Rafael Nadal Confirms Knees OK, ‘Preventitive Measure’ Led to Barcelona Withdrawl

This is good to hear, and I think what many of us thought.

April 20th, 2010 at 9:59 am

Awesome. I’m very relieved he’s listening to his body, and taking time off to stay healthy. I want him playing for years to come.

April 20th, 2010 at 10:25 am

Thank goodness! I was nervous after hearing what the Spanish sources said yesterday.

April 20th, 2010 at 10:44 am

Thanks again Tom for being on top of the game!

“..but I have had many problems in this last year and can’t afford to take any risks if I want to be in my best possible condition on court. That’s my main objective.””

From the man himself. Has had physical problems and is playing smart now, picking and choosing accordingly. If he plays like this, his projected playing life could double. Great news Rafa.

I think this tells everyone his knee thing is never going away, and the best way to deal with it and play at the level he wants to is to pick periods of rest against the tendinitis.

I also give Rafa props for doing ANOTHER news conference, and tackle this issue head on for the media and fans. Put’s things to rest :).

Well done!

April 20th, 2010 at 11:34 am

I’ve never been so happy to hear of a player withdrawing from a tournament.

I think we’d all like to see Rafa play healthy for as long as possible, so he can challenge Federer and the next generation of players for many years to come.

You might compare Rafa to hockey’s Mario Lemeiux, and Fed to Gretzky. Arguably Lemeiux was the greater talent, but because he was too frequently injured, Lemeiux never really had a chance to challenge Gretzky’s records.

There have been times when Rafa just seemed unstoppable: almost all clay court events since 2005, Wimbledon 2008, and on hardcourts during the Olympics of 2008 and the Aussie of 2009.

Since Rafa is only 23, if he can channel the form he showed then for another five years, or who knows how long, he could be a top threat on all surfaces for a long time to come.

April 20th, 2010 at 1:22 pm

The schedule management is very smart of him, for his longevity. But what was apparent in Monte Carlo was his new approach he began working on last fall during the Indoor Season – a game more of attack and less of Defense – and this will add to his longevity as much as anything.

It took a while for him to get used to the new strings he’s using, and how best to use them. In Monte Carlo he was taking the ball MUCH earlier off the ground than he ever has on clay, even on the Forehand side. He’s gotten much better at timing the ball to take it on the rise when he has to. And he can still use the Reverse Forehand when he does take it early – if there is any single change in his game today, this one is it. So now he can maintain the heavy spin, and the new strings give him depth and pace. Small wonder then that he was able to win three matches there losing but 1 game. The new attack is cutting down his time on the court, which will also add to his longevity.

Great for him he’s putting it all together. The sheer desire he has to work to become better, and to fix what isn’t working, is truly admirable.

April 20th, 2010 at 1:25 pm

Its funny that a few think Nadal is more talented than Federer when Nadal himself knows and says Fed is more talented.

Guys, just say Nadal had Fed’s number and leave it at that, the world knows who is more talented.

Looking forward to some more great FEDAL matches soon…

April 20th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

I noticed Rafa taking the ball early, but I didn’t realize that it had to do with the racket strings. I have hoped that the changes Rafa made to his game this year would start paying big dividends and I think we are seeing it now. He can close out matches quickly, instead of trading shots endlessly from the baseline. This will help save his knees and also force his opponents to find other ways of beating him.

I love what Rafa is doing! He is taking care of his body, making the necessary decisions with his schedule in order to maximize his chances at RG. Fed has been doing this sort of thing for a while now. He is always ready for the slams. That’s the way to go. But Rafa really has no choice at this point. He is doing this because he has to do it to save his knees. Rafa’s being smart!!!

April 20th, 2010 at 4:52 pm

Voicemale, I love reading your posts.

April 20th, 2010 at 7:24 pm

blank:

Thank you very much.

April 20th, 2010 at 10:37 pm

To all Rafa fans, great article to read:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/bruce_jenkins/04/20/nadal/index.html

:)

April 21st, 2010 at 12:34 am

Vish:

Well said! Nadal being more talented than Federer? Come on!

