Rafael Nadal: I Will Keep Working Hard To Try And Represent Spain At 2016 Rio Olympics [Video]

Dreams are meant to be broker. goals are meant to be achieved.
Iam affraid rafa is dreaming about reaching another olympics. With his strong decline he should take it to the next slam step by step.

July 23rd, 2012 at 9:22 am

I will only be 30 years old in 2016, probably the GOAT-est tennis player of all time. Rio Olympics will be fun.

July 23rd, 2012 at 9:38 am

you can tell by his body language that he is feeling hurt at missing out.

Very unfortunate for rafa.

He should only return once fully fit- when that is, it doesn’t matter, as long as he is 100%!

Good luck rafa!

July 23rd, 2012 at 9:54 am

Hope your dream will be come true, Rafa.

Can’t wait to follow you on next tour, good luck n keep fit

July 23rd, 2012 at 10:18 am

His is getting embarressing. Rafa should do something with his life.
I really think he ahould get married because tennis wise he is at a total loss.

July 23rd, 2012 at 10:32 am

my guess is that rafa will retire in 2016

July 23rd, 2012 at 10:36 am

Sienna, do you enjoy making fool picture of yourself?

July 23rd, 2012 at 10:37 am

Absolutely heartbreaking for Rafa.

July 23rd, 2012 at 10:51 am

I wonder what is really happening with Nadal’s knees. He’s sitting comfortably, which is more than I can do.

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:07 am

Ben, his pain should be only when running, not on rest. Nadal or anybody else doesn’t need to have the knees broken to have an injury.

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:11 am

My knees aren’t broken but I can’t keep them bent for more than a few minutes without pain. I know I have tendinitis, too, but that’s the most manageable part. I don’t think Nadal’s injury is limited to tendinitis either, otherwise he wouldn’t be taking such an extended break.

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:17 am

@Ben Pronin:

‘I don’t think Nadal’s injury is limited to tendinitis either’

I would agree with that- there were murmurs that something else could also be an issue.

No point speculating though. Just hope he recovers fully asap

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:25 am

Ben Pronin. Doctors have said he is suffering from tendinitis in the patellar tendon.

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:26 am

my husband thought he had tendonitus in his knees and he went and got a cortisone shot, didn’t work, then went and got an MRI and there was tendonotis as well as a partial tear. He is out of tennis for six weeks at least. So he went and bought golf clubs and has been playing golf again even though we both a agree it is a game not a sport.

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:33 am

In the meantime it would also be a great help if the Press, Media, journos etc would just leave the man in peace. There is just too much of that stuff going on around him!!

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:34 am

His face shows that he is really broken hearted, can’t participate in olympic. Hope he recovers soon!

When will the olympic’s draw come out, ?? Will Murray be in Roger’s half,
I want to root for David Ferrer or Murray

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:36 am

@ metan. Draw out on Thursday.

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:43 am

@ Kimberly. Do you think the doctors would allow Rafa to play golf during this 15 day rest period?

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:51 am

@Mark—I don’t know. My husbands ortho said he could. Rafa plays golf, he played at my father (who lived up north until he passed away recently) club during the US Open a few times. But as my husband is not a professional athlete, just a bored person who cannot be without a hobby his doctors instructions and Rafas could be very different. My husband is still allowed to scuba dive.

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:59 am

That’s pretty weird. Golf bothers my knees as much as anything. Kinda like when I’m serving, when my knee twists like that it hurts like crazy.

I know where Nadal’s tendinitis is. The patellar tendon is just a fancy name for your knee. It’s not that I’m trying to speculate, I’m just comparing his situation.

I can’t believe I’m about to defend Nadal because I do think he sometimes uses injuries as an excuse for losses. However, for all those wondering why he’s not injured during the clay season but is suddenly injured on grass (and sometimes hard courts). It’s not hard to understand. The clay is soft, which means his knees would be less bothered. But also, the clay allows to slide a lot which means less actual movement. On grass, it’s all tiny little steps which strains the ligaments a lot more. Plus coming from clay to grass and it’s a serious shock to the body. Nadal, unfortunately, is prone to suffering from these kind of things. And just because it doesn’t happen every time doesn’t mean when it does happen it’s some kind of excuse.

July 23rd, 2012 at 12:08 pm

Well, if Rafa is allowed to play golf ( I hope for his sake that he can) I am sure some pictures will emerge.

July 23rd, 2012 at 12:24 pm

Ben Pronin. Thanks for your clarification.

July 23rd, 2012 at 12:25 pm

Nadal should strap his knees for every match or use that tape like Djokovic did for a while on his left knee.

July 23rd, 2012 at 12:30 pm

This injury thing must stop/

Playing Golf, swimming on holiday.

Every child knows playing golf is an really testing sport for your knees. and swimming is also not a good way to lay of any rust on the knees.

Please swimming is killing for the knee. better go cycling there is a sport that can handle knee issues.

July 23rd, 2012 at 1:24 pm

So dissapointing for such a great player. Can’t wait for the 2016 Rio Olympics!
For the tennis fan checkout my hand made tennis cufflinks
https://www.etsy.com/listing/102828370/tennis-cufflinks-real-upcycled-tennis

July 23rd, 2012 at 1:26 pm

the strapping of the knee like djoker did is only for his peace of mind. There is no function the tape has what so ever.

July 23rd, 2012 at 1:31 pm

My dad has tendinitis of the knees and is in horrible pain most of the time. The doctor says he’ll need knee replacement. (Billie jean Kikng had that two years ago and she’s now fine.) If my Dad takes an extended shower, it causes pain in his knees, when he stands for more than 30 minutes. He cannot play golf anymore becoz the twisting and turning of the knee irritates the tendinitis and he’s laid up for at least two days after.

I don’t see how Nadal can play golf if his knees are so bad. His doctor should know this, as most doctors do, that golf and even long walks will cause more pain. a change in doctor should be considered becoz the resent one is not helping the problem Rafa has.

I don’t see the need for the endless debates on Nadal’s knees becoz this has been ongoing for many years. Why not accept it for what it is and move on. How about discusions on other stuff, like the players who won titles yesterday and other tennis stuff. The fighting is a big turnoff for those of us who don’t enjoy that sort of thing.

July 23rd, 2012 at 1:33 pm

Ben,

sorry about your knees :(

” I don’t think Nadal’s injury is limited to tendinitis either, otherwise he wouldn’t be taking such an extended break”

I don’t think so either, in one of his knee injuries in the past he tore something in his knee, no? Not just tendinitis??

July 23rd, 2012 at 2:24 pm

Who knows what the problem really is. I just hope he’s back soon! I miss him so much! Enjoyed watching Roddick win yesterday, though. I guess I’ll root for Ferrer and/or some Americans in the Olympics.

July 23rd, 2012 at 2:45 pm

Amen to that Alok,

i guess nadal has to be rolling around in a wheel chair eating soup through a straw to convince some people that he is injured. if he’s able to give an interview, that to some means he should be able to play. to my knowledge, he’s not paralyzed or bedridden, and we all know he has a history of knee problems, so, what’s to speculate on. some people has to look for something to exploit and some people are wishing something else is wrong. if rafa is concealing some sinister plan or plot, i’m sure we will all know about it in due time. in the meantime, i echo your sentiments, move on! rafa’s word is good enough for me and if he says he’s unable to compete at this time, i have no reason to doubt his word.

i love you rafa! take all the time you need, but i hope it’s not too much longer. you are so missed!

July 23rd, 2012 at 3:43 pm

@ mem. Great post as usual!

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:01 pm

I think Rafa would do well to rest and concentrate on 2012. He appears to be having too many problems with those knees( although Toni says it’s not the knees?????)
This tennis fan wishes him well and am sorry he cannot participate in the Olympics this year.
Hope he’s fit and healthy for USO!!!

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:07 pm

i dont understand…
grass is more demanding than clay?
i will get more tired and in pain after a tournament played in clay nadal-style, than any tournament in grass?
how can he be in perfect health for 3 months and injury after 4 matches in 4 weeks on grass, and 2 of them in 2 of 3 sets, all in early rounds againts average players, why?
he says after rosol lose “i wont talk right now, because it will sound like excuses” well weeks later sounds like excuses too.
i believe the truth is out there, he changed his game, raquet and strings focused on clay, ball are diferent from clay to grass, and in the french his brand make the balls, strings are perfectly matched also for his play, and while it proved good for the clay as he regain his foot on djokovic, it had a price to pay in hard courts and most in grass.
he says he could not find his rythm, true, but because he cant adapt, he is one trick pony, and when everything is not perfect for him he cant pull it off, as show in madrid clay.
he star performing better in hard courts tournaments, and winning the uo and ao, not because he adapted, but the courts were slowed down, the courts were adapted to him, to his style of play, that in irony djokovic plays better, thats why djokovic rise above nadal, djokovic beat nadal at his game in his ground.
nadal wont play olimpycs because he knows he cant play grass with his strings and raquet, or drug test, not injuries.
i doubt hard courts will be any better for him than indian wells and miami, nadal had failed to win a non-clay title for almost 2 years, i dont think he will never win a non-clay again, but i will be surprised if he won more than 2 in the next 3 years, after all he only had 5 non-clay masters in 10 years, 75% of his titles are in clay, he is a one trick pony that cant adapt fast enough.

