Those Damn Knees! Rafael Nadal Has Withdrawn From The London Olympics

That’s Sad news for all tennis fans.
May he recover soon and be fit to play.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:06 am

LOL!

July 19th, 2012 at 11:07 am

Told you so.

Fed or Nole for the Gold.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:08 am

Oh man, feel sad for rafa, he must be heartbroken not being able to take part. :-(

July 19th, 2012 at 11:08 am

Nadal knows he would lose early again in r2 on grass like at Halle and Wimbledon. Hence he withdraws.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:10 am

Aww, that’s sad news for Rafa. I hope he is well soon.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:10 am

Maybe he is focusing on His hardcover game to launch an assault on the north American hard court season! Sad though

July 19th, 2012 at 11:11 am

– RAFA’S PRESS STATEMENT:

“I am not in the right physical condition to compete at the London Olympics and for this reason I will not travel as arranged with the Spanish delegation,” the world number three announced.
“I have to think about my team-mates, I cannot be an egotist and think about myself here. I have to think about Spanish sport, and that one of my team-mates who is better prepared than me can take my place and compete to the best of his ability.
“I’ve waited until the final moment of my preparation and my training, but I cannot do it.
“Today is one of the saddest days in my career. Carrying the flag for Spain at the opening ceremony was set to be one of the biggest honours, one of the most special moments for me.
“For this reason I hope you can understand how difficult it has been for me to take this decision.”

July 19th, 2012 at 11:12 am

Jamie if you dont like the guy then fair enough,but to laugh and gloat about a players injuries is down right spitefull,whats the matter with you have you not got any self respect?

July 19th, 2012 at 11:13 am

^ Kimberly that thought crossed my mind too. The Olympics is only 750 points for gold, and he already has a gold medal. But he can gain a lot of points from Canada until the end of the season, and he could, potentially, end up number one. Maybe he is being cautious with his knees by withdrawing because he wants to make a big push at the end of the year?? Hard to say: it must have been a difficult decision either way.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:14 am

It’s very well-known that a knee problem is essentially psychosomatic. Rosol has done exactly the same thing as Soderling. With the same consequences. Nadal has exploded again in his head. He is out or in limbo for long like in 2009.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:16 am

When you have a knee problem, you have a problem with your ego…

July 19th, 2012 at 11:17 am

@Gregoire Gentil

Agree.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:28 am

This is sad. I might root for Fed or Murray every time, but Rafa makes the sport of tennis better and more exciting so it’s sad when he’s injured.

Now the interesting question…who’s half does Murray end up in?

July 19th, 2012 at 11:33 am

@RZ

Nole’s half of course. They always rig the draws for Federer.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:35 am

@RZ:

I think the seeds now will go:

1- fed
2- nole
3- muzza
4- ferru

MOST LIKELY, andy will end up in nole’s side.

fed will probably moonwalk it to the finals now- AMAZING how things have worked out for him post RG !

July 19th, 2012 at 11:37 am

Federer will get Ferrer in his half and Djokovic and Murray will have a long match in the SF. So Fed meets an exhausted player in the final. NID.

They have always rigged the draws for Federer.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:37 am

@ Jamie. You are one sadistic B@@$T@RD. Do you have any idea how heart breaking this is for Rafa and his fans?

July 19th, 2012 at 11:38 am

The fact that Federer never plays Nadal(horrible matchup) in the SF says it all. ITF and ATP want him to have all the records possible. They will always rig the draws for their idol. *yawn*

July 19th, 2012 at 11:40 am

Omg, I can’t believe it. It is a shock for me.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:40 am

@Mark

Nadull knows he has no chance under the Wimbledon ROOF. It will rain a lot! He does not want to face the embarrassment of being Rosoled again early.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:41 am

@Mark

Nadull already has the gold.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:42 am

@Brando

Remember Federer would enter a very lucky period after RG until the day of his birthday, August 8.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:44 am

Thanks guys for your support during this difficult time. Now, I will focus on recuperating before the hard court season.

I mentioned on this website that I was genuinely injured. I even had to pull out of money grab exhibitions. My love for the game remains strong. I will be back!

July 19th, 2012 at 11:53 am

@ Jamie. Enufffff of your claptrap!!

July 19th, 2012 at 11:54 am

It’s highly unlikely there is anything wrong with Nadal’s knees.

– If he was able to run like a rabbit against Bellucci and Rosol at Wimbledon — the latter simply outplayed him — Nadal’s tendinitis could not have been severe (assuming he has tendinitis).

– And his tendinitis could not have worsened after he stopped playing tennis (and went fishing) over the past 22 days since the Rosol match. Even if his tendinitis did worsen at Wimbledon, with advanced therapy Nadal’s tendonitis should have been alleviated in 7 to 14 days. Pro athletes recover faster than weekend athletes according to sports doctors.

– Furthermore tendinitis is not career threatening and many players play on with tendinitis. Nadal has been playing with knee tendinitis for many years, so a few more weeks of playing with tendinitis won’t end his career.

From my perspective, Nadal is chickening out of Wimbledon Olympics.

– Rafa realizes that Federer, Murray and even Djokovic are much more dialed in to Wimbledon grass than he is, given they played more matches.

– Rafa likes a lot of practice on any surface and he certainly has not been seen at Aorangi Park or any other grass court facility practicing his grass game.

– Furthermore, Nadal knows the grass conditions of the one-week Olympic tournament will mimic the traditionally faster, lower bouncing grass conditions of the first week of Wimbledon. In other words he is much more prone to be upset by another lesser player in a best of three set match. And his ‘aura of invincibility’ will be further lessened if he loses to another lesser player.

So what is Nadal doing? Being smart. he does not need another Olympics gold medal for his legacy. He needs at least another 6 grand slam titles — and he has to stop Federer from winning more slams to increase the gap between them. Plus, maximizing his hard court points is the only scenario for Nadal to attempt making a run at year end No.1 this year.

So Nadal is being smart by sacrificing the Olympics to focus on training and winning maximum ranking points in the hard court season from Canada to US Open — while his rivals Federer and Djokovic and Murray stupidly waste their time, practice and bodies on the Olympics. Canada is the week after the Olympics. When Rafa sees his rivals in Canada a few days after the Olympics he is going to be laughing at these cows trying to adapt to the hard courts immediately after grass.

As well, by pulling out of the Olympics, Nadal did again what he did to Soderling in 2009 — cast doubt on Rosol’s victory over him.

Here’s my prediction: after US Open, Nadal will fly off to Asia — instead of resting and protecting his knees — because he wants the lucrative appearance fees and ranking points.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:55 am

Any one wondering if this has to do with Olympic drug testing policy being more stringent than ITF and ATP??

July 19th, 2012 at 11:56 am

Soooooo Saaaaaaaad!

Hope he recover very soon.

Tennis will be boring without him.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:56 am

I dont understand what has happened to this threads. I see so many comments related to astrology.
Please, lets just stick to tennis.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:59 am

Brando, I don’t know. I believe the Olympics are best of 3 sets, which could work against Fed’s favor. And there’s the dangerous Mr. Tsonga out there in someone’s half.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:18 pm

Rafa has such tragic timing in his injuries :(

Not defending Wimbledon in 2009, the saddest thing I’ve ever seen on a tennis court in Australia 2012, now not making the Olympics :(

I don’t think that he’s strategizing guys, this is the oktmoics, points or no points! But that would be the only positive thing is more rest for hardcourts. Though how can you expect him to be so ready for hardcourt when his injury is this serious?

Best to Rafa in recovery

July 19th, 2012 at 12:21 pm

Yes indeed we have seen this before.nadal chickening out of a gras tournement which he knew he had no chance of winning .
So a long holiday for the bull.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:24 pm

that’s unfortunate news. hope he gets better.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:29 pm

I just now read your post Dave, did not know Rogers cup was only one week after Olympics. Well, time will tell how the olympic-competing top guys will fare compared to resting rafa

July 19th, 2012 at 12:29 pm

I am a Federer supporter myself, but anyone suggesting that Nadal is chickening out/focussing on the hard court season and exaggerating his injury is being very harsh. The Olympics comes once in 4 years and being the flag bearer for your country is such a great honour! It is really sad for Nadal that he isnt able to participate, and it definitely must be something serious.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:31 pm

oktmoics is of course “OLYMPICS”

July 19th, 2012 at 12:37 pm

@ RSP. At last, a sensible post. Thank you.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:37 pm

claudefulsine Says:

Any one wondering if this has to do with Olympic drug testing policy being more stringent than ITF and ATP??
—
You can certified as an idiot without further examination. Now go back to your cave.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:41 pm

I was not seeing Rafa winning Gold this year.He was pathetic againt Kohl in Halle and poor against Rosol.He perhaps knew he wont win it.So he decided to skip as he know he has a gold medal in his kitty already.Smart move avoiding another early round exit.

Even though he will escape this grass season he will not come back strong in hard court swing.He is still velnerable outside clay.The guy has no consistency.No ability to defend any title other than clay.He was a robot will remain one.A Tony machine.

Not undermining his wins against Roger federer but in order to beat Fed he has burnt out himself but playing out of skin i.e humogonous force and power.Fed soaked all his energy and gave him knee tendinitis.While Fed is still enjoying an almost injury free career this guy is suffering now and then.

He will retire even before Fed was a call few years ago I think we are gonna see this unless he finds his feet in the hard court season coming up after Olympics.

About Olympics no one is favorite in a best of 3.And Fed has the least chance IMO.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:42 pm

Wow this is amazing! :) I think Federer is the clear favorite now ..lets see..especially with the roof closed..

July 19th, 2012 at 12:46 pm

Lol so Starnaud Astrology was wrong.. :O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEzui7z7_HE&feature=plcp

he had picked Nadal to win the Olympics..

July 19th, 2012 at 12:47 pm

I dont doubt his motives for pulling out like RZ said,bearing the flag for your country is such an honour,but on the other hand Im hoping Daves right,and its a case of damage limitation,to be fit and fresh for the hardcourt season,and he has a gold medal anyway,still dissapointing though as a fan whichever way you cut it.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:51 pm

@Mark

@ Jamie. You are one sadistic B@@$T@RD
——

Who are you to talk…you son of a gun.

You trash talk Federer on a regular basis so keep your mouth zipped.

Do you have any idea how heart breaking this is for Rafa and his fans?

My condolences to normal Rafa fans(not Mark aka Smeagol).

So now its heart breaking is it?

If Fed had withdrawn you would be gloating and Fed bashing this thread like a freaking rabbit.

So SUCK IT! Your petulant ways have come back to haunt you.

And don’t tell people to shut up(jamie), your clearly the one that needs your mouth washed out with soap.

July 19th, 2012 at 12:52 pm

This conversation is insane! I’m a big Fed-fan myself and there have been times when I have believed that Nadal is slighly exaggerating his injuries. However it is outrageous to claim that Rafa would skip Olympics in order to improve his chances in US hard court tour. No way!

I’m devasteted that Nadal won’t play even if Fed’s chances to win the gold improved and I’m 100 percent sure that Rafa is totally devastated that he won’t be able to defend his gold medal from Bejing.

This is sad day for tennis. It would have been best for tennis to have all the best players in Olympics. Even slightly injured Nadal could have easily made it at least into SF stage… So, stop trashing Nadal and let’s hope that he’ll be fit in US Open and ready to compete with Fed, Nole, Muzza et al.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:01 pm

alison, “Im hoping Daves right,and its a case of damage limitation” – from reading his post, I believe Dave said Rafa is “chickening out”. I was thinking more along the lines of “damage limitation” as you put it. In other words, I believe – no doubt – that his knees are bothering him, and perhaps with the hard court summer ahead, he just decided he couldn’t risk hurting them more but needed a little more time to recuperate. Hard courts, presumably, are hardest on his knees. But he was training; he had accepted to carry the flag. So clearly Rafa thought he would be well in time for the Olympics. But probably with all things considered, he and his time decided it’s not worth it and he should be sure his knees are fully better before returning to the court. Hope he is well soon.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:03 pm

This is really sad news. I can’t see Rafa pulling out of the Olympics just as a purely prophylactic measure – he must actually be worried about not being 100%, not looking ahead to the fall. (Or maybe he shares my disdain for the Olympics as a completely irrelevant tennis event.) Anyway, hopefully he’ll be fully ready in August!