I actually think Nadal is quite one-dimensional compared to players like, federer, safin, murray, djokovic, agassi, rios, nalbandian, gasquet, berdych, baghdatis. He keeps spinning the ball in and dares the opponent to beat him in 90%+ of his matches. He is danged good at doing that as his record shows and is extremely single-minded about the job, but talented ball-striking, I don’t think so.

He is more like Sampras in a lot of ways and I am quite sure he will end with atleast 50% of his slams being French.

April 21st, 2010 at 1:01 am

To put it another way:

Nadal and sampras would very well have excelled in other sports and maybe other fields too, but federer and safin are made more for tennis than any other sport.

April 21st, 2010 at 1:05 am

Lion says:

“Nadal and sampras would very well have excelled in other sports and maybe other fields too, but federer and safin are made more for tennis than any other sport.”

Quite agree with you. In other words,
Federer and Sampras = Great tennis player
Nadal (or maybe Sampras) = Great athlete

I don’t have any problem if anyone wants to think Nadal is a one-dimensional player even though I don’t agree with it. It’s just the matter of opinion and preference and nothing I can do about it. That said I am totally with you when you said he is great at keep spinning the ball into the court. That is simply because his topspin is undeniably the best in the history of tennis. I read somewhere in the net stating that the ball rotates at an average 3200 rotations per minute. But lately, he tries to reduce the spin and add more power in order to hit more winners.

The rationale of why Nadal is not one dimensional player to me is mainly because of the fact that he is also outstanding in many departments. For example, his backhand is unbelievable, freakish power on it, even sometimes the angle he produced through his backhand is like a right hand shot. His serve, although is not his forte always creates a powerful spin and hard to return. Regarding his forehand, Patrick McEnroe has said of Nadal, his normal safe forehand is the toughest shot in the world. He also does other stuffs like slices and volleys with a very small number of errors. So how can you say Nadal is a one dimensional player when he is merely good if not great in each department?

Re talent thing, to me talent is a gift and it is subjective to be discussed. So I don’t think it is important to argue about who is more talented than who. That said I do believe that Nadal is one of the most hardworking tennis players these days. For instance, to switch from been right-handed player to been lefty player alone is not a one night effort. To me, that is more inspirational and that is why I admire Nadal the most.

April 21st, 2010 at 4:42 am

does anyone know of any link to watch live matches from barcelona?

April 21st, 2010 at 5:59 am

I mean Federer and Safin = Great tennis player

Sorry for all the grammatical errors. English is actually my 4th language…

April 21st, 2010 at 8:03 am

I think Federer would’ve been a pretty good soccer player. Safin is an athlete, too. He has potential to play other sports, but apparently he doesn’t like any sports (go figure).

I think the competitiveness in Federer, Sampras, and Nadal would’ve allowed them to excel in other sports no matter how they’re built.

Ezorra, for the sake of keeping things brief, Nadal’s performance against Murray in Australia should kill off any idea of Nadal being a one-dimensional player. Nadal was doing things I’ve never seen him do before. Things that I’ve never even seen Federer do (and plenty of things you would think ONLY Federer would do). That Murray had the lead in that match just goes to show how good Murray can really be, but the quality in the first two sets was really out of this world. Both of them were able to come up with extraordinary shots to win points.

April 21st, 2010 at 8:34 am

Ezorra, actually it’s Fed who spins it around 3200 rpm, Rafa spins it at a whopping 4900 rpm. That means the ball spins about 80 times from Rafa’s racket to his opponents’. Insane!!!

It’s ironic that when Fed burst onto the scene it was thought that his top-spin was crazy. Then Rafa came in it was like : Whoa!!! How can anyone hit with that much spin???

April 21st, 2010 at 8:44 am

Who thought Fed’s topspin was crazy?

April 21st, 2010 at 9:00 am

I think withdrawing from Barcelona was a smart move. Mainly because he doesn’t want a repeat of last year. ( Competing in all clay events without a break and in result failing to defend his wimbledon and RG titles ) He should skip the less important events, such as Barcelona which is only 500 points. I think he will win Rome if he plays the way he played in Monte Carlo. I hope he wins RG too! Vamos Rafa!