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:18 pm

If Rafa is really not in shape to play on grass next week, then he will withdraw from Montreal, since he cannot possibly suddenly be in shape to play in hard courts just the following week!

So lets see. None of here can really know the truth. We just have to look at their behavior and actual events, and then find an explanation that makes sense.

If he is in top shape at Montreal, running like a rabbit, then something doesn’t make sense……

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Thanks Mark!

i’m just praying that nadal is back at the rogers’ cup. i can hardly wait to see him play again. it seems like such a long time since his early exit @ wimbledon, but at the same, i don’t want him to rush his recovery. in the meantime, i’ll “keep hope alive.”

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:40 pm

Rafa has withdrawn from Toronto and possibly Cincy. Will get info on Cincy in due course.

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:51 pm

@ trufan. So, you see our favourite rabbit will not unfortunately be running around in Toronto!!!

July 23rd, 2012 at 5:06 pm

@Mark:

Thanks for that, probably is for the best.

IMO, i think skipping cincy would also be a good move.

July 23rd, 2012 at 5:15 pm

i was so looking forward to c rafa at olympics im so heartbroken :(

July 23rd, 2012 at 5:31 pm

@Mark: Can you post the link which says Rafa pulled from Toronto? I looked online, and couldnt find any articles on that..thanks.

July 23rd, 2012 at 5:38 pm

So Nole and Rafa are “one trick” ponies eh? Well, considering Nadal has 11 slams, including a career slam, not to mention multiple masters, and Nole has 5 slams, and multiple masters, including masters on all surfaces, then I guess these two must have ONE pretty awesome trick up their sleeves. ha! :)

July 23rd, 2012 at 5:54 pm

You know, Rafa doesn’t have a lot of points to defend in Toronto. If you’re going to rehab, Rafa, then rehab, for goodness sakes.

He’s so competitive. *sigh*

July 23rd, 2012 at 5:56 pm

@Jane:

‘then I guess these two must have ONE pretty awesome trick up their sleeves. ha! :)’

LOL, they must do with a collection of 16 slams between them!

Seeing as my fav rafa is absent from olympics, i’ll be supporting my homeboy Muzza, followed closely by the other, competing one trick pony, nole.

Here’s hoping for a nolandy final!:-)

July 23rd, 2012 at 6:33 pm

As his team have often explained, Nadal now has chronic tendinitis because the corrective insoles he had to start wearing to enable him to play with his congenital foot defect threw his whole body balance off kilter putting strain on those tendons in particular. It’s always with him but it’s only when the pain gets unbearable that he has to call a stop to playing.

July 23rd, 2012 at 8:08 pm

Krishna,

There is no “official” link I have found either. I will assume he is playing Rogers Cup unless otherwise validated. His name is still in the players list at Rogers Cup…….

July 23rd, 2012 at 8:11 pm

Sean/tennis-x admins

Can two people have the same names/monikers here? The post at July 23rd, 2012 at 5:31 pm was somebody else.

July 23rd, 2012 at 8:48 pm

“grass is more demanding than clay?”

Err…..no…..and depends.

Grass requires more knee bend….important in determining what hurts your knees. If that aggravates your knee issue, then yes. Keep in mind if you don’t bend your knees, you can still reach the ball by bending your back (not a good idea, as this is one of the reasons for back problems on grass).
But grass is very soft overall and is actually very friendly to the body ( my imo, but switching surfaces right away is not a good idea either. The transition from Clay to grass has always been tough, mainly because it is a very quick turnaround ) HC are very hard on all joints, and while Clay is friendly, it does not requre any significnt knee bend, it can be dangerous if you catch a unforeseen divot. Also the tape on Clay is very unfriendly and dangerous. Retirees in our Tennisclub love the Clay as it plays nice on there old body, so they say.

July 23rd, 2012 at 8:48 pm

Reading my previous post again, i realize that it came out slightly differently from what I intended to say; clearly, the software allows identical names to be used even if the email ids were different. But is that your policy? If yes, then there could be multiple skeezers, janes, Daves and others :)

July 23rd, 2012 at 8:59 pm

If Federer wins the gold(big if) then I think he will skip Toronto. Fed is only defending 90 points and Djokovic 1000 so there is no way Djokovic could get back to #1 that week.

July 23rd, 2012 at 9:59 pm

@mark, thank you got your information.

@mem, great post!

July 23rd, 2012 at 11:54 pm

who ever called nole a one-trick pony? did he win all his 1st 4 grandslams at one grandslams?

does he win 75% of his titles on a surface that hosts only 25% of the annual tournaments?

i am thinking not! one trick pony, fake injuries, tennis has a steroid problem – they bring only one person to a tennis fan’s mind!

jane:

stop lumping nole with rafa because you want to kiss brando’s ass! you are one two-faced and two-tongued creature! whoever called nole a one trick pony other than you in this blog?

July 24th, 2012 at 2:10 am

Ray, hmmm, maybe I misread milo’s post @4:18. I thought he was calling both of them one trick ponies, but it was before my coffee so my bad.

Anyhow, I honestly do think – given both of their records – that neither one of them is a one trick pony. And it has nothing to do with anything or anyone else, it’s just my opinion. They’re pretty darn good players. BTW, last I checked I have only one tongue, and it was stuck in my cheek. ;)

July 24th, 2012 at 2:17 am

Jane :

have a dentist take a close look. I am sure he will find another tongue in there! LOL!

Why are you degrading nole comparing him to a faker like nadal? Nole is a much better player than nadal. outside clay, nole has 5 slams to rafa’s 4.

nadal would not have 7 french opens if there were more clay court specialists like in the 90s – bruguera, kuerten and muster. the no.2 and no.3 players on clay for the last decade are federer and nole, whose best surface is not clay.

every in tennis knows who the one-trick pony in tennis is! please dont lump nole with him!

July 24th, 2012 at 2:30 am

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Editor/Img/nadal-and-cotorro-img4894_668.jpg. The 15 day rest and rehab programme will overlap Toronto so we can safely assume Rafa will not participate there.

July 24th, 2012 at 3:03 am

^Sorry article didn’t print out. Headline says : “Rafael Nadal’s medic, Cotorro: stop for 15 days, then rehabilitation and muscle strengthening”.

July 24th, 2012 at 3:10 am

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/. This might work.

July 24th, 2012 at 3:46 am

why dont people leave Rafa alone and let him get on with his life he will compete when he is ready and his FANS will be threre to cheer him on jkoker and greedyfeds keep quiet about him or are you all just jealous he is more popular than them?

July 24th, 2012 at 4:20 am

@Alok
The debates should not be on his knees exactly because yousaid so yourself he plays golf. He has probably one of the best docters in spain and therefor it is proven thatthere isnothing wrong with his knees.

Ignorance is bliss so please keep dreaming of the innocence of the bull.

July 24th, 2012 at 4:52 am

That’s the spirit Rafa! It’s been heartbreaking for us too to know that you will not be at the Olympics, but we are already looking forward to your games thereafter. Things do happen for a reason and for the best too.

July 24th, 2012 at 6:04 am

@mark, tks for the link, it really works!,
You are cool by providing us the latest news of our idol Rafa, I am appreciated, keep posting!

July 24th, 2012 at 6:13 am

I think its great to hear Rafa talking like this,already focusing ahead to 2016,yeah,yeah i know,i know, hes in decline,and theres no way he will still be playing when hes 30 blah blah blah,and obviously he wont still be playing at the level hes at now,but he signed up to play Halle for 3 years,and now hes talking about olys 2016,which shows whatever level he might be at,IMO it does not sound like a person with much intention of retiring just yet,im ready for the haters comments and i dont care anymore.

July 24th, 2012 at 6:22 am

@ Alison. I will second that!

July 24th, 2012 at 6:26 am

Alison,
He might be still playing because there is nothing wrong with him.
He just wont be a factor in mens tennis any more.

That is why I said he should get married because I think it is time to start a family. Didge the T brain and grow up do things Rafa style atlast .

July 24th, 2012 at 8:56 am

I guess We Fedfans may call ourselves very lucky because Fed never ever showed aigns of fatiche of tennis or less motivation . Rafa being lacklustre and less motivation is just a normal pattern tennis players face.
Rafa with his deminishing motivation is in shrill contrast to nadal’s.

July 24th, 2012 at 10:32 am

Of tennis course to Roger’s shear passion and love for the game of tennis . That is in the end what also separates the.

July 24th, 2012 at 10:35 am

@alison: I agree it’s good to hear him talking about the future, and I continue to find it odd that Uncle Toni makes comments like the one he did last week about how this is likely Nadal’s last shot at competing in the Olympics. I don’t know what value is derived from such a statement, and it seems perfectly right to let Rafael do the talking for himself.

This isn’t meant to be a critical statement about Nadal, but I really do think that they’ve never sorted out their big uncle/little kid dynamic, and now that he’s 26, it looks odd. He’s an incredibly accomplished athlete and person — Uncle Toni should do his job of being coach, and that’s it.