July 19th, 2012 at 1:04 pm

@Eric: any event where most of the top players in the world are competing isn’t “irrelevant,” as you say.

@ Mr. Larvey: you can’t have it both ways. Nadal knows well that his body at this stage can’t withstand a full season if he plans to go deep in tournaments. Either he plays the Olympics and potentially struggles through the summer hardcourt season (if his knees are in fact struggling), which would be bad because he has many points to defend there; OR, he skips the Olympics to give himself more time to prepare for the US Open swing. Whether he’s “recuperating” or being tactical, it’s the same for me either way you slice it.

The tennis world has been waiting for the Nadal camp to “figure out” how best to schedule his season each year, and we may be seeing the realization that there is no great way to schedule him since he’ll always have to play the full clay swing to re-fill his points bank, and that in turn will generally cost him later when Wimbledon and the US Open swing roll around.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:12 pm

@ John. I hope anybody but Fed to win Gold!!!

July 19th, 2012 at 1:12 pm

@tmr, yeah, sure, I was being a bit facetious. But actually I think the ATP evaluates the importance of the Olympics pretty accurately – substantially less than a masters event, more than the 500 events that rarely have more than a couple of top players.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Knees or whatever, bummer he’s not competing at Oly.

—————

Mark,

You can wish ill will and throw insults at Fed, but you can’t take it when you get it back in your face. Now maybe you’ll chill…..

July 19th, 2012 at 1:16 pm

I think this is a strategic withdrawal. Maybe he feels that he needs some rest. What does he have to gain by participating in Wimbledon
1. He has already won Olympic Gold
2. Grass will play like in the first week of Wimbledon, and that makes him very susceptible to an early loss
3. The hardcourt season starts immediately. This will give him a chance to rest up when other top players are pushing themselves trying to win at Olympics.

What is most likely is that there is nothing seriously wrong with his knees. Even during 2009, he was out for a grand total of 6 weeks. That is a scheduled break for most years for Federer. I will begin to suspect a serious knee problem only when I see how he performs in the harcourt series. If you see Nadal making finals in Toronto/Cincy, then you will know this was a strategic withdrawal.

On the other hand if he is sub-par in the harcourt tournaments including US open(by his lofty standards), then he probably has a more serious issue. This year, he has played only a peak schedule in the clay season. I think Rafa realizes that at this point, it is all about slams and he is trying to tweak his schedule to allow him to peak for the slams. He has a lot of wear and tear on his body with his style and remember he has played for 10 years as a professional. Most tennis players start dropping their level when they reach 600 matches. If he cannot play consistently throughout the year, then Nadal may start making even more changes to his schedule to allow him to peak for the channel slams.

Time will tell….

July 19th, 2012 at 1:20 pm

TMR “he has many points to defend there” – Rafa has few points to defend on summer hard courts actually, except at the USO itself where he has finalist points. He didn’t do that well in Canada or Cincy. And even in the Asian swing he didn’t rack up the points. So he has lots of room to gain pre-USO and post-USO.

Personally I think he can be recuperating AND thinking ahead for “damage control”. I don’t see how the two are mutually exclusive. Surely if a player has been recovering from injury and thinks he will be well for the Olympics, his goal would be to play in them. But maybe his team said to rest a bit more because – thinking ahead – they know they have a full and important hard court season ahead of them.

Of course we don’t know. But I don’t doubt for a minute that his knees are messed up; they’ve been a constant on and off issue for years and tendonitis flames up at times.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:21 pm

dari, Olympics will be 28 July to 5 August (finals).
Canada Masters (Rogers Cup)will be August 4 to 12.
Cincinnati Masters will be August 11-19, 2012

So these are three back-to-back-to-back tourneys. Something has to give. Assuming Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Tsonga go deep on Olympics grass, they will have to turn around their game and be ready to play their first hard court matches in Toronto on Wednesday August 8. It would not surprise me if there are some withdrawals from Canada due to fatigue or injury — and unfortunately some sad ticket holders.

Nadal is being smart and strategic. Just like Fed was at French Open.

I’m sure the top players realize what Nadal is doing. It would be interesting to see if any of them tanks before the Olympic semifinals/finals or cites some injury excuse to retire from a match or withdraw during the Olympic tournament… so they have a few extra days to recover and practice for Toronto.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:22 pm

this is again an obvious plot to continously lie and discredit the win of Rosol over him.
He wanted to let us know that he lost to Rosol because of his knee problem and to be more convincing he had to cancel the exhibition game with Nole and then now his participation in Olympics.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:25 pm

Dave, I essentially agree with your post although I would use the word, “being realistic” over “chickening out”. His chances weren’t great to win, he has already won, he cares more about the grand slams, probably planning to try and compete in toronto and the us open (cincy is a federer tournament). I agree with the essence of your post but my wording would have been very different. Well now that hes not there I will actually root for the american players to get metals! I wonder who will replace him, Lopez?

July 19th, 2012 at 1:31 pm

I’m sure the top players realize what Nadal is doing. It would be interesting to see if any of them tanks before the Olympic semifinals/finals or cites some injury excuse to retire from a match or withdraw during the Olympic tournament… so they have a few extra days to recover and practice for Toronto.

I doubt it. Djokovic really wants a gold medal, as does Federer in singles. Also Djokovic will get the #1 rank back if he performs better than Fed. Of course then he has a ton of points and Fed doesn’t to defend so he could likely lose it again with even a small slip or Fed going deep in toronto or cincy.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:34 pm

@Jane, Dc, Sean Randall, RSP, Dari and ALL NON- RAFA FANS who DO NOT DOUBT HIS INJURY:

Thanks for giving him the benefit of doubt, and BELIEVING what he says ABOUT HIS OWN SCENARIO.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:35 pm

http://www.sallykirkman.com/blog/who-will-win-wimbledon-2012

=====================================

Sally Kirkman predicts Nole will win the USO

======================================

July 18, 2012 at 9:29 am

I fancy Djokovic to win the US Open later this year. Gemini’s the sign of the moment until June 2013 so he has every chance of retaining his number one spot. Thanks for your comment.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:38 pm

Kimberly, couldn’t agree with you more. He probably feels that he has little to gain and views the US hardcourt season as an opportunity.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:38 pm

This is interesting. With Gemini being the sign of the moment until June 2013 and Nadal’s knee issues, we could see Nole win the next few slams. Maybe another 3 slams in a row.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:41 pm

@ jake. You are absolutely right. Rosol is a much better player than Nadal. And that is why Nadal has 11 GS, 21 MS and 50 titles. As for Rosol – he has NEVER EVER won any Atp tourney. And according to you Nadal went to great lengths to prove he was injured. He even cancelled the charity match which was to benefit his Foundation. Get real man!!!

July 19th, 2012 at 1:43 pm

We’ve seen this movie before a thousand times, and it’s getting old.

Look, we all know Nadal is going to make a miraculous recovery very soon. This is not anything serious at all.

He just doesn’t want to play if he doesn’t think he can win (what a sporting fellow, hmm?). Withdrawing also means he won’t incur a loss on his record, which he is concerned to have as spotless as possible.

It’s very important to the Nadal mythos for everyone to believe he never loses unless he is injured, and this withdrawal advances that belief because everyone will now think he was injured against Rosol.

Just like he withdrew from Miami this year to avoid being drubbed by Murray or Djokovic, claiming problems with his knees as an excuse, and then made a complete mockery of his own words by destroying everyone during the clay season (except Madrid) with no sign of knee problems.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:44 pm

I cant believe you take statements like that seriously and still feel the need to defend Nadal..

Its laughable.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:46 pm

@THE IGNORAMUS WHO DOUBT HIS INJURY:

WHAT SHRED OF PROVE DO YOU HAVE, OTHER THAN YOUR OWN CYNICISM, THAT RAFA IS PULLING OUT FOR OTHER REASONS?

NONE!

It’s PATHETIC and DISRESPECTFUL to even entertain the idea otherwise!

‘Nadal is chickening out of Wimbledon Olympics’

FROM WHAT AND WHOM?

‘he certainly has not been seen at Aorangi Park or any other grass court facility practicing his grass game’

EVIDENCE PLEASE!

‘So Nadal is being smart by sacrificing the Olympics to focus on training and winning maximum ranking points in the hard court season from Canada to US Open’

OK- so rafa passes on the olympics in order to play on a surface HE HAS LONG STATED is the bad for his knees! SURE!

‘As well, by pulling out of the Olympics, Nadal did again what he did to Soderling in 2009 — cast doubt on Rosol’s victory over him.’

S let me get this right- rafa pulled out of WIMBY 2009, faked his injury, did not win a trophy for 9 WHOLE MONTHS- JUST TO CAST DOUBT ON soda’s win over him in F0 2009- makes ALOT OF SENSE, doesn’t it?

‘.Fed soaked all his energy and gave him knee tendinitis’

EVIDENCE PLEASE!

‘Wow this is amazing! :)’

WOW, FED DOES HAVE SOME CLASSY FANS DOESN’T HE? Fan’s who find it AMAZING when someone is injured.

‘Nadal is being smart and strategic. Just like Fed was at French Open.’

HE IS- just like rafa chickened out here, for strategic purposes of course, fed (the GOAT) CHICKENED OUT from facing rafa in FO final, hence he lost to nole in straight sets of course!

WHAT A BUNCH OF PATHETIC POSTS- doubting a player who for a long time now said that he was looking forward to the olympics, that it is something that he has been looking forward to for a LONG time!

ALL BECAUSE he wants gain points at TORONTO and CINCY!

ABSOLUTE BS!

July 19th, 2012 at 1:56 pm

Rafa posted a picture of himself working out and this message on his facebook ” stretching after the practice, more and more eager to arrive to London”. You guys still think this is all one big conspiracy theory? If you do, I feel very sorry for you.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:57 pm

Brando—I am a Rafa fan and I see the withdrawal as strategic. For PR reasons you have to give an injury reason. But if I was his coach I wouldn’t have sent him there for pretty much the reasons Dave stated before.

He is always vulernarable in the first week of wimbledon, only reason this is his first early round loss in awhile is Rosol had more Cajones and Luck than Haase and Petzchner. Had they not spent 45 minutes closing the roof we likely would not have the term “rosoled” even existing and Rosol would have been forgotton like Haase and Petzchner and whoever else has pushed him in the first week that I don’t even remember. Then maybe he could have grinded out the other matches and had a deep run. But in a best of three, with conditions like the first week, with a small draw with great players, ain’t going to happen. Also Dave is right that the other players that played at least quarter finals have a ton more match practice on grass. He wasn’t going to win.

ANd yes, you don’t want to lose early and lose the aura of invincibility. Lets use a more neutral example. After Serena started losing the aura was fading. Then boom she wins wimbledon. And now, if you watched the stanford tournament where she didn’t lose a set, she really couldn’t have played any worse. yet the other players couldn’t believe that they could beat her. Nobody said, wow, she’s playing like crap I’m going to step up to the plate and beat Serena Williams.

Toronto is a slow hardcourt and Nadal has virtually zero points to defend and the court suits his game, especially if he is fresh. He is banking on others being grassy and tired and himself being fresh to make a deep run. I think he knows Cincy is pretty hopeless but is expecting a deep run at the US Open, again the best of 5 format will benefit him and mentally the other players won’t have as much belief as they would if he suffered not one but TWO early exits. And yes, I see him showing up in the Asian Swing and attempting to gain points. I think he will at least make an effort to end as number one, whether its realistic or not remains to be seen. On outdoor hardcourts he is a very good player, maybe not as good as Nole, but his performance against Berdych, Federer and even Djokovic in Austrailia was excellent.

He is certainly not the favorite for the US Open but if he plays like he did in Australia or in the third set against Djokovic last year and works on his serve a little he certainly is a contender. And if he won that? Lukas Rosol and all will be forgiven and forgotten.