April 21st, 2010 at 10:29 am

Yes Vamos Rafa indeed. Why cannot we have an article on Rafa without someone comparing him to Fed? They are both great in completely different ways, I love to watch Fed because he is a raw talent and beautiful to watch, but Nadal, oh Nadal thrills me like no other on a tennis court, he has the x factor like no other, so competitive, so passionate, so driven, he takes you with him too on the edge of your seat all the way…. and put these two together and you have the greatest rivalry tennis has ever had… = great for the game..

April 21st, 2010 at 10:54 am

Regarding the spin of Federer & Nadal:

It has to do with “where” each of them makes contact with the ball. When you look at slow motion HD video you can see the difference, and you’d have to conclude it’s Federer’s ability to generate the amount of topspin he does which is the more fascinating.

Federer’s Forehand Grip is an Eastern Grip, the classic standard “handshake” position we’re all taught as beginners. This grip is a lot more conducive to hitting a flat shot than a topspin shot. But Federer’s technique on the Forehand is unique: his forward swing on that side is an almost totally closed-face swing right up until contact. If you looked at a tennis ball right in front of you, Federer’s contact point is somewhere between what would be “1 & 2 O’Clock” part of the ball. He drives over the TOP of it creating the spin. It’s more amazing when you consider Federer uses Natural Gut in the Mains of his racquet.

Nadal has the far more proper alchemy to generate the heavy topspin: Semi-Western Grip (actually he cheats to in-between a Semi & Full Western), Polyester Strings, Lighter Racquet – and he uses a grip much smaller than he should: 4 1/4. Nadal’s contact point is somewhere between the “3 & 4 o’clock” point. He gets underneath it, and his forward swing begins laterally, so his motion goes upward brushing up on the ball.

What Federer & Nadal do on their Forehands far more consistently than the rest of the tour is maintain proper Extension on the follow through. If you took a tape measure and ran it from the bridge of their noses to the point where the racquet is directly in front of their eyes you’d see that the measurement is just about always the same – no matter from what contorted court/body position they have to hit that shot from. The difference is Federer is almost always finishing across his body; Nadal finishes over his head (mostly). That extension is what allows their Forehands to do the amount of damage they do as consistently as they do it.

April 21st, 2010 at 11:03 am

Fed has average topspin for the tour, plenty of guys can hit the same rpm, although sometimes it seems his forehand can kick in another gear.

So you can crank it with one stroke hard with maximum rpm? Ok, wow.

What Fed DOES have that is different from EVERYONE else is the variety of shots and spins, now that is different….

April 21st, 2010 at 11:08 am

Voicemale1 Says:

Regarding the spin of Federer & Nadal……

You know your stuff. You use to Teach? USPTA? You know you’re grips :)

April 21st, 2010 at 11:18 am

Where Federer and Nadal finish on their follow throughs doesn’t affect their strokes as much as you would think. Nadal, for example, does finish across his body from time to time and it’s been recorded that he generates the same rpm with both follow throughs.

April 21st, 2010 at 11:25 am

And let’s not forget the wrist action during the stroke…..

April 21st, 2010 at 11:27 am

Federer & Nadal are two of the very few who also hit a Straight Arm Forehand, as opposed to the Double Bend hitting technique.

April 21st, 2010 at 11:58 am

Watch this video for a demonstration of what Voicemale means by a double bend forehand. The elbow and wrist are bent. Roddick is a good example of this technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-D32RwsD_w

You can compare this to Fed’s straight arm or single bend at the wrist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvZ7prb43Lk&feature=related

April 21st, 2010 at 12:20 pm

Another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkDIFP4SK9Q&feature=related

April 21st, 2010 at 12:43 pm

Nelta:

Thank you so much for those. Here’s one of Federer at Wimbledon for a full front perspective:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkDIFP4SK9Q&feature=related

And here is Nadal’s Forehand from 2008 in Cincinnati:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb3smnR6NSc

April 21st, 2010 at 12:49 pm

Both of those clips show their Straight Arm Forehands

April 21st, 2010 at 12:49 pm

After studying more in depth on Fed’s forehand at he doesn’t always “straight arm” his FH. There are plenty of you tube videos of his FH and he does not hit them all with that technique. In some is elbow is bent hitting through the ball. Interesting, I guess he can hit the ball with whatever technique he wants. LOL. What about that wrist flicker BH cross court when the ball is behind him? Now THAT I never saw before he came around…..:)

April 21st, 2010 at 1:09 pm

skeezerweezer:

Federer does hit both versions, but his Off Forehand it’s always a straight arm version. He still hits the Straight Arm more than most :)

April 21st, 2010 at 1:17 pm

Correct Skeezer. Under ideal conditions Fed and Nadal will hit with the straight arm because it provides maximum extension and thus racquet head acceleration for power and spin.