July 24th, 2012 at 10:35 am

@sienna,
What do you mean with didge T brain??

July 24th, 2012 at 10:43 am

Rafa still playing four years from now? That strikes me as a tad unrealistic, given how his ongoing health issues, his physically demanding style of play, and the creeping age factor.

July 24th, 2012 at 11:56 am

*given his ongoing health issues

July 24th, 2012 at 11:57 am

marcie,

Here is your article;

ttp://www.tennisworldusa.org/Rafael-Nadals-medic-Cotorro-Stop-for-15-days-then-rehabilitation-and-muscle-strengthening-articolo4997.html

Still, as I said, nothing official yet as he is still listed on the players list at Toronto…..we’ll see, but doesn’t look promising…

July 24th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

cut out the “H”….dang it…

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Rafael-Nadals-medic-Cotorro-Stop-for-15-days-then-rehabilitation-and-muscle-strengthening-articolo4997.html

July 24th, 2012 at 12:07 pm

Metan,
Uncle tony is the man who made rafa the player he is todate .
He sacrifici a lot .
The relationship with the parents and T is so and so.
A marriage is out of the question with the T as the leader and #1 decider in team rafa.
He should go his own way and proof the world he can win slams on his own .
Iam actually saying T is holding him back.

July 24th, 2012 at 2:08 pm

This is a Joke right? At 2016 Nadal will need a wheelchair to move.

July 24th, 2012 at 3:10 pm

Sienna,

i’m sure you believe this nonsense you post everyday, and i am eager to know how you know that the “relationship with the parents and toni is so, so.” do you live with them or did one of them tell you?

also, please explain to me why rafa would need to prove to you or the “world” that he can win slams when he has 11 @ the age of 26?

why don’t you just turn pro or apply for a coaching job, since you seem to have all the answers? i’m sure players would be lining up to snatch you considering all your make believe credentials.

no relationship is without its problems. you probably would love for rafa to get rid of uncle toni so that another coach can potentially share all rafa’s secrets and strategies with other players and coaches. no other coach will be able to enforce the structure and discipline that has been a driving force behind the enormity of rafa’s success.

like rafa said before, toni has young children and if he wants to leave to be spend time with his children,that will be his decision, but rafa says he has no intention of parting ways with his uncle and he shouldn’t. i;ll say, rafa knows exactly what he’s doing and in my opinion, it is the right decision.

bottom line, rafa nadal is where he is supposed to be, which is, with his uncle. they love each other! uncle toni is going to always look out for him. no other coach is going to have the impact on rafa’s career that toni does. anyway, what family members do you know that don’t have disagreements about certain things? that’s life!

you’re not concerned about whether toni is making the right decisions for rafa, you have an ulterior motive, which is, anything that will help impede rafa’s success you are all for it. when did you start caring so much about rafa’s future anyway? why don’t you provide some suggestions for andy murray, since he hasn’t been able to win his first slam yet? i’m sure you know exactly what he needs to do!

July 24th, 2012 at 3:37 pm

@ mem. Great post. I hope that puts her in her place!!

July 24th, 2012 at 3:50 pm

I see your point, Sienna. Uncle Toni seems to dictate everything. He always makes comments that sometimes are opposite to what Nadal later says or does. You have very good observation about human behavior.

July 24th, 2012 at 4:22 pm

Sienna i actually agree with you for once,Uncle Tony is responsible for making Rafa the player he is today,however i do think its time Rafa had a new direction and went a different way,a change is as good as a rest as they say,however decline or no decline i think its down to him to choose how long he plays for and when he retires,both Roddick and Hewitt are in their 30s and still enjoy playing the game by the looks of it,so why not Rafa,also can we leave his private life out of it,its exactly that private,let him decide when he wants to retire,get married and start a family.

July 24th, 2012 at 5:41 pm

Let’s see, Toronto withdrawal is not yet official.

Cincy is just the week after, so it really doesn’t make much sense for him to play there either, if he is really injured. Its also a superfast court, and with the heat these days, the ball is really going to fly.

We will know in a week or two whether he is really injured. If he skips toronto, and then Cincy, then definitely, his body has some trouble going with it. That will put him in a bad shape at the USO as well, since he wouldn’t have played for a long time, and will be really rusty. of all players, he really needs to play a lot to be in touch.

Perhaps he will do a “Borg” and announce his retirement? Its the same age (26, when Borg did it), and the same number of slams (11). Now that he has the French record (7 slams), and less chance of adding to it, why not save your body, rather than have a horrible old age with knee replacements, hip replacements, and every other artificial joint. He must be pretty rich already. Its unlikely he will get to No 1 again.

July 24th, 2012 at 5:55 pm

Dave’s community service for those suffering from severe tendinitis will be in in my next post directly below… once the moderator clears it (there are many links).

July 24th, 2012 at 6:00 pm

Alternative solutions for tendinitis and similar ailments.

If strengthening exercises (physiotherapy), prescription anti-inflammatory pills/cream (e.g., diclofenac), icing, surgically cutting off your tendon, bee sting therapy, etc have not worked – then repeating and repeating the same old ineffective solutions over and over again is still not going to work. That’s when you should fire your physio/doctor and look for other therapies.

This list of solutions below is not exhaustive (I have additional suggestions), but these solutions are more accessible to most people (the magnets are available from the supplier listed; a good health food store should be able to help you find all the other pill and cream products).

A lot of information is provided so you can educate yourself. These products are generally very safe, but you should always read any cautions/warnings (if any) in the product information before buying anything (and note that I am not responsible for your decision to use any product mentioned).

Note that a chronic injury such as tendinitis may need some experimentation to find a solution that works for your individual body (you may need to use a combination of products). My suggestion is to start with No. 1 (Fast Joint Care+)… if the benefits are not significant after 10 to 14 days then add No. 2 (Genacol)… and after another 10 to 14 days add No. 3 (Medical Magnets). Personally I would start with the medical magnets plus either 1 or 2, but for others it’s easier to start with the pills or cream. If the problem persists pick one anti-inflammatory from No. 4, 5 or 6 (you don’t have to use all three different products, but it’s safe to use all three if you desire). If the pain is unbearable, use No. 7 (Livrelief) and/or No.4 (Celadrin) creams. Once it’s working (i.e., less pain, more mobility) try to remove one product at a time to identify which product is working best for you (some people need a combination of two or three products).

1. Fast Joint Care+ capsules (from Genuine Health): This product has several ingredients (including NEM) which help with joint problems. Derived from egg shells, NEM (natural eggshell membrane, believe it or not) provides essential nutrients for proper joint health and flexibility.
http://www.genuinehealth.com/fast-joint-care-1.html
http://www.membrell.com/category/research/joint-health/

2. Genacol gel cream: provides hydrolyzed collagen with the amino acids contributing to the formation of tendons, cartilage and other collagenous fibers related to joint pain. Tendons are bundles of collageneous fibers (i.e., tendons are mostly made of collagen)
http://international.genacol.com/en/genacol-instant-gel
http://international.genacol.com/en/collagen
http://international.genacol.com/en/collagen/collagen-and-ligaments
http://international.genacol.com/en/frequently-asked-questions-about-genacol
http://international.genacol.com/en/clinical-studies
http://international.genacol.com/en/booklet

3. Medical magnets: Medical magnets are one of the most effective remedies for tendonitis and other injuries as it calms the nerves, reduces inflammation, alkalinizes the area and facilitates healing. The downside is that you have to strap something to your knees that weighs 1 to 3 lbs (you get used to it). Contact Linwood Lothrop at Polar Power Magnets, and ask him what most effective magnet set up to use on your tendinitis and where it is located. You can get the magnet products (probably a comfort-covered ceramic magnet, flexible magnet mat and wrap/strap) as well as educational materials shipped (e.g., the book “Magnet Therapy: An Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide” and booklet “Athletic Injuries; Magnetic Healing of Soft Tissue, Cartilage and Bone”). This is the cutting edge of static magnet therapy, based on the research led by William Philpott, MD, whose family runs this company.
http://polarpowermagnets.com/?page_id=15

4. Celadrin Lotion/Cream: This is a safe anti-inflammatory cream that gives quick relief from joint paint (the pill form takes longer to work). Celadrin is an all-natural matrix of special cetylated, esterifed fatty acids that reduce inflammation. The unique features of Celadrin include an ability to reduce inflammation and pain quickly with no side effects, as demonstrated in clinical trials published in the internationally acclaimed Journal of Rheumatology. Available in cream and capsule form – the cream can be applied to affected areas two to three times daily. There are several different brands of creams with the Celadrin ingredient on the market. Get a product with at least 7.5% celadrin (10% is even better) and a secondary ingredient such as MSM and/or Menthol.
http://celadrin.com/faq.html#work
http://www.nowfoods.com/Products/Products-by-Category/Joint-Pain-Mobility/Creams-Lotions/M045326.htm
http://www.celadrininfo.com/faq/faq.html
http://celadrin.com/products.html

5. Zymactive pills from Natural Factors: The serrapeptidase enzyme is a powerful antiinfllammtory. Itprovides high potency proteolytic enzymes (or proteases) including the pancreatic proteases chymotrypsin and trypsin, pancreatin, bromelain (pineapple enzyme), papain (papaya enzyme), and peptizyme SP (or Serratia peptidase, the “silk worm” enzyme). Preparations of proteolytic enzymes have been shown to be useful in several inflammatory conditions. For anti-inflammatory effects, proteolytic enzyme products must be taken with plain water on an empty stomach at least one hour before and after taking food, milk, etc. (otherwise it would be used like a stomach enzyme to digest your food instead of being absorbed into the body where it needs to be used). Take two tablets of Zymactive High Potency twice daily. Dr. Michael Murray is one of the world’s top naturopathic experts.
http://naturalfactors.com/us/en/products/detail/4492/dr-murrays-zymactive-proteolytic-enzyme
http://doctormurray.com/2010/12/pancreatic-enzymes-key-to-powerful-anti-inflammatory-immune-support/

6. Anti-Inflammatory gelcapsules: Similar effect as the anti-inflammatory cream, except it works from within the body and might take a few weeks to achieve results. These pills are about as strong as a prescription anti-inflammatory, without the side effects. You just need one product (one product might work better for some individuals and the other product better for other individuals). Managing whole body inflammation is one of the keys to better health.