So if I was his coach, I would tell him to bag the flag bearing as nice and emotional as it is, apparently the Olympic Village is a cesspool for sexually transmitted diseases anyway as the athletes are massively promiscuous there, and focus on Toronto and the US Open

Sorry for this long rant. I lost my train of thought somewhere. Hopefully some of you will see some value in this post. Otherwise scroll on down.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:00 pm

@ Brando. I think we have heard it all now from the haters. Absolutely pathetic bunch of losers!!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:00 pm

i have to say, a final thing on the PATHETIC DOUBTERS, this site has witnessed many outrageous posts and claims,

BUT THIS ONE HAS TO BE THE ALL-TIME NO.1 FOR AN IDIOTIC CLAIM:

DHILA- ‘Fed soaked all his energy and gave him knee tendinitis.’

I mean WTF- how STUPID a belief is that! rafa got knee tendinitis? SURE- it explains fed’s strategy for losing to rafa on 18 occasions- JUST so that he could GIVE knee tendinitis to his main rival!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:02 pm

@Sean Randall:

LMAO- awesome post!:-)

July 19th, 2012 at 2:04 pm

Sad news for the bull. He will be missed.

It doesn’t make any sense, as some have indicated, for Nadal to skip the Olympics and concentrate on the NA HC, which begins in about 17 days. If Nadal’s knees need rest, then I doubt 17 days additional time will be enough for him to be 100% fit to play on HC, which is a lot more difficult to handle than grass.

Nor does it make sense to think that Nadal wants to push for the No. 1 ranking and rake in points through the end of the year. It’s not like the guy is a great indoors player, and most of the tournaments post USO where he can rack up 1,000 points are played indoors, e.g., Paris and WTF. The Asian swing are small tournaments, and not worth the risk to his knees.Get well Rafa.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:05 pm

i’m with those who say the Olympics will be lessened w/out Rafa although i would have been rooting hard for him to lose!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:07 pm

@ Sean Randall—-LOL

July 19th, 2012 at 2:08 pm

I think this is a strategic withdrawal. Maybe he feels that he needs some rest. What does he have to gain by participating in Wimbledon
—
Oh please. I want to play for my country. there is nothing strategic about this. Why do you guys double guess everything.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:09 pm

@jamie: what does your psychic say about Sean Randall’s comment of July 19th, 2:00 pm?

July 19th, 2012 at 2:14 pm

@Kimberly:

i KNOW you don’t doubt rafa or his credibility, and it’s COOL if you think that way- they are sound reasons that you provide there.

BUT, unfortunately i DISAGREE with you for the following:

1- rafa has for a LONG TIME now talked about how much he is looking forward to the olympics, what it means to him, the honour of representing his country etc. so NO WAY would he miss the olympics, IF he could play there.

2- the points part- he could GAIN 750 points at olympics! he is already WAY BEHIND fed and nole in the ranking- it WOULD NOT make sense for him to give either another 450 points (RU) buffer on him!

3- rafa has NEVER gone beyond SF at cincy- SF is ONLY 360 POINTS- why skip olympics for cincy then?

4- OUTDOOR HC is pretty bad for his knees, so surely he would prefer playing on grass than that surface?

5- the AURA thing- i think most pros, press members, critics saw the rafa loss as a shocker- something that could have happened to ANY of the top players- for example, federer was taken to 5 sets by benneteau. ONE LOSS doesn’t really change his aura at all, imo.

In summary, i think THERE IS NO WAY rafa would skip olympics IF he knew he could play there!

Best of 3? he’s won MORE MS THAN ANYONE ELSE- i doubt that would put him off at all!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:16 pm

It’s doubtful any of the top players would want to tank at the Olympics to play well at Toronto. We’re talking a gold medal is at stake here, and it’s what a lot of athletes would like to add to their trophy cabinet. With the exception of Murray and Ferrer, it’s for sure Roger and djokovic would want to add an Olympic gold to their GS collection.The diference between Olympic Gold and toronto is 250 points. Who wouldn’t want to sacrifice 250 points for a gold medal?

July 19th, 2012 at 2:18 pm

@Alok:

‘Who wouldn’t want to sacrifice 250 points for a gold medal?’

AGREED- olympic gold>Toronto or cincy!

you win olympic gold- its something that is cherished and valued.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:20 pm

‘”Nadal’s ecstatic reaction to his gold medal in Beijing was one of the great memories from the games of four years ago.

He left everyone inside the stadium in no doubt about how much Olympic tennis meant to him. ‘

SAYS IT ALL really!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18909111

July 19th, 2012 at 2:26 pm

allison,

do yourself a favor and stop wasting your time and energy on imbeciles like jamie. he’s only doing what he does best!
you are not going to change the prejudices of jamie and people like him.

everytime i come to this blog, it’s the same old stale, juvenile crap void of any substance. if jamie wants to spend his time dissecting and ridiculing nadal’s every move, that’s his choice. maybe it helps him sleep better, who knows what goes on inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic.

if rafafans want to do something positive for rafa, they should spend less time going back and forth with this garbage and more time supporting him with good thoughts because it is such a huge lost for rafa not to be participating in the olympics, and i am so sad! i could hardly wait to see him again after his lost @ wimbledon. in fact, i was counting the days waiting for the announcement that he would be travelling to london soon; it’s unfortunate, but at the same time, i am happy that he has learned to look out for his health and not push himself beyond his limits; it’s not worth it! i haven’t forgotten how rafa was booed and jeered during his lost at the 2009 french open by people with a jamie mentality.

this sport has been turned into a hatefest, (especially toward nadal) on blogs by fans like jamie and it will eventually come back to haunt tennis. mark my words! jamie is just one of many who figure their favorite player has a better chance with nadal out of the way. it’s a pity when fans have to wished for another player’s downfall in order for their favorite to have a better chance at winning, but this is what tennis is about now; it’s a sad reality! i have already talked to people who say that they are not as interested in it as they use to be. i’m one of them, but we all hang on in there to support nadal in particular, serena, etc.

in my opinion, those who love and enjoy rafa’s presence need to concentrate on supporting him in a positive manner and ignore this meaningless drivel. rafa fans should already know what he means to them and they shouldn’t need to convince others of rafa’s potential and the magnitude of what he has already achieved in this sport. we don’t even need to dwell on the future because no one but God knows the future; anybody can predict, including jamie. he may even have some posters believing that he actually knows what he is talking about.

one thing is for certain, olympic tennis will not be the same without rafa just as wimbledon wasn’t the same without him. although this has put a damper on my entire day, i am thrilled that rafa has learned to make decisions that will potentially benefit him in the long run. you have to understand there will always be those who find something wrong with what nadal does, no matter what it is. if he wins, they are paranoid; if he loses, they are paranoid; if he doesn’t even play the tournament; they are paranoid. they are just a bunch of 24/7 paranoid cackling hens. they exist on every blog!

i am sorry if it sounds like i am trying to tell you how to handle your business; believe me, i am not! it’s just that i read your 11:13 am post and it triggered my response. anyway, thought i might post a friendly suggestion for rafafans! carry on!

vamos rafa! we love you and you are greatly missed!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:31 pm

It is bad!! nadal & Djoker type players will win easily Wimby now !! Stupid move.

Now all moderate players will win easily 20 Grand slams.

There will be no more upsets in grand slams, boring days in tennis ahead.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:33 pm

@Mem:

EXCELLENT POST! also good to see you back.

the SAD TRUTH is that a great majority will be very happy at the news of rafa’s withdrawal!

Sure they will not admit this, BUT in their heart they know that the truth of the matter is that rafa was a SERIOUS contender for the title, and a obstacle for their fav!

the FUNNIEST thing is, the section that is most happy or that will beneift the most is also usually the one that parades its fav as the best thing ever since sliced bread YET they fear rafa when he is on court against their guy!

and NOW they say rafa is ‘chickening out’ when they KNOW their fav benefits (once again) from his withdrawal!

LMAO, let them go ahead and believe it if they want to!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:46 pm

@ mem. Wonderful post. Says it all!!! Vamos Rafaaaa!! Get well soon.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:49 pm

Kimberley, you suggest his focus is on his “hardcover game”. But how about his paperback game?

July 19th, 2012 at 2:51 pm

Sorry for Rafa and his fans, this is a huge blow for all tennis fans and for the Olympics as well as there is no doubt Rafa is one of the best known athletes who would be at the games.
We can all guess that damage control was part of his thinking, but that doesn’t make the injury any less real: when you have only a Super Bowl game ahead, the only glory of your sport, and then half a year off, of course most players would play NO MATTER the injury, no matter the pain. Tennis is not like that, so naturally there are degrees of “can’t play”. If there were six months off after the Olympics maybe he would play, but maybe its not worth throwing away the rest of the year for him, or his future, either.
One thing we know from history is that Rafa has been great at bouncing back from injuries, so let’s hope we see him do it again.
Though I’d still like to see Fed beat him in NY finals if he does!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:53 pm

Something is surely wrong with Rafa’s health. Missing the Olympics which comes one in four years is not an easy decision for any athlete. I do not think he missed this intentionally. There seems to be a genuine issue with him. Wish him well !! And best wishes to fed to get this first gold which he definitely deserves.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:54 pm

Wow. This is just awful! I couldn’t wait to watch Rafa again and I’ll miss his presence so much! Hope he is back out there soon!

July 19th, 2012 at 2:58 pm

Brando, your cryptic language notwithstanding, there is really nothing hypocritical for Federer fans in believing Federer is the greatest of all time but fearing Rafa more than any other player. The H2H is clear, and anyone with eyes can see the match-up nightmare Rafa poses for Federer.
Just as the Grand Slam, #1, and all other records which add up to “greatest of all time” are clear.
Is it strange to say someone is the Greatest of All Time but there was one player they would usually lose to? Sure, but that’s sports.

July 19th, 2012 at 2:59 pm

@TV:

THANKS for your nice post- and i do hope that rafa bounces back as you say!

it’s ALWAYS REFRESHING AND NICE to see opposing fans be generous and kind to a rival player and his/her fans at a bad moment as opposed to the usual does of hatred and petty pot shots.

July 19th, 2012 at 3:03 pm

Thanks guys and enjoy tennis!

July 19th, 2012 at 3:05 pm

@Brando: oh, we know that if Federer wins the gold, you will be the first in line to delegitimize his win by saying that Nadal wasn’t in the draw.

You’ve already begun the delegitimization process with these sly underhanded remarks:

fed will probably moonwalk it to the finals now- AMAZING how things have worked out for him post RG !

suggesting that Federer’s been lucky recently.

According to Nadal fans, no Federer victory is legitimate unless he beat Nadal. And if he beats Nadal, Nadal was tired. Or injured. Or it was windy. Or his widdle tummy hurt.

And everyone knows indoors is meaningless. Doesn’t count. Because it allows players with superior shotmaking skill to make full use of that skill. And how can that possibly be a legitimate way of winning a tennis match?

July 19th, 2012 at 3:06 pm

@ mem. Why did you disappear for this length of time? Rafa fans need you on this forum so don’t be a stranger please.

July 19th, 2012 at 3:14 pm

@TV:

let me take this opportunity to clear the FED ISSUE:

– Do I BELIEVE fed is GOAT? NO- nor is someone else. AT MOST IMO, you could be called the best of your era.

– Where do i see fed in the games history? as the MOST SUCCESSFUL player of all time, based STRICTLY on the success he has experienced according to the record books.

– so what’s the objection? what i OBJECT TO is the silly comments about rafa ‘chickening out’ from the olympics in fear facing the likes of federer when, as you point out, that is the LAST THING to think of when you see his h2h against most of the big hitters!

‘s it strange to say someone is the Greatest of All Time but there was one player they would usually lose to? Sure, but that’s sports.’

COME ON NOW TV- tennis is an individual sport, surely YOU CANNOT be paraded as the best individual EVER when you CONSISTENTLY lose (as you recognised) to someone from your very OWN ERA- that too your biggest rival!

ULTIMATELY, I DO NOT CARE for this arguement. IF fed fans want to parade fed as a GOAT- then i have NO PROBLEM with it whatsoever.

We’ll agree to disagree, and just move onto discussing the tennis- which cannot arrive soon enough!

July 19th, 2012 at 3:14 pm

Great post Mem thanks,for the most part i actually do ignore the haters,it was just the laughing at the injury that i got annoyed with.