Del Potro is another guy who comes close to hitting the straight arm forehand. I don’t have a good slow motion video, but watching it live you can tell he hits the ball way out in front of him with maybe a slight bend in the arm.

Nadal also has what is called a Reverse Forehand which is named for the follow through and the way it appears to go backwards.(see video link just posted by Voicemail) When you hit upwards on the ball at a certain angle it will result in a follow through over your head rather than across your body. Other players do this when necessary, but it is Nadal’s most common forehand because it generates the most topsin. Andreev is another player that hits this type of forehand regularly.

April 21st, 2010 at 1:27 pm

Voicemale1, NELTA,

Don’t we know our stuff, lol

So when are we joining the tour?

April 21st, 2010 at 1:29 pm

NELTA:

Good point about the Reverse Forehand. As Landsdorp explained it, the Reverse is effective in a second way: the spin is somewhat different than a traditional topspin shot. The traditional topspin hits the court and shoots directly upward. The Reverse hits the court and moves both Up and Away. That veering to the right or left is what screws up the timing of the opponent’s forward swing.

This is why Nadal has the record he does over Federer. Nadal hits his reverse forehand to Federer’s backhand every time. By the time Federer starts his forward swing on the backhand the ball isn’t sitting where it was at the start of his swing. That’s why he ends up eventually shanking his backhand. How much the ball veers will depend on how much Nadal actually gets around the ball at contact.

April 21st, 2010 at 1:44 pm

here’s hoping that nadal and fed meet at the french this year, semis or finals, and roger finally comes up with the goods to beat him.

no small feat of course, but a nice hollywood ending.

April 21st, 2010 at 2:35 pm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jon_wertheim/04/21/mailbag/index.html

for Murray fans.

April 21st, 2010 at 2:39 pm

Nadal slams clay season:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/blog/busted_racquet/post/Nadal-withdraws-from-Barcelona-slams-clay-court?urn=ten,235177

April 21st, 2010 at 2:40 pm

Andrea – Nice Hollywood ending if you enjoy “B” movies.

I hope Fed and Rafa meet at the FO too, and may the best man win.

April 21st, 2010 at 3:26 pm

Great discussion guys on the Reverse forehand, et al.
_______________

NELTA, Lansdorp is a fond proponent of the Reverse FH. Almost all of his segments on the Tennis Channel with respect to the dynamics of the serve, he somehow manages to incorporate a few seconds on the Reverse FH.
_______________
Skeezer: “What about that wrist flicker BH cross court when the ball is behind him? Now THAT I never saw before he came around…..:)”

I think that can be attributed to Fed playing squash at an early age. Look at the fluidity of his wrist when he bounces the ball in his prep for serving, it’s effortless, as in using a micro-mini-trampoline. And, he carries that same fluidity with his ball toss, and the final execution of the serve. Now, that’s a thing of beauty! It’s also the reason he is so great with his placement. And, the same applies to his application of just flicking the ball over the net so easily as well, plus going cross-court. Very nice to watch.

April 21st, 2010 at 4:47 pm

Von,

Now I gotta watch Squash :)

April 21st, 2010 at 6:54 pm

Skeez and Von,

Here are 2 squash shots by Fed in the RG 06 semi vs Nalbandian. He actually hit them for winners which is amazing. Normally, you would slice the forward cross court and deep to allow yourself to get back into position on the court, but on the 1st one he knifed a cross court angle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YQ0jP986_k

April 21st, 2010 at 7:31 pm

replace ‘forward’ with ‘forehand’ on the 2nd line

April 21st, 2010 at 7:37 pm

Some great matches in Barcelona. Is anybody following?