6(a) AOR Inflammation Relief: helps reduce inflammation within the body and relieve joint pain.
http://aor.ca/html/products.php?id=255

6(b) Zyflamend: helps reduce inflammation within the body and relieve joint pain.
http://www.newchapter.com/zyflamend/zyflamend-whole-body
http://www.newchapter.com/inflammation

7. LivRelief Pain Relief Cream: safe pain relief cream for wimps whining incessantly about their tendinitis yet repeating the same old ineffective treatments so they can keep whining. Note that while this product helps to quickly relieve pain (a symptom of tendinitis), the other products deal with the underlying causes of tendonitis. This product is available in GNC in the USA.
http://www.livrelief.com/component/pages/?page=tendonitis
http://www.livrelief.com/component/pages/?page=pain_relief

8. Magnesium Oil (from Natural): Helps relieve pain, relax tight/tired muscles, prevent/relieve cramping, etc. If Federer’s incompetent physio had rubbed his back with magnesium oil before the Malisse match, he probably wouldn’t have had that back episode. Note: in rare cases, some people are sensitive to magnesium oil, resulting in skin rashes.
http://www.naturalcalm.ca/articlemagoilguide.html
http://www.naturalcalm.ca/productinfo.html

July 24th, 2012 at 6:05 pm

BTW I dont believe there are many players who are at the top of the game in their 30s,Roger is the exception to the rule,Rafas been ranked in the top 3 for eight years now,winning a GS every year in those 8 years,been in 16 GS finals winning 11 of them,i think thats pretty bloody consistent, for a guy whos only 26,theres not many players on tour who can say that,so regardless of whatever happens next Rafa and his fans can rest at night pretty pleased,safe in the knowledge that hes had one hell of a fantastic career,even if he retires tomorrow.

July 24th, 2012 at 6:10 pm

Gotta love trufan’s wishful thinking. What a hoot.

July 24th, 2012 at 6:15 pm

Bloody hell Dave lol i have to get up for work in the morning at 6.00am,and its nearly 11.30 pm all ready,no offence i like your posts but they are just too long sometimes.

July 24th, 2012 at 6:18 pm

I don’t doubt that Nadal is nursing some injury. He has always looked like a determined and hardworking tennis player. It would seem very illogical for him to feign injury to the point that he will skip playing very important tournaments. I hope he recovers fully to be able to play as well as he can again. I would not mind if he beats my favorite, Federer, a few more times. Federer’s place is very secure. They are both among the best to ever play the game. Tennis is a better world with both of them there.

July 24th, 2012 at 6:24 pm

Polo great post a Federer fan,but mainly a tennis fan.

July 24th, 2012 at 6:37 pm

Thanks Mark,

it’s easy for us to sit in front of a computer and hand out advise to players, but we don’t play the matches, they do. we don’t know what goes on inside their lives. we pretend we do!

what puzzles me is why don’t some of these posters who are so concerned about rafa and his uncle dissolving their professional relationship, give some of that advise to players in the top 10 who hasn’t won a slam at all. andy murray wants to win a slam badly. they can post some advice for him just in case he reads it! better yet, why don’t they give roger some tips on how he can turn the h2h vs nadal in his favor, especially on the big stage. maybe he needs a new direction! point is, anytime a player is consistent as nadal, why would he needs to change coaches?

what sense does it make to advise a player who has 11 slams and who has gotten to five or six consecutive slams finals and continues to get to latter stages of almost every tournaments he enters that he needs to change coaches? are you kidding me? a player who has been #1 or #2 for six or seven years and currently #3′ and just recently dropped to three; a player who has a favorable h2h against almost every player he’s ever played, including roger, novak, and andy. that alone speaks to how great a coach toni is. makes you wonder what sport some people are really watching!

as far as their personal relationship, that’s simply none of our business!

July 24th, 2012 at 6:44 pm

“why don’t they give roger some tips on how he can turn the h2h vs nadal in his favor, especially on the big stage”

why does he need do that? lol

guess you need to ask other rafa/fed fans….

July 24th, 2012 at 7:03 pm

Now I know the real reason why Nadal decided to skip the Olympics. Have you seen the Spanish team’s Olympic outfit?

July 24th, 2012 at 8:03 pm

Team USA basketball will get the gold medal for sure led by King Lebron James fresh off his nice championship with the new dynasty, the Miami Heat.

July 24th, 2012 at 8:54 pm

Alison, unless you are a long suffering tendinitis sufferer, my last post would not be relevant to you (however, you might appreciate the info if you are a frustrated tendinitis sufferer — there are probably solutions in there that might significantly improve even Nadal’s knees). Go sleep. Nitey nite.

July 24th, 2012 at 9:09 pm

Hi Dave thanks for the tendinitis info. My husband thought he had it, took a cortisone shot which did nothing. Then he had an MRI which showed a partial tear so now he is researching surgery. I get tendonitis and my wrist and thumb. It comes and goes with no rhyme or reason but has been gone for a long time now knock on wood. The tennis people try to blame it on weight training and the weight training people blame it on tennis. I have now moved to a new type of training as well performance training and while it’s the hardest no injuries from that yet other than scraping my shin when missing a 42 inch box jump

July 24th, 2012 at 9:21 pm

@Kimberly: you must be pleased that your home team finally made good.

July 24th, 2012 at 10:08 pm

Stevie-o the whole city was hung over for about two weeks. Nothing could piss you off, no matter how bad it was because the heat won the championship and all of the haters in the national media who told us to trade wade, fire spo and had us losing game. 6 to Boston had to eat their words!

July 24th, 2012 at 10:45 pm

@polo,

Come on ,please don’t start it, I got bitten in fb before my guy put on those circus customs, hat, track suite n the bag.
It’s completely messed!

July 24th, 2012 at 11:48 pm

Enough of dissecting what is the reason for the disastrous H2H of Federer against my man Nadal. The reason is plain simple. Federer doesnt know how to play against Nadal. Whenever Nadal is absent in the semi/final stages of the grand slams federer takes advantage of it and wins the tournament. The absence of Nadal is like a tonic for him. This is what happened at this years Wimbledon too. If Nadal had been in the finals things would have been pretty different and every critic would have begun to write the epitaph of Federer. Nadal owns Federer. It is for nothing it is 8-2 in slam events favouring Nadal.

July 25th, 2012 at 12:08 am

Federer is GOAT. Ha Ha He He He. Can a GOAT stand against a bull in a fight ?

July 25th, 2012 at 12:09 am

I do not say this. Martina Hingis says this. Federer is only afraid of Nadal and not the other players.

July 25th, 2012 at 12:11 am

@Borg Says:

Enough of dissecting what is the reason for the disastrous H2H of Federer against my man Nadal. The reason is plain simple. Federer doesnt know how to play against Nadal. Whenever Nadal is absent in the semi/final stages of the grand slams federer takes advantage of it and wins the tournament. The absence of Nadal is like a tonic for him. This is what happened at this years Wimbledon too. If Nadal had been in the finals things would have been pretty different and every critic would have begun to write the epitaph of Federer. Nadal owns Federer. It is for nothing it is 8-2 in slam events favouring Nadal.
————————————————–
And why is Nadal missing in the finals?

July 25th, 2012 at 12:44 am

@trufan,

Stop pleading so plaintively for Rafa’s retirement from the game, you’re embarrassing yourself. Federer CAN beat Rafa, though not as often as you would like…………

July 25th, 2012 at 12:47 am

dc- He had been in 5 straight finals in slams. Where was Federer then ???

July 25th, 2012 at 12:56 am

Borg, is that all you got? Pathetic.