July 19th, 2012 at 3:19 pm

Thank God Rafa has a Gold Medal under his belt. Was looking forward to perhaps another, but it is not to be. Vamos Rafaaa!!

July 19th, 2012 at 3:20 pm

@Steve-0:

CALM DOWN- no need to get a HARDON over my post!

‘fed will probably moonwalk it to the finals now- AMAZING how things have worked out for him post RG !’

WELL HAVEN’T THEY?

He got beat BADLY by nole at RG, suffered a surprising loss to haas at Halle, struggled against benneatau and malisse at wimby- and YET won wimby!

isn’t that AMAZING? I think so- as things did turn out pretty good for him!

‘According to Nadal fans, no Federer victory is legitimate unless he beat Nadal. And if he beats Nadal, Nadal was tired. Or injured. Or it was windy. Or his widdle tummy hurt.’

CAN YOU NAME THEM PLEASE- since i am unaware of such fans!

HOWEVER, some fed fans ARGUE that IF federer loses to someone other than rafa it is BECAUSE RAFA WAS ON HIS MIND- NOT the quality of the opponent’s tennis.

Re: fed v roddick at miami, and DAVE’S NOW LEGENDARY reason for the loss!

‘And everyone knows indoors is meaningless.’

If you think that, then it is fine. I DISAGREE, and i am sure most rafa fans would also.

July 19th, 2012 at 3:24 pm

jamie Says:
With Gemini being the sign of the moment until June 2013 and Nadal’s knee issues, we could see Nole win the next few slams. Maybe another 3 slams in a row.

July 19th, 2012 at 1:41 pm

Jamie, you said Nole won’t win again until RG 2013.

July 19th, 2012 at 3:35 pm

Steve O yeah just to highlight what Brando said,how many times have Rafa fans been reminded over and over again,about Fed having mono in 2008,been cited as the reason Fed lost so badly at the FO,and the again at wimbledon?some people remind us in every post that they send.

July 19th, 2012 at 3:38 pm

I see Brando’s ass mem has also arrived. Brando tell your ass to shut up for all the obvious reasons.

@ Brando. Just give us a simple answer. Why wasn’t Nadal injured during the claycourt season. How the hell can you get injured for no reason. And that asshole does it time and again. He is sad nutcase.Pathetic. What is sad is that he hasn’t retired yet. Nadal go get a life you moron

July 19th, 2012 at 3:40 pm

‘ He is sad nutcase.Pathetic. What is sad is that he hasn’t retired yet. Nadal go get a life you moron’

LMFAO- fed does have the BEST OF FANS around here doesn’t he?

GAME, SET, MATCH TO THE GOAT FOR HAVING SOME OF THE NUTTIEST FANS OF ALL TIME!

July 19th, 2012 at 3:45 pm

I am not a fedfan.just can’t stand these subjective views of nadal fans

July 19th, 2012 at 3:50 pm

I’m a huge Fed fan and don’t much at all care for Rafa’s style of play but this is truly sad news. I feel for Rafa and his fans. My comiserations.

And anyone who suggests some sort of conspiracy or chickening out on Rafa’s part is a grade A idiot. Clearly, the Olympics mean a great deal to him. To suggest he would voluntarily throw away a chance to compete and to bear the flag for his country is utterly asinine.

July 19th, 2012 at 3:51 pm

Seth get a grip on life. The extremes where Nadal resorts to to make a statement is laughable. He will do anything to get sympathy. And you buy it.ridiculous

July 19th, 2012 at 4:02 pm

@Alison:

JUST MONO in 2008? come on there is more to it than that. fed has NEVER lost a match to rafa when he is FULLY FIT. Here is a list of explanation for some of his MAJOR LOSSSES:

– DUBAI 2006: despite being the undisputed world no.1, fed was TOO OLD AT AGE 24 facing a 19 YEAR OLD rafa! plus it was SLIPPERY CLAY- so it doesn’t count!

– RG 2008: fed was suffering from mono. NOW DESPITE THE FACT that it didn’t stop him from reaching the finals here, at hamburg (where he took a set off rafa in the final) and at monte carlo- it DOESN’T COUNT. ALL THE PLAYERS WHO HE BEAT ALSO AGREE THAT FED WAS NOT FULLY FIT, EVEN THOUGH HE BEAT THEM- as we all know, when fully fit, rafa STRUGGLES AGAINST FED ON CLAY!

– Wimby 2008: it was THE LIGHT! Fed COULD NOT see the ball in the dark- EVEN THOUGH RAFA was playing in the same conditions! rafa won PURELY DUE TO HIS STERIOD BOOSTED EYE SIGHT! THIS DOES NOT COUNT!

– AO 2009: BAD BACK- fed’s back played up here after a night of passion with mirka. Hence, why he cried at the podium as he KNEW he should have said no to temptation, and saved his back for rafa onslaught!

– USO 2010 MP V NOLE: he was THINKING OF RAFA in the final, that’s why he lost those MPs and the match to nole. DOESN’T COUNT.

– MIAMI 2012 LOSS TO RODDICK: RAFA’S RESIGNATION FROM ATP COUNCIL. Rafa resigned, so OBVIOUSLY fed was not able to perform as he had rafa on his mind. Again, this does not count!

So Alison, i hope you benefit from my awakening you to the TRUTH and REALITY of some of fed’s famous losses.

it was NEVER the opponent’s quality, BUT the sinister circumstances that were at work against the MIGHTY GOAT!

July 19th, 2012 at 4:04 pm

@oui. Just ignore Jamie. He talks BS. I remember that post you mentioned.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:06 pm

TO WHOEVER MODERATES WHAT IS BEING WRITTEN ON THIS BLOG: isn’t it possible to regularly block/remove any and all posts related to non tennis commentaries, specifically those related to that low IQ pseudo babble for morons called astrology?

how stupid can a peson can be to even believe and take seriously that pile of idiocy; in such a scientific world it’s like having a voice from the 13th century medieval europe hanging around and insult our inteligence? it’s becoming irritating to read this continuos pile of crap in all the threads, having to waste our time filtering it out from legitimate tennis comments !!

what’s next: calling female players witches or doing exorcisms online before a match??

isn’t anyone else bothered by this or is it just me? i’ve been reading the x-blog for 4 years now, and never has the intelectual level of some participants been so low as now…

July 19th, 2012 at 4:10 pm

Brando: when you made your comment, you were obviously referring specifically to Nadal’s withdrawal as being a lucky break for Federer.

And why would Nadal’s dropping out automatically equal an easy time for Federer at the Olympics? He certainly didn’t “moonwalk” to the final at Wimbledon–as you yourself take pains to point out.

He’s lost his last two finals in Halle, which are best of three sets. You might remember that he didn’t face Nadal in either of those matches.

So I don’t know why you are making Nadal’s withdrawal to be such a great break for Federer. And if you’re not saying that, then just what are you saying?

CAN YOU NAME THEM PLEASE- since i am unaware of such fans!

I call your attention to a certain poster’s comments after IW. Maybe you know the guy:

http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2012-03-17/9096.php#comment-255060

I think along with fed’s good play early on- the conditions bugged rafa alot more.

Perhaps you weren’t self-“aware” in this particular case.

HOWEVER, some fed fans ARGUE…

What on earth does that have to do with anything? Can you offer an explication of your comments that is not prefaced with “some Fed fans say…”?

July 19th, 2012 at 4:11 pm

@ Noogie. You really are a head case “How can you get injured for no reason”. The man won 4 consecutive tourneys on clay. He was injured going into the Final which he wasn’t sure he was going to win. Had injections before the Final. Does that answer your stupid question??

July 19th, 2012 at 4:13 pm

At this rate, I should start my own website and hire “fans” to write good things about me. All you damn nut cases…jesus: drug tests, strategic withdrawal, etc. Get a life!

July 19th, 2012 at 4:16 pm

^ Final of FO.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:19 pm

Oh no! The only player in the top 4 I could beat!

July 19th, 2012 at 4:20 pm

@Brando I am glad you are finally beginning to see the light.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:22 pm

These fedthugs are now delirious with excitement in thinking their man is going to bag Gold now that his nemesis has withdrawn. Careful thugs, don’t count your chickens, best of 3, any one of the top 6 can win.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:26 pm

Its kinda funny to see nadal fans critizicing fed fans for coming with excuses. I mean sure there are some who do that but compared to nadal fans it’s absolutely nothing. ‘No one beats a healty nadal wasn’t that something that was almost percieved as fact buy a big big amount of his fans.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:26 pm

@Steve-0:

first of all, i must point out to you that it wasn’t much pain at all to make that point- JUST pressing a few letters on the laptop. MOST PEOPLE would agree it is a rather easy thing to do!

After which i most say that I AM FLATTERED that you searched through previous blogs in order to find a post by my favourite poster, BRANDO, and use it to point out my ‘dislike’ for fed.

BUT, i have a problem with that post: Isn’t it somewhat silly, actually STUPID, to use this post as proof of my dislike of fed:

‘I agree with your comment. Fed needed it more, i cannot begrudge him.

I think along with fed’s good play early on- the conditions bugged rafa alot more.

Nonetheless its rog’s moment- so let him and his fan’s enjoy it! :-)’

COME ON NOW STEVE-O, I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU!

Using a line from a post where i mention that i CANNOT BEGRUDGE FED and saying that it ‘shows my dislike for fed’- somewhat of a poor effort from you steve-o.

POOR EFFORT, USE YOUR TIME WISELY AND PICK A BETTER POST IN FUTURE!

July 19th, 2012 at 4:33 pm

Leila all players have their fair share of fans that make excuses when their favorites loose,and Fed fans are no different to any others,but also all players have their fair share of sensible fans too,myself,Kimberly,Brando,Lulu are all Rafa fans that take defeat on the chin,congratulate the other players fans then move on,so its unfair to pigeon hole us all together.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:38 pm

Besides excuses for his loses the also countless times try to discredit fed and his achievement. Weak era, doesn’t count cause he didn’t face nadal, h2h, it just indoor ect. It’s pathetic. Sure every fan base has those fans but not as bad as him. I never see people on nadal articles when he won something coming with stats like 17-11 or 287-102(?), unlike nadal fans who grab to their much important h2h. Which is logical as that is really the main thing he edges fed in while fed edges him in so much more categories. Must be hard for some that fed is widely viewed as the GOAT.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:38 pm

‘ All you damn nut cases…jesus: drug tests, strategic withdrawal, etc. Get a life!’

LMAO- I AGREE!

I’ll leave this topic know, since all the evidence in the world will not convince the cynics, the haters that rafa is GENUINELY INJURED and not skipping olympics out of choice BUT due to REAL CONCERNS regarding his knee!

BOTTOMLINE:

The olympics will miss the non-attendance of one of the world’s premier athletes, and certainly one of our sport’s leading player.

It’s a SAD FACT- saying that it is so for some underhanded reason, is just PLAIN PATHETIC!

OVER AND OUT!

July 19th, 2012 at 4:40 pm

^ Well said the phrase flogging a dead horse comes to mind^.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:45 pm

@Leila:

‘Must be hard for some that fed is widely viewed as the GOAT.’

IT’S EASY actually when its MAINLY FED FANS who do so around here.

i mean what else are they going to do with their free time?

The rest of us just ignore them in the main when they try to shove their opinion’s down the throat of others. It’s ONLY when SOME CHASTISE other players- usually looking to paint them as an inferior loser- that it RILES posters enough to respond to the idiot who starts it!

Stick around, you’ll soon see it!

July 19th, 2012 at 4:48 pm

@Alison:

LOL, ain’t that the TRUTH!

I’m off, but before i go i’d like to say that even though as rafa fans his withdrawal is sad news for us, as 2 brits though we can ENJOY THE FACT that the olympics will finally arrive to our country and we can hopefully provide an excellent platform for the BEST ATHLETES in the world to showcase their skill and talent!

Especially looking forward to the 100m battle! :-)

July 19th, 2012 at 4:53 pm

@Brando: More evasions, irrelevancies, and non sequiturs. Do you ever come to the point?

First you mention Dave, who has nothing to do with anything, then you put words in my mouth.