Tsonga V almagro meet again tomorrow..OK, who will win this time, almagro needs to capitalize those break points.

Gulbis impressive win over Chardy. he plays Albert RAMOS-VINOLAS (who?) in the third round..great chance to progress and move improve his ranking.

Ferrero, ferrer, Verdasco still looming large..are we going to see another spanish domination in barca?

Aha! I forgot about Soda pop..he is till popping and hope he goes all the way!

April 21st, 2010 at 8:02 pm

I wonder if Verdasco can capitalize on his good form and Rafa’s absence to win Barcelona? The biggest threat on his side of the draw seems to be Ferrer as Ferrero, Tsonga and Soderling are all on the other side. Be interesting to see. I am going to go out on a limb and say a Spaniard will likely win it. But Soda could prove me wrong if he’s popping.

April 21st, 2010 at 8:03 pm

“I am going to go out on a limb and say a Spaniard will likely win it”

Yes jane..me too, you can’t bet against a spaniard after that performance in MC.

But I am hoping Soda can play well here…might be too much to ask coz the clay in barca is as slow as MC..Rome might suit him better I think..nevertheless lets see what he can do.

April 21st, 2010 at 8:20 pm

Kimmi Says:

“I am going to go out on a limb and say a Spaniard will likely win it”…..

LMAO!

April 21st, 2010 at 8:30 pm

Skeeeezer, it was jane who said it and I second that!

April 21st, 2010 at 8:31 pm

Well, I admit – it’s not a very dangerous limb to go out on HA HA HA! But I guess there is a slim possibility that Soda especially or Tsonga maybe could pull off an upset. : )

April 21st, 2010 at 8:43 pm

aha! jane, its funny that you are calling it an *upset*..soda is no slouch on clay and Tsonga was not bad at RG last year either…

I think these matches will be very close to call, like Tsonga/ferrero in MC..great match!

April 21st, 2010 at 8:50 pm

U gals are too much! Lol, keep bringin it! :)

April 21st, 2010 at 9:41 pm

NELTA: Thanks for sharing the YouTube video — beautiful shotmaking!

April 22nd, 2010 at 1:21 am

these shots of roger – he specialises in the ridiculous!

thanks for the youtubes everyone. Loved every one of them!

April 22nd, 2010 at 9:02 am

I am bored. So this is what happens if neither Roger nor Rafa is playing. Nobody even fights with each other anymore.

April 22nd, 2010 at 10:25 am

I’d say this is as interesting as it gets. It’s easy to say “Federer (or Nadal) has the best forehand, look at that winner!” Voicemale and others have done a great job of disecting his the techniques. Tennis is all about technique and it’s always changing. 10 years ago everyone was following through over their shoulders. Now the norm is to finish across your body. Then there’s the reverse forehand. And that’s just one stroke.

April 22nd, 2010 at 10:29 am

Polo Says:

I am bored. So this is what happens if neither Roger nor Rafa is playing. Nobody even fights with each other anymore.

April 22nd, 2010 at 10:25 am

It’s hard to imagine that fans would get this passionate about any other players in the immediate future as they are about Rafa and Roger. The are the only game in town at the moment.

April 22nd, 2010 at 10:41 am

nadline, what you just posted is just about the smartest thing anyone posted on this blog. Fed and Rafa are indeed the only game in town. Have been for five years now. Sure, I like watching matches featuring other players every now and then, but it’s just not the same.

April 22nd, 2010 at 11:31 am

Kimo,

stay away from nadline. She degrades Roger Federer every moment she can on tennistalk. This “nice” attitude is rare and she was just saying what polo was saying, so they were not “her” words originally.

nadline/chloe/carrie, IF you have changed your attitude when you come over to tennis.x and are more objective, then brilliant. you dont do this on tennistalk, so i do NOT trust you in the slightest.

April 22nd, 2010 at 1:00 pm

madmax -you are mad!

Your words. You are the only poster I know who crosses one forum with amother, no wonder people are fed up with you and you are always getting into fights with people.

Put a sock in it!!!

April 22nd, 2010 at 2:40 pm

Polo: “I am bored. So this is what happens if neither Roger nor Rafa is playing. Nobody even fights with each other anymore.”