July 25th, 2012 at 1:14 am

Kimberly, you’re welcome. Your husband’s “partial tear” is what tissue (muscle, ligament, cartilage, tendon)? Surgery is likely needed if the partial tear is such that the opened parts of the tissue are unlikely to connect through natural healing (after surgery he can still use my methods to accelerate the healing — except don’t use magnesium oil on the open wound/skin as it will sting like concentrated salt water). On the other hand, if the tissue is likely to connect through natural healing then using No. 3, 4, 2, 1 should be enough to heal the problem (i.e., no surgery needed). A few years ago I had a partial tear in my rotator cuff which, the next day, my family doctor diagnosed and a same-day scan confirmed. I simply used 3 (medical magnets) and 4 (celadrin)… and 4 days later saw the physio for the first time — he insisted the scan and my doctor were wrong as I had too much mobility to have had a tear. I tried to convince this experienced physio that I was much worse in mobility and excruciating pain just 4 to 5 days earlier… but he said that was impossible. Ah well, he is just a victim of his specialization and could not open his closed mind to what was outside his box. Thank goodness I did not use 1 and 2, otherwise i’d be doing jumping jacks.

If your problem has been correctly diagnosed as tendinitis (i.e., it’s not arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or somethig else) then what I suggested should probably work for you. Those solutions might still work on other causes, but there are more specific solutions for other ailments.

As for the scraping of your knees, I have other solutions for you: wear shin pads, lower box height or sharpen the box edges — that last one will incent you to jump higher :)

July 25th, 2012 at 1:24 am

Borg: “Whenever Nadal is absent in the semi/final stages of the grand slams federer takes advantage of it and wins the tournament. The absence of Nadal is like a tonic for him.”

You are one very funny borg. Actually, it was a tonic for Nadal when Federer suffered serious illnesses — mononucleosis in January 2008 and pneumonia in February 2010. Seeing his great rival’s game and fitness compromised by these illnesses gave Nadal hope to train furiously and exploit the opportunity to finally attain the No.1 ranking. It’s not a coincidence that Nadal achieved No.1 whenever Federer was in a slump precipitated by illness. In a few years, history will not care about the H2H record of Rafa and Roger — but history will care that Federer has more grand slam and world tour finals (23 and counting) than Nadal.

July 25th, 2012 at 1:33 am

Dave-What about 2009 Australian Open ?

July 25th, 2012 at 1:38 am

@Mem
i stopped reading your long post . Unless your dave your post should not be longer then 250 letters.

BUT YOU CAN READ THE BAD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PARENTS AND T IN HIS LATEST BOOK.

maybe that gives an idea how T stole Rafa childhood away from the parents.
Rafa is brainwashed and he needs to breakout.

July 25th, 2012 at 1:39 am

Meanwhile, team USA spanked Spain in Basketball. Spain needs to stick to a sport like Tennis or Soccer…..

July 25th, 2012 at 2:01 am

Sienna,

oh my gosh, you didn’t read my posts, now, i’m depressed!

July 25th, 2012 at 2:11 am

Dave- For afterall, 18-10 overall and 8-2 in majors will forever remain in memory of the Tennis Historians. It is a Bull which has swamped the Goat. How much you try to erase it will only wash dirty linen in public sphere

July 25th, 2012 at 2:57 am

squeeeeeeeezie is very excited that USA beat Spain in basketball. Bet that made his day!

July 25th, 2012 at 3:15 am

@sienna. Considering your extreme hatred for Nadal I am surprised you invested money in his book

July 25th, 2012 at 3:27 am

borg, 2009 Australian Open happened during his general slump between 2008 Australian Open to 2009 Rome — a slump due initially to his bout of mononucleosis and later due to his recurring back injuries. Federer’s match winning percentage during these 16 months dipped to a level not seen since his 2002 season.

Why should Federer worry about his H2H with Nadal? Both McEnroe and Connors have a negative H2H with Lendl… and Rod Laver has a negative 5-9 H2H in big finals with Ken Rosewall… yet Lendl and Rosewall are not mentioned at the same level of greatness. As the years pass, people will remember what’s important: No. 1 ranking and big titles won.

*******

Why are we so surprised by what Uncle Toni has said? This ploy has happened several times before. E.g., after another big loss in 2007 (a 59-minute beating by Federer at the World Tour Finals), Uncle Toni indirectly suggested that Nadal’s career was under threat (see link) – yet here we are 5 years later with Nadal still among the top players and among the career leaders in matches played. It actually makes sense to have an insider like Uncle Toni divulge such things, then have Nadal deny it. It just adds to the myth and legend of Nadal as a player who is determined to succeed despite the odds – unlike Federer and other players whose success comes more easily. This is a team is very media savvy (Team Nadal has had their expensive public relations expert Benito manage the media reations since before 2007). They have been repeating the same old PR stunts for years so why change a winning media strategy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/atptour/2327035/Rafael-Nadal-plays-down-injury-scare.html

July 25th, 2012 at 5:47 am

It’s interesting to hear the personal tendinitis stories of amateur and weekend tennis players here. But this does not compare with pro athletes who are at a totally different level. Injury management is part of a pro-athlete’s job, it is much more advanced for an athlete like Nadal, who has his own little magic oxygen bubble and blood platelet injection therapies – and that’s only the stuff we know about. In 1998, I happened to meet an active Dallas Cowboys defensive linesman (on 3 Superbowl champion teams) and his wife. He revealed that the Cowboys had two hyperbaric chambers and other advanced therapies to treat injuries – this was the 1990s! No wonder he could play with the Cowboys until age 35. Pro athletes tend to have a higher threshold for pain, are used to playing with pain and injury, and are more professional and advanced at managing their continual injuries compared to amateur or weekend athletes. Roger Federer may hold the ATP record for going 1,045 games without retiring from an active match but surely he endured many matches in pain since 1998. These super rich pro athletes have access to and can pay for the very best experts to manage their ailments – it’s highly likely we are not told over half the therapies and solutions that a player like Nadal is using to accelerate his healing. Surely Nadal is doing much, much more than just rest, ice, physio, strengthening, exercises, anti-inflammatories (I’ve not even told you half the stuff a resourceful layman like me knows about dealing with such injuries – and I can guarantee you that Nadal’s medical experts are not limited to the basic therapies they tell the press).

Orthopedic surgeons and sports doctors who treat the injuries of top athletes – such as British surgeon Simon Jennings — tell us that phenomenal athletes such as Nadal are able to bounce back faster from tendinitis: “A professional athlete is going to recover quicker than a weekend athlete, your office worker.” Bottom line, don’t confuse how and amateur experiences and deals with injury with the experience of the top tennis pros.

As this 2010 graphic (see link) suggests, Rafael Nadal’s physical style takes a heavy toll on his knees.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2010-05-20-rafael-nadal-knee-injuries_N.htm

It’s not rocket science. Team Nadal has known probably since at least 2004/2005 that the way Nadal plays and moves puts his career in danger. The career-ending injuries that took away many good players can mostly be traced back to ongoing poor mechanics over several years. Any player who has repetitive overuse injuries needs to look at their medically-unsound techniques, training regimen and playing schedule. Rafa has had 8 years to make fundamental changes to his movement in order to protect his playing life. But apart from relatively minor adjustments over the years, Nadal still voluntarily chooses to move in a manner that stresses his knees and destroy his knees. Why? No doubt Nadal and his team experimented with several alternative ways of moving, but the cost would probably have been at the expense to his success. Nadal’s movement is a fundamental part of his success — there are several characteristics of Nadal’s movement that are either unique to him and/or very few other players are able to do — so if he stops doing those things then he loses part of his competitive edge against other players. Surely Nadal’s relatively large team of experts has understood these dangers for 8 years but still chose to take the risks. The fact that Nadal has lasted this long – his 705 matches played is No. 7 on the active list, while Roddick at No. 2 has just 111 matches more than Nadal – this indicates that over the past 8 years Nadal’s team has been carefully planning and managing his body to take it past its limits while working to extend his playing career probably past the 850 to 900 match mark (that would probably put him among the top 20 in total matches played in the entire ATP era by the time he retires). There may be less randomness to Nadal’s injury breaks, despite all the gloom and doom whining from his camp.

Whatever Nadal says in the video clip and his announcement are contradicted by his actions. Since London was chosen in 2005, Nadal has had 8 years to plan his schedule for the 2012 London Olympics. However, despite Nadal’s long history of predictable knee problems (especially his excuse for withdrawing from 2012 Miami — Nadal and his team voluntarily chose to play his usual full clay and grass season schedule instead of resting by cutting down less important tournaments (e.g., Barcelona, Halle, Monte Carlo). Federer, on the other hand, chose to remove Monte Carlo and Estoril from his schedule to take a long 6 plus weeks rest. To make matters worse, Nadal even added an unnecessary exhibition match at Real Madrid stadium (Federer turned down Nadal’s request to play the exhibition match because it interfered with his Olympic preparation). Action speak louder than words — it does not appear that the Olympics was foremost on Nadal’s priority list since the clay season started. Nadal pulling out of the Olympics should have been expected.