I said nothing about “disliking” Federer, nor was I ever trying to “show” your “dislike” of him. Those are your words, not mine.

I only said that Nadal fans often delegitimize Federer’s victories by citing mitigating circumstances. Which appears to be the case in your comment after IW, whatever you might say about congratulations.

For the third time, I am asking you what you meant when you said:

fed will probably moonwalk it to the finals now- AMAZING how things have worked out for him post RG !

Did you mean that Nadal’s loss is a piece of good fortune for Federer?

You’ve have accused Federer’s fans of thinking that, and worked yourself up into a positive lather attacking them for thinking that. But do you yourself think that?

You could be a lawyer or politician, the way you duck and dodge.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:53 pm

@Brando Not just fed fans consider him as such first of all. About the far majority of tennis expert and fans do. With that I’m not saying that you have to, because frankly I don’t care if some don’t. What I do mind is when (mainly) nadal fans try to discredit his achievements. Something that happens alot. Sure there are some federer KADs that are also horrible but again they fail in comparison to the ‘nadal never loses when fit’ fan base.

July 19th, 2012 at 4:54 pm

Mark,

thanks for asking, but
i come and go like the wind depending on my mood; however, i support nadal from wherever i am. also, posting is not one of favorite pasttimes nor do i want it to be.

i browse for articles regularly and read comments occasionally to keep abreast of the latest lies and slander about nadal, if you know what i mean but wherever i am, i am cheering rafa on, just as you guys are.

by the way, mark don’t be so hard on mr. noogie. he’s just a little anxious and insecure. we need to thank him for taking time out to let us know that he is worried about nadal too. i’ll do it! on behalf of rafafans everywhere, i would like to thank mr. noogie for his comments! they mean so much to rafafans. have a nice evening mr. noogie!

July 19th, 2012 at 4:54 pm

@Leila:

‘ but again they fail in comparison to the ‘nadal never loses when fit’ fan base.’

SURE- it’s lovely to see a fed fan make such an ORIGINAL observation/ comment.

Well done, you could pat yourself on the back for that one!

July 19th, 2012 at 5:04 pm

@Brando Funny. When you take digs at fed fans it’s alright but when someone does it back you can’t take it.

July 19th, 2012 at 5:08 pm

i cant imagine that Nadal just pull off the olympics just to gain some points on Hardcourt season. No sense to me. Of course i dont know for sure. But no one has.

I would say that Nadal is not 100% which is not the same of he cant play at all. If the olympics were the last tournament of the year or non-important tournments later, maybe he could risk to play now. But it’s a risk that could compromise not only the rest of the season but also the next one or his career. So it seems to me a wise decision. Of course this could be totally wrong i dont know.

I just dont understand how suddently people just know for sure that Nadal did this and that because of antics and everything.

The world is not black and white. But people tend to see it that way. They just pull or push the grey up or down to match to their own eyes…

July 19th, 2012 at 5:11 pm

@Steve-0:

‘You could be a lawyer or politician, the way you duck and dodge.’

Lol, i am actually a lawyer, who does a bit of boxing when time allows- so i goes the ducking and dodging has come into my blog’s somehow!

Your question:

”I am asking you what you meant when you said:

fed will probably moonwalk it to the finals now- AMAZING how things have worked out for him post RG !

Did you mean that Nadal’s loss is a piece of good fortune for Federer?”

My answer:

Basically i meant what i said in that comment- i think fed should comfortably make the finals now. He’ll be seed 1, ferrer seed 4- so most likely he shall avoid murray and make finals pretty comfortably IMO.

I could of course be wrong- unlike Jamie, i do not enjoy the beneift of having a psychic assuring me as to how the future shall pan out in the world of tennis.

‘Did you mean that Nadal’s loss is a piece of good fortune for Federer?’

I’ll answer that question by asking you one:

Doesn’t it help fed’s cause to have his biggest rival out of the way (a 2 time wimby winner)?

P.S:

IF fed wins, i would not discredit his win at all- as he- as with anyone else- would have done so by being the best from the rest in that tourny!

July 19th, 2012 at 5:18 pm

@tfouto:

AGREED

July 19th, 2012 at 5:19 pm

@Leila:

‘Funny. When you take digs at fed fans it’s alright but when someone does it back you can’t take it’

I know, it is amusing isn’t it?

and you are right, i just CANNOT take it when a fed fan points out that rafa fans make excuses for his losses MORESO than fed fans!

Do you know how HEARTBREAKING it is for me to have a fed fan telling me that?

Please, let’s end it here. Any more ORIGINAL observations from a fed fan about a rafa fan will prove to be too much for me to handle!

It’s past 10.00 pm in the UK now, so i’ll go off and cry myself to sleep on this note- the brilliance and humility of fed fans in comparison to us rafa fan!

(wiping tears from my eyes) leila, you really are a cruel creature aren’t you? ever so mean!

July 19th, 2012 at 5:30 pm

“Nadal withdrawing because of knees tendinitis”
What this means is very simple: “I don’t want to be trashed under the roof AGAIN by a Czech, Serbian, Scott or Swiss”.
As always the problem with the truth is not that it hurts but that it does not have ANY remedy.

July 19th, 2012 at 5:31 pm

@Brando Clearly by your response you can’t. Childish. But not really a suprise coming from a nadal fan.

July 19th, 2012 at 5:39 pm

Too bad!! Rafa will be missed for sure. I am thinking now that aussie final with djokovic might have done a lot of damage to rafa’s knees. That was crazy tennis they played. 6 hrs of running and stopping on hardcourt is not recommended for somebody with dodgy knees.

July 19th, 2012 at 6:23 pm

kimmi agreed, but i think its not recommend to anyone period. Federer included.

July 19th, 2012 at 6:26 pm

@xmike

my feelings exactly. tennis-x has been taken over by crazed mega posters who whip themselves into a frenzy taking down every other poster who might possibly have a different opinion…and yes folks, operative word being ‘opinion’.

July 19th, 2012 at 6:32 pm

andrea you’re sadly true…

July 19th, 2012 at 6:45 pm

I’m glad Nadal won’t play the olympics.
Can’t stand watching his monodimensional game anymore. Same old shoot, over and over and over….
Hope he recovers though.

July 19th, 2012 at 7:29 pm

Brando: “HOWEVER, some fed fans ARGUE that IF federer loses to someone other than rafa it is BECAUSE RAFA WAS ON HIS MIND- NOT the quality of the opponent’s tennis. Re: fed v roddick at miami, and DAVE’S NOW LEGENDARY reason for the loss!”

Nobody has said that every Federer loss is due to Nadal being on his mind – if you so, you need to show us who said every Fed loss is due to Nadal. You also need to control your need to shout needlessly. Capitalization works better when you use it sparingly for effect, otherwise it just looks like you are emotional. If your message is not compelling without capitalization, it’s still not going to be insightful by capitalizing it. My insightful analysis of Federer’s loss to Roddick should be legendary now because it appears, in hindsight even more that I was right – Roddick was not a player who should have beaten Federer at that point in time if it were not for the political distractions caused by Nadal’s unprofessional public resignation. Read my full post on the issue in my reply to you near the bottom of this link, but I don’t expect you to understand what I wrote.
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2012-07-16/10292.php

July 19th, 2012 at 7:29 pm

Sean @ 2pm.

Yes! No more assology! More Tennis.

————–

mem!

mark, meet mem…….mem, meet mark. What a perfect match.

————–

Brando

Re: fedal wars. If you read more closely, you’ll find the war with words is more about the poster(s)than the actual player, mostly.

July 19th, 2012 at 7:49 pm

I wonder what astronomy predicted in the 2009 WTF. Oh yes, all of them because they sense the unstompable force The Great Davy!!!

July 19th, 2012 at 7:59 pm

@claudefulsine: adding fuel to the fire

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/london-games/drug-cheats-stay-home-warns-wada-boss-john-fahey/story-e6frgdg6-1226423321574

July 19th, 2012 at 8:38 pm

Steve-o, Dave…are you two serious? Nadal had nothing to lose. He already has a gold medal. Great competitors don’t chicken out. This is complete bull. The last time Rafa had bad knees it cost him almost one year of his career.

I do expect Rafa to play the USO and I do expect him to do well. He’ll want to make a statement after his early exit at Wimbledon.

Stop looking for conspiracies and alterior motives where there aren’t any. Oswald did it, Americans really did land on the moon, Rafa’s knees are hurt.

July 19th, 2012 at 10:04 pm

JayJay…pretty much every player today is one dimensional. Maybe Raonic (or someone like him) can fix this over the next couple of years. Raonic had a disappointing Wimbledon. I’m picking him as a dark horse go deep at the Olympics. He’s got the big serve and pretty big forehand. His movement is the question mark. Have to wait and see….

July 19th, 2012 at 10:17 pm

“The last time Rafa had bad knees it cost him almost one year of his career.”

So he has bad knees sometimes and sometimes he doesn’t?

Problem with Rafa is, he “cries Wolf” with injuries, fact.

I am not sayin that he is not hurting in the instance. In fact, he made it very clear how excited and proud he was to carry the Flag for Spain. So I believe him, but, its not surprizing that other fans don’t. Just look at his record with these things…..

July 19th, 2012 at 10:18 pm

“pretty much every player today is one dimensional”

What game are you watching? LMAO.

July 19th, 2012 at 10:21 pm

Raonic took Federer deep into a 3rd set a couple of months ago. Then again, Fed and Raonic may just be good friends so Fed rope-a-doped a little to keep things interesting. Raonic, being Canadian, probably apologized to Fed for taking a set off him.

July 19th, 2012 at 10:22 pm

skeezer…name 5 top ten players that play markedly different games. Yes, their strokes look different, but when it’s all said and done, it’s grind it out from the baseline ’till it gets dark, or until the roof has to be closed or if takes 6 hours dammit, I’m staying back on this baseline. 80’s and 90’s tennis had so much more variety. Clashes of styles. Much more interesting and entertaining.

I read an article by Stephannie Myles after the 6 hour AO marathon final. She stated that while the match was compelling, it wasn’t necessarily good for tennis. Staying back and grinding it out until the players are practically passing out is not healthy for tennis. It’s not healthy for the players and it’s not good for the future of tennis.

July 19th, 2012 at 10:30 pm

SG1

Well you narrowed it down to the top 5 only, so, I would agree in part. Fed actually s&v early in his career and now is playing a more attacking game, which is clearly a difference to the style of Rafa. Beyond the top 5 you have a younger crop (Roanic, Isner, etc )that play differenyt . The surface matters also.Iif you want to compare the past ( i enjoyed the variety back the also ) surely it seems more one dimensional now.
However, its not back then, its now. still feel there is variety in styles of games today.

The biggest change today is not so much staying behind the baseline and banging, but hitting offensve shots from defense positions, something back then they could never do….

July 19th, 2012 at 10:41 pm

Feel very sad for nadal. Hope he comes back soon healthy!

@jamie
“This is interesting. With Gemini being the sign of the moment until June 2013 and Nadal’s knee issues, we could see Nole win the next few slams. Maybe another 3 slams in a row.”

Interesting, so who is going to win the olympics?

July 19th, 2012 at 10:44 pm

Does the Greatdavy’s parole officer know he’s on here?

July 19th, 2012 at 10:47 pm

skeezer,

until there’s more than one way to skin the major championship cat, i’m inclined to see tennis as quite 1D. I do agree with your analysis in regards to players today being able to hit offensive shots from defensive positions. I think this, more than any other reason, is the reason Federer has been so dominant. He has a great ability to go from defence to offence, even when he doesn’t necessarily have good court position. It can be freakish at times. As for Fed being more of a serve and volleyer, that was a very long time ago. I think people overestimate the value of his win over Sampras in 2001. For a match, he played beyond his attacking capabilities. However, he couldn’t carry it through and win the tournament the way Becker did in 85 and 86. Fed changed to a less risky style. It has worked well for him so it’s hard to knock the decision. But, someone with his talent level should be better at net and want to get there more. He did volley well at Wimbledon. I suspect that if he could have carried this with him against Nadal, he might have won a few matches he lost.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:07 pm

I am going to post something that is very hurting, are you ready??