You’re so funny. So, you’d like to see some fighting? I think one is about to bloom. LOOOL.

_________________
Nadline: Hi, and congrats on Rafa’s win — glad to see you posting here, and as an additional bonus, you’ve provided my laughs for today. LOL.

April 22nd, 2010 at 2:51 pm

I can’t believe that deBakker beat Ferrero. WOW.

April 22nd, 2010 at 2:53 pm

nadline,

I am very pleased that you are here at tennis.x, you will meet some very fine posters, Jane, Margot in particular, huh, ben pronin, skeezer (an absolute riot, i love him). but just a very sweet welcome to you.

you are so unnecessarily rude and so terribly desperately rude to me. you are quite unbelievable.

I will tell you something that you might want to consider, should you say the awful, nasty things about federer that you do on tennistalk, people here wont put up with it, the way they do at tennistalk and by the way, chloe/carrie/nadline, i thought you said, “tennis.x is boring and the times you have told me to “stay here” and stop talking about how great it is, and now you are here! It’s just great.

I hope you enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your objective, knowledgable comments, particularly on Federer whom you hate so much. There are plenty people here who will put you in your “rightly” place and won’t put up with the nonsense you come out with. I cant wait.

madmax. yes. well, at least you know who I am. unfortunately, despite telling me that I should stick to one name – which I do – maxi (shortened version)- you have so many, I lose track.

I cannot wait to watch you tie yourself up in knots over here carrie, because I am in awe most of the time with the knowledge that is posted on tennis.x from so many fine and wonderful people here. You will just be out of your depth.

knock yourself out.

April 22nd, 2010 at 2:55 pm

Hi Von, Hi nadline… :)

April 22nd, 2010 at 2:58 pm

I missed something – apologies.

Skeeze, i wrote you another post about marmite – so it’s over to you and I’ll oblige.

Duro, i cannot make London, like I said, but have tickets for O2 this November. Hopefully the volcanic ash problem will have subsided by then!

oh dear. Carrie, I dont get into fights with people. I am always respectful unlike yourself, but people will suss you out soon enough. You wont find anything, anywhere that I have said about rafael nadal or any other player for that matter – because I enjoy them all – it is just Federer is my favourite. I adore watching him and I have missed him so much playing – I dont need to say the awful things you say about him which are unfounded, rude, unedifying to say the least. you criticise his clothes, manners, game – it’s just not nice, not professional, but you will be found out soon enough. I cannot wait!

There will be a higher level of conversation over here, you will just find yourself out of your depth.

Hi to all my friends over here.

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Ezorra: Hi to you too! Congrats on Rafa’s win! I’m sure you’re now walking on cloud nine.

What do you think of Rafa’s decision to pull out of Barca? I think it was very wise. I also hope he doesn’t play Madrid, as that did him in last year.

Nice to see you here Ezorra, as I always enjoy reading your posts. Cheerio!

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:14 pm

OY VEY!!

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:15 pm

DEAR SWEET MAXI, HOW ARE YOU? :)

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:30 pm

Hi Mrs.Von!

I have also written on the ‘Rod withdraws from Rome’ thread that Rafa pulling out was a good decision on his part, at least in my opinion.

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Sweet Nice Mrs.Margot:

How are you? Where is Murray BTW and what tournaments is he gonna play as preparatio for FO? Any idea? My studies are not allowing me to be more concerned about the tennis players than my own self, but still I m keeping fingers crossed for Muzza and Rod. Hopefully they’d realise their dreams by this year end. Good luck to them and love to you too.

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:36 pm

Hi Huh:

How ya doin’? Are you still in school, or still on Spring break??

I suppose you feel kinda lost now that Fed isn’t playing, yes? Well, misery has company. I feel the same way about Roddick not playing, but with Andy, I’d prefer to see him NOT play on clay because he always injures himself. I suppose he’s got two left/dud feet. LOOL. That said, I’m resinged to the fact that when the clay season rolls around, I wouldn’t see Roddick’s name in the line-up. But, all is not lost, as I have some other faves that I like to watch playing on clay, e.g., Juan Carlos Ferrero.

What about you Huh, any faves on clay, now that Fed is out of action??