And now it’s presumed Nadal will be skipping Toronto. But Nadal may yet show up in Toronto. Remember after Nadal lost to David Ferrer at 2011 Australian Open and promised not to talk about his ‘injury’? Tuesday after the AO final – 6 days after Nadal’s loss — Nadal publicly announced an ultrasound and MRI revealed that Rafa has a “rupture” or tear of his adductor longus muscle… his personal doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro dramatically announced that Nadal will need 10 days rest and treatment involving anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle releases, stretching and strengthening exercises. All hilarious considering that if Nadal was badly injured he should have immediately seen his doctor for treatment. After his announcement, Nadal went on vacation for few days (so most of Rafa’s ‘medical rest’ happened during his vacation) — on the 8th day of his ‘rest’ Nadal announced Doctor Cotorro had cleared him to resume his training,lol. Amazing powers of healing, considering Nadal supposedly had a muscle tear, which tends to be a more serious injury than tendinitis. We’ll really only know whether or not Nadal is playing Toronto sometime next week (this uncertainty keeps his rivals guessing what Rafa is up to).

July 25th, 2012 at 5:48 am

Mark, actually sieana loves rafa, but she expressed her feelings indifferent way, otherwise how could she has rafa’s book? If she likes Roger she must have Roger’s book written by peter bodo, hehehe n other of Roger’s collections, like tshirt, ball, hat,etc,,,,,,,

July 25th, 2012 at 5:53 am

@ metan. :)))))))

July 25th, 2012 at 6:02 am

@ dave,
Your post concerns rafa winnings over roger, sounds so funny, how could every times roger lost, he was struggling with his fitness,,,,, then when was Roger totally fit?

How about french open 2005-2007? Most of his fans said those years was his peak?

July 25th, 2012 at 6:25 am

Dave-You brought the rivalry of Lendl Versus Mcenroe and Connnors. How does it stand ? 21-15 in favour of Lendl against Mcenroe and 21-13 in favour of Lendl against Connors. More specifically to grand slam events, it is 7-3 in favour of Lendl against Mcenroe and 4-3 in favour of Lendl against Connors. Now how does this fare with Federer against Rafa ? It is 18-10 overall in favour of Rafa and 8-2 in grand slam events. It doesn’t require a rocket science to realize that Federer has fared very poorly against Rafa than Mcenroe and Connors did against Lendl. So, where is the room for comparison ? It looks pretty disastrous for Federer the supposed Goat tamed by the Bull. As time passes, people will not remember the H2H, may be and that is the only hope for Federer to bury the imposing spell the Spainard had over him. As Federer fans, dont you feel shamed to see your idol have such a disastrous H2H against his main rival ??

July 25th, 2012 at 6:56 am

Dave-For every defeat of Federer against Rafa, you have an excuse. So let us for argument sake leave out the 2008 Wimbledon and French, 2009 Australian Open and even 2011 Australian Open. Still it stands 14-10 in favour of Nadal and he has slaughtered the Goat.

July 25th, 2012 at 7:05 am

Borg

Actually Dave does have a point. When we talk about the past greats no one mentions the H2H, we just look at their overall careers. Has the greatness of Mcenroe, Connors or even Laver ever been questioned in comparison to Lendl or Rosewall by the press or fans because they had a losing H2H?

In fact its only now because its feasible to follow every match and scrutinize every stat that these kind of absurd points are raised.

July 25th, 2012 at 7:41 am

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/. Rafa fans

July 25th, 2012 at 8:13 am

The H2H argument has become too much from the Rafa fans. It has been repeatedly mentioned by analysts that H2H is not the only thing in tennis. In fact, tennis is NOT about H2H. Tennis is about winning overall, and the overall success %. No one remembers H2H about the past greats at all. What is the use of even bringing it up?

So to say that Roger is inferior to Rafa based on H2H is baseless. Period. Who has more records, titles, no.1 etc? That will be remembered, not the H2H. I am a fan of both Rafa and Roger and its disheartening to see people bringing up this H2H crap.

Rafa and Roger are all-time greats. That’s all.We will see the records after their careers are done.

July 25th, 2012 at 8:46 am

@rahul,
Mcroe, rod laver etc were in the past, Rafa n Roger, both of them are not done yet.

Yes, now its more feasible,

July 25th, 2012 at 9:27 am

rahul,

Great post and a fact! Notice how this h2h started up again (by rafafanatics) after Fed wins Wimby his 17th Slam, and “he’s baaaaccck” at #1 in THE WORLD. Pathetic. Lol. Deflection, jealousy. Don’t piss on Fed fans cause your last match was against “who?”( that u lost )and your boy toy is unplayable for awhile.

July 25th, 2012 at 9:35 am

Contempory,

Thanks! ;)

July 25th, 2012 at 9:36 am

The 3 Studs of Tennis,

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Roger-Federer-Novak-Djokovic-Andy-Murray-to-get-top-three-seeds-articolo5059.html

July 25th, 2012 at 9:40 am

@skeezer,
Yes, Roger is no 1 now n has 17 slams, but he also HAS H2H against Rafa, you like it or not ALL of these things parts of him! FACT! same with rafa lost to risoto rosol.

July 25th, 2012 at 10:02 am

H2h is turning as we speak . the only uncertan factor for H2h to completely turn into rogers favore is the fact william nadal reach the latter stages offerta tournements and rafa must keep playing .

July 25th, 2012 at 10:21 am

The most important stud of tennis unfortunately is out with a knee injury and therefore will not be able to DEFEND his title. He has his Gold Medal and now the others (they certainly don’t look like studs to me, especially the one sitting in the middle) will have to scrap for a medal. Maybe the one in the middle will win bronze??

July 25th, 2012 at 10:49 am

what no one seems to notice is that this best of 3 on grass can make for some very crazy results i wouldnt be shocked if there were some surprise medalists.

July 25th, 2012 at 10:55 am

metan,

the difference is in your answer: 17 Slams. Everyone loses. But not everyone has 17 slams, etc, etc, etc.

Big stage, little stage, heck now some posters want to count exhos, lol. I try to stay away from the 7 consecutive loses in finals that included 2 slams to Nole in a row, a devastating run against Rafa, but when Rafa fanatics start pissin on Feds accomplishments and shout from the roof tops, “Rafa has a better H2H against Fed”, well can’t help but state the obvious.

Yes Rafa’s career is not over ( hopefully, imo there is a hole without him on the playing field ) and he may very well eclipse Feds Slams or get close, then we all can revisit things. But now,,,,,is now. And no one can deny Fed as of today, and compare his career against ANY other, today and yesterday. He has proven again why he is the top all time of Tennis players, period.

July 25th, 2012 at 10:56 am

^ yawwwwwwn

July 25th, 2012 at 11:15 am

Marcie,

Yeah I know it’s tough for u hang in there. You’ll have to endure the Maestro for a little longer. Maybe u should keep scouring for Rafa pics …

July 25th, 2012 at 11:47 am

^Did you enjoy the little collection I posted? Do you want another dose?

July 25th, 2012 at 11:54 am

^the only poster your entertaining mostly is yourself. Have fun with that.

July 25th, 2012 at 11:55 am

Dave @ 24th July 9.09pm, no offence was meant honestly,however if ever i do become a frustrated tendonitis sufferer(god forbid) then i will take on board what you said in your post having now read it,i suffer with back pain due to the nature of my job although its not servere,i was actually a frustrated over active thyroid sufferer,and had an operation to have it removed,who now has to take thyroxine indefinetly,i suppose we all suffer with something.

July 25th, 2012 at 12:24 pm

^ ” for a little longer”. If “little” is the operative word I think I can cope. Hehehe

July 25th, 2012 at 12:27 pm

Don’t understand. Kohlschreiber is entered for the Olympics and yet he is participating in some 250 event in Kitzbuhel this week.

July 25th, 2012 at 12:36 pm

Mark,

help me figure this out! can any of us rafafans mention h2h as many times as the fedfan worshippers led by their ring leader, none other than skeezer, who is also known as “the ultimate fed fanatic” mention 17 slams? use to be he harped on 16 slams endlessly. now, it’s 17, but let him tell we are the fanatics. have you ever heard of anything more delusional? i think not!

July 25th, 2012 at 2:00 pm

@ mem. Actually the ring leader is our very own Dave, you know the one that writes posts a mile long. Squeeeeeezie, as I like to call him, is second in command, trying desperately to match Dave. Pathetic little bunch aren’t they? So, mem, remind me again, what is the H2H?

July 25th, 2012 at 2:49 pm

Mark,

i couldn’t have said it any better, and what a bunch they are, talk about “the kettle calling the pot black…” they represent the perfect example of that idiom.

July 25th, 2012 at 3:44 pm

Question to Rafa fans regaridng HxH.

What is it that you relally think underneath it: Do you think Nadal is better than Federer? Period!

This is the main question and the point here. Rafafans keeps bring HxH to dimish Fed’s tatus as GOAT. So is it only to be a dark spot in Fed’s resume and you bring it to point it out or do you really think since Nadal wins most of the time, that he is better than Federer?

To me it is a dark spot, but not critical at all.
The way I see it: Fed is by far the better player (the numbers prove it), has a match up issue with Nadal, Nadal is lefty (which is an advantage), Nadal mainly created his momentum over Fed due to clay and Fed being second on clay in this generation, Fed develop a mental thing with Nadal which transported to other surfaces together with the match up which prevent him to produce the level of tennis required to beat Nadal regularly as agaisnt all the other players in the last decade.