I think Nadal quoted injury just to justify why he lost to Rosol….. and also seeing that he doesn’t stand a chance to defend his Olympic gold.

Take it guys….

No, actually I was kidding, I believe that Rafa is injured, it is self explanatory just by the way he has been playing tennis all these years, it has banked hard on his knees.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:09 pm

When my competitor wins a title, I congratulate. When I get injured, his fans accuse me of trying to avoid drug tests, faking injury, etc. Class can’t be taught, it is ingrained. To each his own.

I wish all the best to my fellow tennis players. Enjoy the Olympics.

July 19th, 2012 at 11:24 pm

The Great Davy,

I noticed your great win over the great Finn Neimenen. Then I looked at the name of the tournament. If I were you, I would stay away from those type of names. Just giving you friendly advice.

Your Humble Highness

July 19th, 2012 at 11:27 pm

Skeezer, the reason Isner and Raonic play a little different is outside the serve they don’t have enough game to keep 3 shots in a row in the court. It’s not by choice that they don’t play grinding baseline matches, it’s by necessity as their baseline game and movement and footwork is not good enough to play that style. Federer can play both better than anyone else but with the racket technology today harder to play at net.

Sg1, re federer volleying nadal shots, easier said than done. Maybe off nadal’s backhand. You try volleying nadal’s topsin shots and let me know how it works out. so much spin is pretty hard to volley.

July 20th, 2012 at 12:08 am

If Federer is concerned about scheduling/playing time, he might push as hard as he can to win the Olympics and then skip Canada the following week, given that he’s defending only 90 points there. Playing Cincy would be sufficient match warm-up (and he’s defending more points there), and coupled with practice time, he’d be good for the US Open. He’s playing Shanghai this year, which he skipped last year, and so that’d be another opportunity to pick up points.

July 20th, 2012 at 12:14 am

This must be really a shocking news for Nadal fans. Especially a defending Champion pulling out doesn’t happen often. With his exit, the Men’s draw in the Olympics has definitely lost its lustre and the door has opened up tremendously with all possibilities. Fitness has been a perennial problem for Nadal and his style of play accentuates his problem further. Nevertheless, I wish him very speedy recovery and hope he is back with a bang. Tennis needs him for his competition.

July 20th, 2012 at 12:18 am

Brando,

AO 2009: BAD BACK- fed’s back played up here after a night of passion with mirka. Hence, why he cried at the podium as he KNEW he should have said no to temptation, and saved his back for rafa onslaught!

Were you there in the night holding candle light ??

July 20th, 2012 at 12:26 am

It seems there is a new angle given to Nadal’s withdrawal from Olympics – avoiding drug tests ? Are drug tests taken only during Olympics ??

July 20th, 2012 at 12:29 am

Kimberly,

Re; Raonic,Isner,etc. and playig styles…

Well this was my knock about Roddick. He has a big serve, why not take advantage of it? It drove me crazy to see Roddick in his hey day hit a 140 up the tee, and Fed just blocks it back with a floater. If Roddick would move in offthe floater return and Volley, he would have an easy volley winner. But alas, Rodiick never larned how to S&V. He served a Monster, then promptly stepped BACKwards to hit a GS. Pffft.

I look at it the other way, use your gifts to win. Sure, the big guys like Isner lack the movement of the smaller guy. But if they dominate on there service games they are always just one break away from winning the set.

July 20th, 2012 at 12:33 am

So sad for Rafa and his fans. It’s obvious that Rafa is intensely patriotic and the idea that he’s made a “strategic withdrawal” is just BS.
Brando, how about Steve Redgrave as the gr8est athlete ever, or even Daly Thomson…..;)

July 20th, 2012 at 1:31 am

http://www.tennisnow.com/. For Rafa fans.

July 20th, 2012 at 3:47 am

Testing has been upped considerable after last olympic games

almost as stringent as cycling. if tennplayers were put to those standards we would be shocked by the results .

I strongly believe the spanish airbuble would be popped within a year of testing that way.
Be prepaired for more spanish withdrawals

July 20th, 2012 at 4:24 am

Sienna,

Is drug testing taken only during Olympics in case of Tennis ??

July 20th, 2012 at 4:27 am

Testing is througout the year but olympics really take over when the atletes are in britain.
Wow just imagine the impact it would have on tennis or soccer if testing in those sports were brought to cycling standards. Cycling has been seen as a big offender but if you dont look for drug or blood typical enhancements you can always claim a healthy sport.

NOT.

July 20th, 2012 at 4:43 am

@mark, thanks for the link,
Hope he gets well soon. Miss him!

July 20th, 2012 at 5:37 am

We shouldn’t use our amateur experience with tendinitis to project limitations on Nadal. Dr. Simon Jennings — a top British orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in pro sports injuries — once said that phenomenal athletes like Nadal should be able to bounce back faster from their tendenitis: “A professional athlete is going to recover quicker than a weekend athlete, your office worker.” Furthermore, Nadal has access to and can afford far more advanced treatments than lower-ranked tennis pros get, never mind your amateur tennis player. [If anyone here wants suggestions to resolve serious tendinitis, arthritis or tears probably better than ice, anti-inflammatories and physiotherapy exercises can do, let me know].

Seriously, what serious knee injury did Nadal have after the French Open? Nothing that stopped him from playing two matches at Halle (remember I suggested he would conveniently lose by the quarterfinals because that’s what he did at Queens). And again, nothing stopped him from playing Wimbledon, where he ran like a rabbit against Bellucci and Rosol until outgunned by the latter on slick, faster, lower-bouncing first week Wimbledon grass (when he has struggled against several players before such as Muller, Kendrick, Soderling, Haase, Petzchner, Del Potro, Rosol, etc.).

Nadal has a history of complaining about injury, then magically his knees work again. Remember that dramatic withdrawal from his Miami semifinal, the tournament which Djokovic won? After all the drama and worry, two weeks later Nadal beats Novak easily at Monte Carlo (ok, Novak’s grandad passed away) but Rafa did not drop a set all tournament. It would not surprise me if Nadal’s knees magically work well at both Canada and US Open. Nadal said last December that he is not playing Davis Cup in 2012.

It’s completely reasonable to suggest Nadal is skipping for reasons other than his knees. It’s naive to blindly accept Nadal’s injury excuses, when we have seen teh same script repeated so many times. Top level pro tennis is a multi-million dollar business involving perception. Nadal can’t simply skip the Olympics like any other tournament — he has to give the Spanish people a good excuse (just like Djokovic gave the Serbian people a theatrical injury excuse at the Davis Cup tie against Argentina last September).

July 20th, 2012 at 5:44 am

Jamie, I cant believe what you are saying. Obviously not he wouldnt pull out purposefully. I mean its the olympics! so prestigious with a gold medal on the line. Fine he’s won one, but carrying spains flag, you really think he’d give up such an honour? From a country with a brilliant sporting history, NADAL got the privalege.

So before you post nonsense garbage on this forum, think before you write. You are a disgrace to all.

July 20th, 2012 at 6:00 am

Another Fedfan’s perspective on the state of Rafa’s knees, and what this latest setback portends…………they seem to have all the knowledge, over to you, Bodo!:

http://blogs.tennis.com/tennisworld/2012/07/the-racquet-scientist-rafas-knees.html

July 20th, 2012 at 6:02 am

Dave your a very clever and knowlegable man,and i always respect your posts even if i dont always agree with them,i honestly dont know if your right or wrong about Rafas motives for pulling out of the olympics,i would not like to second guess anything,all i know is Rafas fans like myself were looking forward to watching him play,and are very dissapointed,hes not playing for whatever reasons,so cant we just leave it at that,im sure his fans all feel bad enough as it is.

July 20th, 2012 at 6:33 am

Apparently Andy was having steroid injections in his back to get through RG and Wimbledon. It’s quite likely Rafa was also managing pain in some way. That plus adrenaline could keep u going, but when u stop, that’s when injuries kick in.

July 20th, 2012 at 6:41 am

Dave,

Do you say it is the Rosol effect that prevented Nadal from participating in Olympics ??

July 20th, 2012 at 6:57 am

Michael why so many conspiracy theories?why cant people just believe him when he says he has tendonitis?

July 20th, 2012 at 7:07 am

@Alison, just ignore it,

Some may think injury means the knee cut off, blood dripping 750 points and the bone is sticking out like gold medal. Can’t be help,

Hope our guy fit for next tour.

July 20th, 2012 at 7:48 am

What is the official withdraw reason Team Rafa is giving us?

Injury or just fatigue and knowing he really doesnt stand a chance against TMF?
He is such a lousy champion. Withdrawing from big events so many times and just so we al l know he will be playing HC season.
Fed playes even woth mono, or with a hernia!. He will never falter or throw away a chance to get a big one.

They clearly are different generation Rafa on several occasions has taken the easy way out instead of trying to fight through some pain.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:06 am

All the fedthugs are barking mad. The ring leader , our very own Tennis X resident Rottweiler by the name of Dave posts as though he is the oracle. Just give it a rest ok’d Dave. You are a lonely, bitter and twisted old soul (uh, do you have a soul? ). With nothing better to do you turn to your old friend Wiki. As for the rest of you fedthugs, to name but a few, squeeeeezie, Michael and not to mention old sour puss Sienna, just go to he’ll. RIP.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:07 am

^ old not ok’d

July 20th, 2012 at 8:08 am

Mark what is youre problem? Please keep it real dude!

Everyody is just having normal posings on tennisrelated issues. Well except jamie perhaps with his psychic mombo.

But for the rest of us we all try to pitch in our two cents and we are ok with everyone elses view on things. So I really dont know what youre talking about.

This is ofcourse by far the most hounest site for a tennis follower to comment on. Because there are no biased moderators. Like on tennistalk maybe you can join that little bunch of Fedhaters they are completely in agrrement with youre comments like go to hel’l etc.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:20 am

Alison,

I am not in the job of speculation. I have already posted that Nadal’s absence is a big void in Olympics and the draw is wide open. Here many posters were raising many doubts over his withdrawal and I just wanted clarification from them. That is it. As far me is concerned, Nadal has a genuine reason to withdraw and it is a hard decision which his Uncle too mentioned. But since he has taken this decision, we need to respect it and not cast aspersions is my considered opinion.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:20 am

Mark,

As for the rest of you fedthugs, to name but a few, squeeeeezie, Michael and not to mention old sour puss Sienna, just go to he’ll

Where is the hell ? Have you gone there before ?! Please guide us.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:21 am

Dave Says:
”It’s highly unlikely there is anything wrong with Nadal’s knees.”

a world class, patriotic athlete withdraws from the olympic games citing injury and it is ‘highly unlikely’ they have an injury?

it is highly unlikely you have even homo erectus level reasoning power.

congratulations for making the all time most moronic, delusional comment on this site and intellectually embarrassing yourself in a fashion rarely seen even on the internet.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:27 am

@ Michael. I am sure you will find your way to hell blindfolded. You don’t need assistance!!

July 20th, 2012 at 8:30 am

@ roy. Well said.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:32 am

Thanks Michael exactly Rafa was over the moon to be asked to be the flag bearer,so to pull out without a good reason,other than to rest or fatigue,would not make any sense surely, i dont know why sometimes he just cant be given the benifit of the doubt.

July 20th, 2012 at 8:38 am

As a tennis fan in general (and not anyone’s particular fan more than another), Nadal’s time-wasting/sideline coaching/intimidating tactics are well documented and don’t need to be reiterated. What has surprised me, though, is the slander about his supposed doping regime. Hearing it, it is quite extraordinary and unbelievable. However, out of simple curiosity I have done a bit more research and found more interesting reading. Make up your own minds:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dr-fuentes-caught-up-in-another-spanish-doping-investigation

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-07-04/angry-nadal-condemns-doping-lies/1793250

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10479/Doctor-Fuentes-to-go-on-trial-for-Operacion-Puerto-offences.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Doping_cases_in_tennis

July 20th, 2012 at 8:49 am

Hey, all — guess what? This thread, like so many before it, has devolved — badly — into childish playground bickering.