Cheerio, Huh. It’s nice to see you again. Stick around and keep posting.
_________________
Nadline: Copy what I said to Huh. You also stick around and keep posting.

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm

DEAR MAXI, are you going to watch Fed at Wimby this year? And how are ur studies going by the way? I think you are my age too. That’s why asking you. Can only say that I m trying my best to be as good as I can be and improve as much as possible, that’s all. Hopefully I would be one of the Federer of studies! ;)

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:41 pm

Von, I am happy with Nadal’s win. I hope he’ll win FO too. I think that is more significant for his fans considering his unbelievable past achievement there.

Re Nadal’s decision to pull out of Barca , I think it was brilliant! In fact, I think he should have done that last year. Hopefully, he will plan his schedule the way more experienced players like Federer and Roddick organize their schedule.

As I said before, you are one of my favorite posters here. I hope I can see you posting here more regularly like you always did in the past.

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:43 pm

Thanks for your kindest response Mrs.Von. :P

I’m just trying to concentrate on my personality improvement and betterment of intellectual aspect right now. If I lose this time of career, then no Fed is going to come to help me, hence it’s high time I be more concerned about myself than worrying about any money minting tennis dude. But as yoyu must be knowing pretty well, tennis is my passion and can’t leave it entirely. Moreover, it’s always nice to come here and see nice affectionate people like you and get inspired to enjoy my work, my duty. :) So life’s ok, not too bad at this point. :)

And Mrs.Von,
I am rooting for guys like Muzza, Nalby, Nole and of course DP(unfortunately he’s not been much active of late, damn his injuries!). I like even Tsonga a lot, so kind of supporting him too. And also would love to see Robin to make some noise. And thou I am not that much fond of Ferrero, but he’s a very nice guy IMO. So hopefully, for your sake, he gets some big scalps like. ;)

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:53 pm

Mrs.Von:

BTW, you might be very happy to know that suddenly I m gettin mucho attention in my class, have become much more active in classroom activity, and strangely enough, it’s giving me much pleasure. I have all of a sudden become a darling of some of my teachers. Good for me, I think. :D

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:59 pm

Mrs.Von:

I just wish that I can focus on studies and hopefully won’t get distracted. Your good wishes might come in handy in this regard. :P

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:04 pm

Hello Huh!

Yes, my studies are going well, thank you. I was worried about you at one time when I heard that “google” was going to ban the internet access in China – that would have been dreadful not to hear from you again, so I was wondering, is the internet access over there via yahoo now or some other search engine, huh?

I’m fine thanks. Went away on holiday for a while, so havent posted here so often recently, been doing a lot of catching up in terms of reading books, “the girl with the dragon tatoo”, lots of tennis books, “Open”, “Serious” and “Strokes of Genius”, ALL excellent. Now, back at work, and it is full on relentless.

Skeezer has been cracking me up with his jokes, utterly hilarious and a very fine poster.

But it is great to have you back after such a long while and also heard from Duro, inviting me to serbia! (how lovely that would be, one day to meet our friend duro).

Have a girlie weekend planned with Contador (whereever she is, Margot and Jane, some time soon).

But of course, Federer is very much missed Huh. I posted a link above of him training in Europe – some fabulous pictures – you will find them on gototennis – simply great photos, I have never seen roger looked fitter.

I wonder very much where I am It has gone? That guy was amazing in terms of stats, Ben is brilliant on that score too, as is voicemail and Skeezer, so they fill in the gap. But Rome awaits Huh, and talking of that, it would be great for Ben, or Sean or Tom Gainey to put together some “pics” for the forthcoming clay tourneys so we can discuss federer in his full glory again – it’s been too long!

Rome “pics”, Ben? Sean? Tom? I am it? Skeeze?

Take care huh. will see you tomorrow.

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:53 pm

“tattoo”. sorry.

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:56 pm

von: as you’re missing Andy R that v. nice picture of him on the beach must’ve cheered you up no end…….V. sensible he’s missing the clay and having some fun btw.
huh honey hello!: best of luck with your studies from me too. Andy M is in the doldrums (means depression if u didn’t know) right now and I don’t know how long he’ll take to get his head together. Fingers crossed.

April 23rd, 2010 at 1:31 am