddenly you are gushing over Nole’s AO win. Would you still be gushing had it been your cry baby getting beaten? Don’t worry, there is still time. And now I expect you to applaud and compliment all the opponents that give your man a beating! #OnlyFair

February 21st, 2013 at 6:15 am

Come on, boys, I just try to be respectful and objective. There could be flaws in my thinking, and I would like somebody to point at them.

Anyway, there are so many Rafans here, and I never read a post about the evolution of his FH. I was the first to point at patterns in the timing of his injuries (those posts are recent and should be easy to find). To be a fan doesn’t mean to blindly worship, but to know, appreciate, analyse the game of your fav and to be sometimes critical toward him.

I almost believe that I am one of Rafa’s biggest fan on this site.

February 21st, 2013 at 6:26 am

@Giles:

Skeezer was always fair in his comments unless provoked.

February 21st, 2013 at 6:27 am

And as a Novak fan, I certainly know what he has written in the past.

February 21st, 2013 at 6:29 am

mat4. Beg to differ. skeezer is almost always the “provocateur”. Try tracking back on comments to prove this.

February 21st, 2013 at 6:37 am

Finally, I have no doubts that Skeez would show a lot of respect for Nadal the moment Rafans start showing the same respect for “his cry baby”, who has won 17 slams and owns almost every tennis record in the book.

February 21st, 2013 at 6:39 am

@Giles:

It is like a Sicilian vendetta right now. No one knows who started first and when it happened.

February 21st, 2013 at 6:40 am

mat4. There is a typical example of nasty skeezer in play. His post Feb 20, 2.09 pm.
He did receive a response. So you see, he always starts and when posters respond they become the bad guys!

February 21st, 2013 at 6:45 am

mat4. Respect begets respect. You only have to read some of the comments from some of the nasty fed fans to realise they don’t know the meaning of the word. Do you read BFF’s comments?? Anyway I really pity them!!

February 21st, 2013 at 6:49 am

@Giles:

First, I really don’t think you are a bad guy. And I also have a lot of respect for many other Rafa’s fans.

This respect toward alison, Contador, Brando, makes me think twice before writing a post about Rafa. The same respect of Skeezer, TL, Grendel, TFS76 and others makes me chose my words when I write about Roger.

So, the best way, I guess, is to answer with arguments, to make objective and thoughtful posts. Anyway, if Skeezer is such a provocateur, don’t read his posts, don’t waste your time.

February 21st, 2013 at 6:58 am

@Giles:

I don’t read BFF’s comments, nor the DA’s, nor Dave’s.

In truth, I skip at least halft the threads.

February 21st, 2013 at 7:00 am

mat4,

Contador is not Rafa fan (methinks), but Kimberly, Lulu Iberica and few others, really nice Rafa fans, I am not being a crawler to Rafa fans, just saying if you don’t mind. I was one of them until few years ago … well nobody is perfect;)

February 21st, 2013 at 7:08 am

@WB:

Are you sure Conty is not a Rafan? Kimberly didn’t write much recently; Lulu Iberica is very nice indeed.

Then, I’ve got problems with my sight, so I can’t read what you wrote in the second part of your post..

February 21st, 2013 at 7:13 am

I am pretty sure Conty likes Federer, Andy and Nole.

NOBODY IS PERFECT … I think you said the same thing about you and Wilander while ago?

February 21st, 2013 at 7:18 am

@mat4 says;

“Finally, I have no doubts that Skeez would show a lot of respect for Nadal the moment Rafans start showing the same respect for “his cry baby”, who has won 17 slams and owns almost every tennis record in the book.”

Nonsense, absolute tosh. My opinion of Novak is not related to my opinion of you and his fans. Choosing to live your life vicariously through Novak does not make you Novak, simple.

My opinion of Federer is not related to my opinion of his fans. Some of his fans are clinically mad (my opinion), I definitely do not have the same opinion about Fed.

The give-away is your use of the possessive, “his” in describing the skeezer-Fed “relationship”. That is disturbing, and explains the unhealthy, bitchy anti-Rafa posts.

If skeezer’s respect (or lack thereof) for Rafa depends on Rafans’ behaviour then he needs an intervention, of the psychological variety.

I am a Rafan, but I certainly do not consider Rafa “mine”. I can make the distinction between a player and his/her fans. You are saying some posters here cannot………

February 21st, 2013 at 7:24 am

^ Don’t worry, I saw two dots at the end of your post..

February 21st, 2013 at 7:35 am

@WB:

You wanted to say: nobody is peRFect?

February 21st, 2013 at 7:53 am

You can say it that way too, but I prefer the first one without capital RF letters, I don’t know why..

February 21st, 2013 at 8:08 am

@nadalista:

Sorry, mist your post, which certainly doesn’t deserve an answer. But I am in a mood…

I quoted “his cry baby” from another post. In the original, it was “your cry baby”. So his/your doesn’t reveal anything.

My opinion about Rafa is my own. As I said before, I try to be objective, but I don’t exclude that my opinion is biased. But respecting some fans of Nadal, I try to give arguments for what I write, and I usually avoid to write about certain topics.

I don’t bash Rafa. You can always answer to my posts in a rational manner, I’ll be happy to read your answers and to argue, in a rational manner. I have a lot of troubling questions about Rafa, questions that are without answers for years. Dave is usually very offensive, his logic is sometimes flawed (in my opinion), but he, at least, tries to answer and he has a meticulous argumentation.

There are “mad fans” everywhere. (E.g., you can’t write anything about Novak when a certain female fan is present; some of AM’s fans are very aggressive, some of Fed’s too.) But I don’t see why you should start to act in the same manner.

What’s your problem lately? Usually, you are quite pleasant to read.

February 21st, 2013 at 9:33 am

…missed…

February 21st, 2013 at 9:34 am

Finally, I think that the way Skeezer provoked Giles and you to react is the way Skeezer was himself provoked to react so many times before.

So, do what I usually do: skip some posts.

February 21st, 2013 at 9:38 am

^^^ Let’s just hope posters here don’t start another argument as to why they should play the Exo after retiring from Dubai!! Lol

February 21st, 2013 at 10:49 am