Many of you are willing to accept that Nadal is having issues with his knees, which is fine. The reason(s) *why* you think he may be having issues with his knees — overuse, chronic flare-up, psychosomatism, whatever — matter less because not one of us really knows why. For this reason, nobody on this forum can speak authoritatively about whether Nadal is having real knee issues or not. If you want to take him at his word (like most Nadal fans do), that’s fine. He’s issued a statement, and it’s documented that his career has been riddled with knee issues, so chalk this up to another segment of the ongoing knees. If you have your own theories about what’s going on (like Dave), that’s also fine. Perhaps some of you are more skeptical about these occurrences because you’ve been keeping tabs on how/when/why Nadal withdraws from tournaments and have come to the conclusion that it seems fishy. Or, maybe you exist elsewhere than on these two ends of the spectrum — also fine.

Whatever your belief about the latest knee-related withdrawal, can some of you come to the simple realization that you are not now and will never be in Nadal’s head or in his camp and thus will never know the actual reasons why such a withdrawal happens? As I said above, if you choose to believe that it’s genuinely knee-related, you will not be faulted for that by most people because it is what he and his team are saying the issue is. If you choose to believe something else, fine. Whatever the case, at least be sensible about why you choose one or the other, and have some fundamental basis (i.e., not fervent emotional loyalty) for why you believe or thing or the other.

Now, that all said, you make a choice as to what you want to *believe* in these cases, not what you *know.* Knowing is watching a tennis match and seeing the result. X beat Y — fact, done. Believing is adopting a particular line of thinking to rationalize things that we see happening. “I believe Nadal suffers from chronic knee issues; therefore, I attribute this withdrawal to those issues.” Or: “I believe Nadal games the system and strategically withdraws from tournaments when he otherwise seems healthy; therefore, I attribute this withdrawal to another crafty move on his camp’s part.”

Which is right? I sure as hell don’t know, and I doubt any of you does either. To be clear, I’m all for sensible debate and banter on this thread because, last time I checked, that was sort of the point. We’re all fans (mostly), and most of us have favorites, but some people here need to grow up. The name-calling, the “you’re-wrong-because-you-make-me-emotionally-upset-so-go-to-hell!”, and the pathetic nicknames for fans of either Nadal or Federer — all supremely immature.

I’m certainly not suggesting that we should all stop giving our opinions or stop enjoying these boards — not at all. I’m simply advocating for a way to do that where this doesn’t turn into the 3rd grade each and every time.

Some very simple suggestions for doing this:

* acceptance: other people have different views from you — deal with it. You don’t have to *like* their opinion or perspective, but you should accept that it exists and find a mature way to address it, if you so choose. As an example, some folks tend to pick on jamie for the astrological commentary. Perhaps you don’t agree with astrology — that’s cool. Nobody’s asking you to. That said, jamie has the right to post astrological predictions here, and while some of you may not like it, I’ve seen at least a handful of people find them interesting. I’m indifferent, but I certainly don’t turn livid when a prediction rolls through. I found it particularly sour when Sean mocked jamie above and told him/her to stop posting the “astrology crap.” Really? I mean, OK, but if you’re so concerned about the “purity” of the discussion on these threads, perhaps you should start your moderation elsewhere. Just because jamie chooses to base his/her predictions on something you may not agree with doesn’t mean it’s any less valid. You sometimes base your predictions on your gut or your emotion, and perhaps I don’t care at all about what your gut or emotions have to say, which to make makes them no more valid than the next person’s thoughts.

* discernment: some people are here to discuss in earnest the latest tennis news; others are here to troll and provoke. Just because someone says something that incenses you/your beliefs/your favorite player does not mean that you need to jump down the well of immaturity with them. Ignore and move on.

* enjoyment: this is all supposed to be fun, and I generally have a good time reading through comments and debating with people the latest this or that of what’s happening. I don’t think everyone here *has* to be here to have fun, but given that none of us is here to make a career in online blogging or opinion-writing, seems right to take this all lightly.

Rant over.

July 20th, 2012 at 10:22 am

Small correction to the above:

“…which to *me* makes them no more valid than the next person’s thoughts.”

July 20th, 2012 at 10:33 am

the mind reels, great post. The best on this thread.

especially the following:

“* discernment: some people are here to discuss in earnest the latest tennis news; others are here to troll and provoke. Just because someone says something that incenses you/your beliefs/your favorite player does not mean that you need to jump down the well of immaturity with them. Ignore and move on.”

July 20th, 2012 at 10:51 am

Nadal may in fact be doping. Perhaps Fed and Djokovic and others as well. However, an inclination to believe that these players are doping doesn’t make it true. When it comes to something like this, there needs to be proof, facts, evidence. Smearing a guy just because you don’t like him just ends up revealing your own biases.

July 20th, 2012 at 12:47 pm

TMR, I share your feelings about moderation. I mean the language that gets through here over and over because someone uses a @ or a $ instead of a letter doesn’t make the language any less rude and/or offensive, and yet we have to see it over and over again. Where is the moderation?! And meanwhile someone is going to banned because he or she posts astrology / predictions? I find the former MUCH worse and considerably more annoying that the latter.

July 20th, 2012 at 1:56 pm

I think in all fairness Sean was kidding about banning Jamie. The long astrology posts are pretty lame and I think the comment was to show his opinion of the majority of Jamie’s posts.

July 20th, 2012 at 2:57 pm

@Skeezer:

Re fedal: very true, sad, but true.

July 20th, 2012 at 3:11 pm

@Margot:

steve redgrave= LEGEND!

I’ll be rooting for muzza now, moreso than ever, at the olympics.

hope he wins and adds a medal to team GBs count!

He’ll have the entire nation behind more than ever, i feel, with it being the olympics!

July 20th, 2012 at 3:15 pm

@Michael:

‘Were you there in the night holding candle light ??’

of course not. i leave fed fans like yourself to carry out such duties. I was too busy celebrating rafa beating the goat ONCE AGAIN on the GS slam stage.

sure felt good at the time. Here’s hoping for something similar at the USO.

Would LOVE to see what happens IF rafa could meet the GOAT, world no.1, recent GS winner at USO.

It would be interesting for sure.

July 20th, 2012 at 3:23 pm

Great post, The mind reels!
If someone can´t deal with other people´s opinions don´t have to comment in the first place…
The idea that every person should agree to one´s opinion X otherwise they´re wrong or have to goto to hell(serious??)is imature and 3rd grader…
“If people don´t know how to play and don´t accept the rules and diversity, don´t come to the playground.”

July 20th, 2012 at 3:24 pm

@Dave:

‘My insightful analysis of Federer’s loss to Roddick ‘

Insightful? more like a post from a blind fan who cannot still comprehend the simple notion that even his own fav is liable to getting beat by others, IF they play better than him on the day.

LMAO, i very much doubt others were calling your post regarding the roddick loss at the time ‘insightful’.

July 20th, 2012 at 3:26 pm

Nobody on this forum can know exactly what’s in Nadal’s mind, and why he is skipping the Olympics.

However, facts suggest he chickened out.

He said he was totally fit at the French Open. He Won the French without losing a set (until the final).

HE played at Halle, despite the monday finish at the French. If he was not fit, he wouldn’t have risked playing a 250 event (remember, Olympics is worth 750 points, and much more in prestige).

Then he had a week off, played well in the first round, and lost to a player on fire in 5 sets in the second round. No talk of any injury in this period, nor a medical timeout in that match. He was running like a rabbit when he got “rosoled”.

Then suddenly, AS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE, he has knee problems!

My guess is he will be running like a rabbit again, on hard courts, in Montreal, just the week after the Olympics.

If he is not fit enough to play on grass the week of the Olympics, it would be surprising if he is suddenly fit enough to play on hard courts the week after.

In addition, since the conclusion of the French open and the startof the Olympics, there is a 7 week stretch, in which Nadal would has played only 4 matches, that too on grass (a total of 12 sets). So he has had plenty of rest. If that is not enough to “HEEL” his knees, how can one extra week be enough to be in shape for hard courts?

Bottomline is – if he plays Montreal, then this skipping olympics was just chickening out, and to be honest, being smart – he knows he can’t win on fresh grass, that too best of 3. So why not just gear up fully for the hard court season, and be a most rested player?

But then, why not just be honest, for a change, rather than faking / exaggerating injuries?

But the last one is a tough ask from Nadal.

July 20th, 2012 at 4:24 pm

@ trufan. Another desperate attempt to demean Nadal. Why can’t you believe and accept the fact that he is injured and hence cannot play at the Olympics? Why the conspiracy theories? And just for the record remember he is not a chicken but a BULL.

July 20th, 2012 at 5:16 pm

@Mark: I’m not defending trufan, but you are one to talk about demeaning other players. Here are some gems you have offered us in recent months:

Mark Says:
Squeeeeezer, squeeeeeezer. Always tryi g to find some good in Choc Boy. Don’t you get it? He is rotten thru and thru off the court. The sooner he gets knocked out the better!!

Mark Says:
Hope the tennis world will finally see the calibre of this Lindor Boy – or should I say total lack thereof. His true colours are finally surfacing. Better late than never – won’t be long now Choc Boy, take some rest in a nursing home. Plonker!!!

Mark Says:
Mad thing. And you need to post in an unbiased manner and stop riling the Rafa fans. Here’s hoping your guy [Federer] gets knocked out SOON!!!!

Keep it up. Your reputation grows bigger and more colorful by the day.

July 20th, 2012 at 5:36 pm

TMR,

Shaammmooonn!
:)

July 20th, 2012 at 10:10 pm

Mark,

@ Michael. I am sure you will find your way to hell blindfolded. You don’t need assistance

Is that the way, you went there ?!

July 20th, 2012 at 11:58 pm

Brando,

Of course not. i leave fed fans like yourself to carry out such duties. I was too busy celebrating rafa beating the goat ONCE AGAIN on the GS slam stage

This is ridiculous. You were the one citing it as though the whole night drama was played in front of you. You were not even respectful to a Great player and spoke in a vulgar way of his loss. You worship his rival, that is okay. But you must respect the sentiments of the others too who have a different view. I leave it to anybody’s judgement as to what you said is right or wrong.

sure felt good at the time. Here’s hoping for something similar at the USO

Somehow you are happy with the losses of Roger and it appears quite special to you if he loses to Nadal. This is normal. I too feel very happy when Roger beats Nadal more than when he wins Wimbledon or US Open.

Would LOVE to see what happens IF rafa could meet the GOAT, world no.1, recent GS winner at USO.

It would be interesting for sure

Nothing will happen. Do not worry. Roger will remain the GOAT irrespective of whatever happens from here unless and until some other player is able to eclipse his achievements which appears improbable as of now. Only Nadal is near, but yet he is too far.

July 21st, 2012 at 12:05 am

@michael

Re; mark.

Are u naive? Look at M&M posts littered with jealosy and hate for anyone who may say anything critical of there love. OCD. Don’t be disheartened by the condemnation of a fool

July 21st, 2012 at 12:06 am

Alsion,

I dont know why sometimes he just cant be given the benifit of the doubt

Definitely. I agree with you !!

July 21st, 2012 at 12:08 am

Skeezer,

Don’t be disheartened by the condemnation of a fool

I am not disheartened in any manner. I am only upset at the way this Forum has stooped to, besmirch the top players. The other day Brando was talking in a very vulgar manner about Roger’s loss to Nadal at the Australian Open and Mark for no reason was losing his temper and condemning all of us to hell as though he was Jesus, the so-called resurrected. I can accept criticism but it should be conducted in a dignified manner and not in this fashion. You may cast aspersions but it must not be in a manner which Brando said like Roger was enjoying the night with Mirka blah blah.

July 21st, 2012 at 12:16 am

@Michael, you have to feel pity for Brando. She’s a hateful, hysterical,(CAPS) filthy mouthed female who is in love with Rafa. Remember she said she went to bed crying two nights ago becoz her Rafa pulled out of the OG? It’s now obvious that her mission here is to make Fed fans life miserable. She’s on other sites using different nicks, but her mission is the same, to harass Fed fans, using vulgarity in CAPS, and she has several jobs. I don’t believe a word she says.

July 21st, 2012 at 3:50 am

Sg1
How about out of the blue he suddenly started to serve like the pistol or any other great server for winning his onl us open so far. He certainly was more buffed up in the upper body within a few months after the clay . he toned that down after wtf.
I can only imagine which amrican baseballer gave him that trainingmethod to upgrade his upper body .