Plus, even if you counter punch the clay has to be considered, which I agree, the point that Fed fans “dismiss it” is because nobody else has a good record agains Nadal on clay. Actually, Fed and Djokovic are even, in this regard. So Nadal is so good on clay that he oblitared everybody, and since the top players achieve more clay finals, no way they will have a positive HxH agaisnt him, possibly ever. Not even Djoko with his supreme HxH on non clay agaisnt Nadal is able to have a positive HxH.

Unless, Fed is smart and avoid clay finals, what he did this year, and look: for the first time in a long time, they are even for the year: 1×1, with Fed even having a small edge if we think he won 2 out of last 3. Usually this was Nadal stat in their overall rivalry, every 3 match Nadal wins 2.

Djoko is 1-3 agaisnt Nadal this year due to clay.

The ratio to beat Nadla in clay is 2 out of 12, for both Fed and Djoko, which is they win 1 out of 7 matches played on clay against Nadal.

This is Nadal’s merit (his clay supremacy), Fed is 8-6 outside clay and Djoko is 12-7. If Nadal was a great clay player and not the beast he is, even if he had a superior clay record, the HxH agaisn than would be different, Djoko probablt would have a positive HxH by now.

July 25th, 2012 at 3:59 pm

But, on super fast courts as indoors, Fed has no problem with Nadal at all and can produce his best tennis. Actually he never played poorly agaisnt Nadla on indoors, with only one bad game (whihc Nadal played exceptional) in 2010 WTF final, whihc cost Fed a set. This means that the “mental” block, is not that big, otherwise Fed couldn’t beat him so easily in this courts.

July 25th, 2012 at 4:11 pm

Daniel as a Rafa fan ive never seen the point in shouting the H2H from the roof top,Rafa has a superior H2H over Roger so what,it doesnt change Rogers legacy not one bit hes still the greatest ever,and Rafas one of the greatest ever,i think both players can sleep easy at night with their overall achievements,the only thing i want Rafa to do is beat any player thats stood in front of him,Rafa actually has a loosing record against Daveydenko,somehow i doubt very much he will loose much sleep over it though.

July 25th, 2012 at 4:24 pm

alison
Back pain is my personal favorite, having suffered it in my late teens and early 20s from tennis. What activity in your job is causing your back pain? In my No. 1 recommendation above, substitute the ‘fast joint care’ with the ‘fast back care’ in this link. Depending on what’s causing your back pain, you may need to supplement with other things on my list. E.g., if inflammation is an issue one of the anti-inflammatory creams or pills might help. If your job activities cause back pain, it’s possible that applying celadrin cream or magnesium oil just before the activity might prevent the problem.
http://www.genuinehealth.com/fast-back-care.html

If your T4 supplementation is working well and you have no further hyperthyroidism problems, that’s good. My housekeeper may have postpartum hyperthyroidism, she’s undergoing tests at the moment.

July 25th, 2012 at 5:19 pm

mem,

You’re the ultimate example of ” kettle calling the pot black”, and you know it. Now that you have an assistant to help you, you 2 should exchange emails. You both seem like you were made for each other. I know its tough with your fav being out, but hey, don’t take it out on Fed fans.

Daniel,

Don’t waste your time, blinded by Rafa’s aura. If you told them that Fed had 30 Slams and had a losing h2h they would still think Rafa is best that ever is, was, and forever will be on planet earth, lol.

Alison,

A Rafa fan with gonads! Kudos to you. That is what a tennis fan sounds like!

July 25th, 2012 at 5:43 pm

skeezer,

don’t take it out on Mark and me because we refuse to roll over and do backward flips for you fed fanatics. shame on me, i almost forgot, sophisticated fedfans like yourself call it, “objectivity” and “harmony”. i can’t speak for Mark, but i don;t follow your blog rules.

no disrespect to allison, but any poster who appears to crave acceptance, who constantly apologizes to please others and who agrees with everything and anything you spew out is said to be “nice” “objective” and “exemplifies what a genuine tennis fan sounds like.” by whose standards, yours? i don’t whether to laugh or cry!

July 25th, 2012 at 7:05 pm

Nadal has enough merits that can stand on their own. He has had many and very significant achievements that are praiseworthy. For some of his fans to harp incessantly about his H2H edge over Federer as if that is the only thing good that he has done tends to overlook than real and more laudable achievements he has had so far. Making him look better by diminishing the achievements of another is not the way to do it. A fly standing on the head of an elephant is not taller than the elephant.

July 25th, 2012 at 7:16 pm

mem,

Never told you to roll over and bark like a dog, etc. That’s you talkin.

You give advise like a raging river but no,no, no don’t tell me what to do!

“i can’t speak for Mark”….ahhhh..but you do!

Alison? No disrespect?. If I counted how many times you said that to a poster then went on a dis respecting rant I’d be better than jamie the sidekick on predictions, which is not sayin much.

July 25th, 2012 at 7:29 pm

Polo,

“A fly standing on the head of an elephant is not taller than the elephant.”

Rack that in the Tennis X archives. Classic!

July 25th, 2012 at 7:31 pm

nadal probably has sjogren’s. i heard that its contagious.

July 25th, 2012 at 7:46 pm

skeezer,

who are you the daddy of these posters? can’t they speak themselves or is it that you put the words in their mouths because you don’t have the courage to stand alone.

who says your definition of “disrespect” is the gospel. if telling it like it is is now defined as “disrespect” in the skeezer’s blog thesaurus, then i guess according to your thesaurus, i’m disrespecting. too bad, your definitions do not matter to me!

July 25th, 2012 at 8:48 pm

mem, have you ever considered aromatherapy to help deal with your anger issues? I hear it’s very soothing.

July 25th, 2012 at 9:03 pm

@Daniel

clay is a real surface, did you know that? you can’t partition it as an invalid surface because it conveniently fudges the H2H in federer’s favour.
it is in fact the oldest surface outside of grass and is more authentic than hard court.
it is also a much more competitive surface than grass given more players are comfortable on it.
therefore clay results are actually more valid than modern grass results.
grass is more of a specialist surface than clay. a fact conveniently forgotten by federer fans. should we take away all of federer’s grass results? wanna see his slam record then? it’s good, but not much better than nadal, eh?

and here are the biggest problems with federer nadal comparisons.
1.federer is older. when you’ve been on tour longer, you have more time to win things. imagine that.
2.nadal’s prime is a tougher era, no question. when the dust has settled nobody will dispute that. federer didn’t have a BIG FOUR in their prime to contend with until late 20s after he’d raided the lolly shop. and check out his slam results the last few years when he started playing the big four in their primes, not their teens and early 20s. yes he still gets wins, but the results are all getting shared around now.

let’s do a thought experiment. imagine there was another player of federer’s level back when federer was 22-26 etc. federer’s results from that period would be split in half, not because he was any less, but simply because he had an equal.
well that’s what has been happening with novak and nadal.
their era has been tougher from the get go. and so while federer may well end up with better GS numbers than both, intelligent tennis fans will understand that just like boxing, the numbers are not always an accurate indication of a players quality. it depends who your competition is.

July 25th, 2012 at 9:50 pm

The problem with Federer was he was so good that the other players during his time never had the chance to shine. Imagine how many Wimbledons Roddick could have won had Federer not been around. Safin, too could have had a few more. Nalbandian could have pocketed a major or two. This claim by some that Federer won so much because he did not have competition is pure sour grapes. Had Federer lost some majors to those guys to the point that they all have just about the same share of the number of majors during that period period would most certainly call it a very competitive era in tennis. Federer is so good he made those who could have been great look very ordinary.

July 25th, 2012 at 10:25 pm

Totally agree with you Polo and was about to reply Roy,

This is another classic example of the Pro Fed and anti Fed arguing.

Who ever is pro Fed will think that he was/is so good that he prevent others from wining Slams as fast as he did. Remember that had not be for Nadal, he would have a calendar Slam. All prop’s to Nadal who at 20 in 2006 prevent that from a peak Fed.

Who ever is anti Fed, will say he lacked competition and amassed half his majors with no other greats.

I go with the former, for obvious reasons, but what makes Fed one of a kind, regardless of competition is one stat Jamie or Dave posted early this year.

No player who had won 3 Majors in a year was able to win more than 1 the following year, except Federer, twice. You just can’t be luck enough to have 2 distinguish intervals with no competition, after having a 3 major year.

July 25th, 2012 at 11:49 pm

Rahul-yr post on July25 7.41 AM

No one claims that Connors or Mcenroe as the GOAT, but Federer fans do. Therefore this H2H will be brought time and again as the so-called Goat could not compete with the Bull who was his nemesis and importantly he was his main rival too.

July 26th, 2012 at 12:10 am

Borg, aren’t you ashamed that your cripple bull biggest achievement will be a H2H Record against the best of all times(this won’t change no matter how much it hurts you and try to dismiss it). And above all things Nadal should be ashamed that a 31 years old guy is number one and him being 26 barely can walk right now. How pathetic is that…Yeah really strong that bull(cow) is.

July 26th, 2012 at 12:13 am

Actually, if you think of what just happened, tennis really is a what have you done for me lately sport.

After French Open, Djoko and Nadal had made the last 4 Majors finals, suddenly one Major where Nadal loses early and Djoko is not in the final, Fed wins it and bang, he is number 1 again.
And unless they replicate the final in US Open again, it is very likely Fed will be # 1 after US Open, if he makes the final his margin can grow.