July 21st, 2012 at 4:17 am

Keep it real guys and gals the evidente is all around us .
But you need to be able or capable to look at thefacts with open mind and an objective prospettive.

July 21st, 2012 at 4:21 am

Here is a nice posting from a different site. It gives more background to the fact Nadal withdrew. Just stating not accusing.

Keep it real people. The evidence is there. You just have to look and accept it.

Let your skills take you to success and to Olympic glory without the assistance of any banned substance.

Here’s the official WADA statement released by AIPS Media:

“WADA President John Fahey has called on athletes who are doping to withdraw from their national teams and stay away from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

With less than three weeks to the opening ceremony of London 2012, Mr. Fahey has taken the opportunity to highlight the rights of all clean athletes to compete on a level playing field and to gain due reward for their hard work and natural talent.

“I say this in the clearest way possible: if you are a doping athlete and you are planning to compete in London then you must withdraw from your Olympic team,” said Mr. Fahey.

“Doping is cheating, plain and simple. And if you compete in London as a doped athlete then not only will you be cheating your fellow athletes, you will be cheating sports fans across the world, doing a disservice to your national flag and flouting the ideals of the Olympic Movement.

“A doping athlete cannot achieve success, it is a complete contradiction. Even if a doping athlete were to win a medal he or she would never be able to look at themselves in the mirror and say ‘well done, I deserved this’.

“The Olympic Games is the absolute pinnacle for many athletes, and for them to train endlessly over a four-year period and then have their efforts belittled by a doping athlete, to me that is complete and utter betrayal of what sport stands for.”

Mr. Fahey also applauded the efforts of the world’s anti-doping community in trying to identify doping athletes ahead of the Games, as well as the International Olympic Committee and Games organizers LOCOG for preparing a comprehensive anti-doping program.

“These will be the most tested Games in Olympic history and doping athletes must know that they will be under the severe scrutiny of anti-doping officials from the moment they set foot in the Olympic Village,” added Mr. Fahey.

“The IOC and LOCOG have prepared an extensive anti-doping program that will analyse up to 6,250 samples while the anti-doping authorities are already sharing intelligence to assist with target testing of athletes under suspicion.

“I should also add that UK Anti-Doping is mandated to test athletes in training camps ahead of the Games and has also compiled much intelligence with the co-operation of anti-doping organizations worldwide.

“There has been a coherent effort to make London 2012 as ‘clean’ as possible and doping athletes should know that their chances of avoiding detection are the smallest they have ever been.”

Despite the work of the world’s anti-doping community, Mr. Fahey stressed that ultimate responsibility lay with athletes as to how free of doping London 2012 will be.

“Athletes are responsible for what they put into their bodies and athletes are responsible for whether or not they choose to dope,” added Mr. Fahey.

“The world’s ant-doping community can only do so much. If every athlete decides not to dope then we will have a completely dope-free Games, that’s the simple reality.

“It is up to the athletes and I urge them to collectively take more responsibility for the sake of clean competition.”

Mr. Fahey will be available for further comment at WADA’s pre-Olympic press conference in the Olympic Park at 14:00 on July 25.”

http://www.volleywood.net/volleyball-tournaments/2012-london-olympics-volleyball-tournaments/wada-warns-olympians/

July 21st, 2012 at 5:06 am

@ Sienna. What evidence you nasty excuse for a human being. So that means Gael Monfils is doping?

July 21st, 2012 at 5:55 am

Michael i have to say Brandos a very fair and balanced poster,he always gives credit to Fed, and is always one of the 1st Rafa fans to congratulte Rogers fans, but i think you took that post the wrong way,it was a tongue in cheek sarcastic reference to the select few posters that claim,that Roger lost to Rafa because of mono,bad lighting,etc etc,never because Rafa actually played better,or he looses to Roddick its because Rafa was on his mind,again never because the other player ie Roddick in this case played better.

July 21st, 2012 at 5:57 am

@ sienna. I would bet my bottom dollar that you are a sad old old spinster who has never had a happy moment in her life. So bitter and twisted. You belong with the cavemen!!! Get a life if you can! I really pity you!

July 21st, 2012 at 5:59 am

Marky Mark keep itreal dude .
Dont loose your grip on reality when you enter into internet and commenting on sites.

July 21st, 2012 at 8:33 am

214 comments on a Rafa knees thread……….
209 comments on a Fed beats Sampras’s record thread………..

WTF? I thought this was a RF site………

July 21st, 2012 at 9:32 am

Sienna, if you can make unsubstantiated ,false,stupid comments about a hard working,loved person,then anyone has the right to tell you that you are deranged and need proper medical evaluation to assess your fantasies and hallucinations.Otherwise there is chance that you may become a bane to civilized societies.Take care.

July 21st, 2012 at 11:20 am

Wow, just finished playing tennis in the heat, made myself a nice protein shake with Chocolate Shaekology and Coconut water, and settled down for an enjoyable relaxing read on tennisx. Guess I went to the wrong place.

July 21st, 2012 at 12:39 pm

http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.in/2011/02/curious-case-of-rafael-nadal.html

July 21st, 2012 at 12:42 pm

Sienna you only posted the link fair enough,you say you were only stating not accusing then again fair enough,however the insinuation is there for all to see,and you used Nadals name at the top of your post,i read the link and its a big conclusion you are jumping to,if in fact you are accusing him of what it sounds like,the link wasnt actually about Nadal,so why even bring him into this,it was just an overall generalization of the olympics as a whole?

July 21st, 2012 at 12:45 pm

Alison it is just information you take in when you want to asses or judge a guy who within six months gets the upper body to really force the issue on his serve in his only us open vivtory to date. andafter that one start slimming back to normal size

Sure that is possible look at american baseball.
I still am dumbfounded that he got away with that one.
.

July 21st, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Sienna you have a point,but you can say that about any top player,how did Novak sustain such a level for a year,how has Roger sustained such a level for as long as he has,i dont throw accusations at players because i dont know anything,niether do you or anyone else,and i would never do that to a fan of another player,as its not a nice thing to be accused of,and Rafa pulls out its gone from chickening out,and now people have the idea that he could be doping,cant people just believe him for once when he says he has tendonitis?

July 21st, 2012 at 2:13 pm

I wouldn’t bet my house that Rafa wasn’t using. But I wouldn’t bet it that Roger or Novak or any other player isn’t either. It is entirely possible that all of them do. Or that none of them do. There is simply no evidence either way IMO.

July 21st, 2012 at 2:43 pm

Novak was hitting on the grass with Maria (Sharapova) today; here’s a cute picture for any Nole fans (if there are any of you out there or left around here lol!)

http://caras.uol.com.br/media/images/large/2012/07/21/img-413334-novak-djokovic-treina-para-os-jogos-de-londres-ao-lado-de-ma.jpg

July 21st, 2012 at 2:53 pm

^Or that any other Olympic athlete is/isn’t using.

July 21st, 2012 at 2:54 pm

Thats a nice photo,they would make a really cute couple if they were not both involved with other people shame lol.

July 21st, 2012 at 3:27 pm

Thomas,

Thanks for the link. Usually that site has some iffy stuff but got to give them credit for the good research they use to write with. Stated before, they should not single out one guy however and should come out with a system that is consistent for all Tennis athletes. As Kimberly said, if Rafa is doing it, odds on he for sure is not the only one.

July 21st, 2012 at 3:32 pm

Alok, I agree.

Alison,

i have to say Brandos a very fair and balanced poster
But the way he/she is posting nasty comments about Roger prompt me to differ with your view.

it was a tongue in cheek sarcastic reference to the select few posters that claim,that Roger lost to Rafa because of mono,bad lighting

You say he/she was provoked. May be yes. But the reason for loss at the Australian Open according to Brando was Roger and Mirka enjoying in the night – Is that a tongue in cheek sarcastic reference ?? There are certain things you should speak in a much polished manner when you debate things.

July 22nd, 2012 at 2:38 am

Well lets face it spain was always a sec
ond tier sports country.
But with theresults they hault the last 10 year
every result in any sport is under auspicio. And that is backed by the great blood doping activity in spain.
And the cover up by spain ufficiale and the government attority .

IT IS ALL A BIG FAT JOKE AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED .

July 22nd, 2012 at 3:09 am

Nice try Kimberly/Ben!

do federer/djokovic bump their opponent during changeovers?

i am sure most people will pick nadal as the first suspect, if they had information that tennis has dopers.

too many suspicious withdrawals from nadal – something that federer/djokovic dont indulge in. how many slams or tournaments have federer/djokovic pulled out of in the last 4-5 years!

this olympic withdrawal of nadal stinks the most! he could have a shot at 3 Gold medals for spain. and for a guy who is supposedly oh-so patriotic, hmmm…. it has suspicion written all over it!

July 22nd, 2012 at 5:09 am

Ray
great way of saying what needs to be raid.
Its there to see you justhave to look.

You say it very clearly and for anyone
To understand.
Thanks

July 22nd, 2012 at 5:39 am

Sienna/Ray Yawn you dont know he is,and you dont know he isnt,like Kimberly said none of us do,just the same as for any of the other top players,you just dont see it that way because Roger is your favorite,and you dont want to believe he would dope( I MEAN GOD FORBID),but people could get suspicious and say hows Roger played so good for so many years,and people could also get suspicious about Novaks amazing year last year,and Novak has also had his fair share of retirements hes not the angel you make him out to be, and as much as i dont agree with Rafa bumping Rosol at Wimbledon,i dont know what the hell thats got to do with doping anyway,if you suspect one you have to suspect them all,the hole disscusion is getting old and boring now and pretty pointless,its all based on emotional bias thats all.

July 22nd, 2012 at 10:56 am

Michael i dont know what Brando meant by his post,only he can answer that,but Brando actually does get on well with most of the Fed and Novak fans on this forum,not all as its impossible to get on with everybody,but sometimes i think we all are guilty of running on the crest of our emotions,feelings run high,and sometimes we all say things that are out of character,TBH though ive read much worse on this forum,given the amount of negativity Rafa fans fans stomach on hear sometimes its only understandable IMO nobodys perfect.

July 22nd, 2012 at 11:24 am

claudefulsine Says:

Any one wondering if this has to do with Olympic drug testing policy being more stringent than ITF and ATP??

NO!!!!!!!! The World Anti-Doping Agency promotes, coordinates and monitors the fight against doping in sport in all its forms.

They get tested ALL THE TIME IN AND OUT OF TOURNAMENTS.

This nonense must stop.

July 22nd, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Mem, I agree with every word you said.

Insecurity is the reason for the Nadal hate fest. Ist’s strange that Rafa’s fans wouldn’t rejoice if Federer, Nole or anyone lese pulled out, because we don’t feel insecure about them.

July 22nd, 2012 at 1:05 pm

Ray, Nadal withdrew from the SF in Miami because of his knees. He’s got cronin knee problems. Federer and Djokovic don’t.

July 22nd, 2012 at 1:10 pm

Sorry guys but this is off topic – Golf. Neil Harmans of the Times just tweeted ” Felt a bit like a Rafa/ Roger moment at the 2009 AO there as Ernie Els consoled Adam Scott (minus the weeping).” the history behind this is that Adam Scott blew a 4 shot lead to finish second.

July 22nd, 2012 at 1:58 pm

^ Just thought the compariso was quite funny!!

July 22nd, 2012 at 2:02 pm

comparison

July 22nd, 2012 at 2:03 pm

Alison,

I yearn that this Forum conducts itself in a dignified fashion debating players and the Sport. It is we who are responsible for making this happen. I hope everybody listens.

July 23rd, 2012 at 12:17 am

Nadal has never said he is or was injured. What rubbish. The only thing he has done is taking a break andsome verycommon knee treatments. There is no injury insight. Rogers back issues are much more severe and career treatning.
Nadal has done thismany times before after losing a big tournement . He tries to escape with a injury claim inorder to keep the myth alive .

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:08 am

And opinion. I never heard so much nonsense about doping

Try andactually read something about it and you might get inidea about all the withdrawals.

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:19 am