They probably are thinking, what the hell just happened?!

The excitement about this season is that the #1 ranking will be a battle of the top #3 (hoping Nadal can recover soon) until London, where Fed defends 1500 pts and Djoko and Nadal have a potential 1300 points to add. It’s a long time that the rankings is not decided in Masters Cup. Was about time!

July 26th, 2012 at 12:29 am

Preach Angel!

but aren’t you missing something? the bull’s biggest achievement (h2h) is not just against any player, it against the player (roger federer) that most of you, if not all, considers to be the “greatest to ever pick up a racquet.” so if that is true, makes me wonder how a “crippled 26 year old bull” can consistently exact such punishment on the “greatest player ever” on such a big stage? isn’t it a shame that a “crippled Bull” can do that to an “old GOAT?” (“this won’t change no matter how much it hurts you and you try to dismiss it)”

July 26th, 2012 at 12:35 am

Borg

“No one claims that Connors or Mcenroe as the GOAT, but Federer fans do”

Wrong! Try ask Feds peers, past and present, and most all tennis sports writers, not Fed fans. You rafafanatics love to twist the facts on the Fed fans, lol. No one in the tennis world of pros starting talking GOAT, as Laver was heralded that for decades. Then came Pete, now Fed. There is a reason Fed is GOAT. And its not because Fedfans say so. The records don’t lie and they ultimately do the talkin. Try again Borgy.

mem,

When was Rafa , the boy who crys wolf, was ever crippled in a win against Fed? Lol….your posts continue to lay down lies. Your boy can’t hold a number one ranking against a 31 yr old has been(according to Rafa fanatics). Who beat whom last on Rafa ‘s fav slow of slow hard courts lately? You call out Angel preachin then you go “preachin”. Calling the kettle black again? Hehe. Take your medicene and go to bed.

July 26th, 2012 at 1:08 am

skeezer
I applaud your decent and fair way of dealing with the most notorios Rafa hoodlems on this site.
You alway stay calm, fairminded and stil kick ass all the time.

July 26th, 2012 at 1:37 am

Angel-H2H only achievement of Rafa ? Hi man – He has won a record Seven French Open, 22 Master series event, Olympic Gold, won Davis Cup for his country a record three times, Won a Master series event 8 continuous times (I am talking about Monte Carlo) and this might continue for the next few years atleast and here you have the temerity to say that H2H only achievement of Rafa. Beyond all this, he has tamed your Goat 18-10 and kicked his ass in Wimbledon and Australian Open. Has Federer ever kicked Nadal’s ass at the French Open ??

July 26th, 2012 at 1:56 am

Skeezer – yes records dont lie. 18-10 always highlights the fact that the Goat cannot just play against the bull.

July 26th, 2012 at 1:58 am

Sienna-Rafa hoodlums. Nice,nice. I know that 18-10 beating is hurting you very much.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:04 am

Borg
It was I believe 1- at the start of the h2h.

Fed just wanted to get a uphill battle.

He is now at the position to really dent the big lead Rafa has on him. Remember he is turning the h2h as we speak. He is 2 out of 3 for the last matches.

So if and I say a big if Rafa will recover and reach the latter stages of tourneys again. Roger wil have ample difficulty in overturning the h2h. It is just a big ask for Rafa to maintain his passion for tennis to keep on playing.

We Roger fans do not have that problem. Roger is alway fullofpassion and love for tennis. Maybe thatisthe ultimate difference between Rafa and Fed. Their passion for the game!

July 26th, 2012 at 2:18 am

1-6 at the early part of their h2h.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:19 am

Borg you are aware that Rafa hardly plays Davis cup outside spain and that he was sidelined for 1 or two of those Davis Cups.

Hehe I know if a soccer player was a substitue and they won the worldcup then they would never claim it as a trofee they won. Rafafans have no problems with that I guess.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:23 am

Sienna-Do you seriously think Federer will turn the H2H in his favour ? When a primed Federer was not able to beat Nadal, how cou expect this aged one to do that wonder ? if Federer continues playing like he says he will, the H2H may stop at something around 27-13 in Rafa’s favour.That must be too much for even Federer fans to swallow.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:23 am

borg: “It doesn’t require a rocket science to realize that Federer has fared very poorly against Rafa than Mcenroe and Connors did against Lendl. So, where is the room for comparison ? It looks pretty disastrous for Federer the supposed Goat tamed by the Bull.”

It doesn’t require a rocket scientist to realize that 50% (14) of the 28 Nadal-Federer’s matches were played on red clay. On the other hand, only 3% (1) of 35 Lendl-Connors matches were played on red clay and only 14% (5) of 36 Lendl-McEnroe matches were played on red clay. Three-time French Open champion Lendl — who is one of the top six greatest clay court players of the open era — distinguished himself by having a winning record against Connors and McEnroe on non-clay surfaces. On the other hand Nadal has a losing record on non-clay surfaces against Federer. If only Nadal was as competent an all-round player as Ivan Lendl, Rafa would have played 90% of his matches on non-clay surfaces against Federer — where Federer would mostly beat him.

Have you heard any Newcombe fans desperately whining that Bjorn Borg had a worse losing percentage (25%, 1-3) against another all-time great John Newcombe than Federer’s 37% (10-18) against Nadal. Apply your own principle to yourself: as a Borg fan, dont you feel ashamed to see your idol have such a disastrous H2H against another all-time great??

Have you heard any Sampras fans desperately whining that Agassi in 1999 had a worse losing percentage (20%, 1-4) against his main rival Sampras than Federer’s 37% (10-18) against Nadal? Agassi was 0-2 in big finals (Wimbledon, Year End Championship) against Sampras. Yet both the ATP and ITF declared Agassi the greatest player of 1999.

You have not heard Lendl fans and Rosewall fans do it either.

Normal fans ar not so pathetic, desperate and hard up to make a big deal of H2H statistics. Normal fans understand that greatness is based on a player’s comparative record in No.1 ranking, big titles won and total titles won.

Listen to Rahul, he knows what he is talking about: “When we talk about the past greats no one mentions the H2H, we just look at their overall careers. Has the greatness of Mcenroe, Connors or even Laver ever been questioned in comparison to Lendl or Rosewall by the press or fans because they had a losing H2H?”

*****

Mark: “Actually the ring leader is our very own Dave”

Heaven forbid that I’m YOUR Dave. It’s Uncle Dave to you.

*****

metan: “How about french open 2005-2007?”

Don’t forget that Federer played the 2007 French Open final with a groin injury he suffered in the quarterfinals that year.

Federer was overall at his peak in 2005 to 2006, but he wasn’t yet at his peak in the French Open: those were the first two years he went beyond the quarterfinals, and we can see from his matches in those days that his movement on Roland Garros clay was still lacking.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:52 am

Dave-You invite a derision of laughter man ! Why Federer lost the 2007 French Open final – Groin injury. Why Federer lost the 2008 Wimbledon, French and 2009 Austraian – He was suffering from the after effects of grandular fever. So anytime Federer is beaten by Rafa, there is an injury excuse and still you label the fans of Rafa as whiners. Why can’t you just look at your own face in the mirror ?

50% of the matches of Roger Vs Rafa were played on red clay. So what. Clay is the most important surface in Tennis and hosts many Masters tournament as well a grand slam. A Goat as you like to call him, should be able to play anywhere and dominate. If Rafa is the Greatest player on Clay, how can Roger be called as the Goat ?

By the way, Borg and Newcombe played only four times in their career and this is just not enough. Nevertheless I need to cross check your claim.

July 26th, 2012 at 3:17 am

Here is a very telling comment from a fed fan – Daniel July 25 at 3.59 pm ” Unless, Fed is smart and avoid clay finals, what he did this year”. It is obvious what he is saying is that Fed tanked his match at the semis of the FO against Nole so as to avoid playing Nadal in the final. Even the fed fans are admitting how much Fed is terrified of facing Nadal. I rest my case!

July 26th, 2012 at 3:29 am

Borg (yr post at 12:10am),

You have conveniently refuted Connors and Mcenroe but not Laver.

So if you feel Federer isnt GOAT at the moment then who deserves that honour? Im guessing Rafa is your pick? As you then know Rafa has many holes in his CV (YECs, no.1 streaks, streaks in all slams, etc). How do you reconcile that? Granted Rafa has time on his side if he remains injury free, but its still a tough ask and still needs to be done…

July 26th, 2012 at 4:33 am

Rahul-What is Laver’s H2H with Rosewall ? it is 36-20 all finals in favour of Laver. In Grand slams it is 1-1 and Professional slams it is 6-4. So how does this favourably compare with Federer Vs Rafa ?

I never believe in Goat theories. I only want to analyse who is the bigger player in their era and in the case of Federer Vs Rafa, the latter has a indomitable lead in terms of H2H and for other records we need to wait till Rafa ends his career. He is still only 26 and has atleast 3 years of good Tennis left in him. Who knows he may overtake Federer count in slams ? In the Masters series, he has already overtaken him and he has also other priceless achievements such as the Golden slam.

July 26th, 2012 at 4:50 am

Borg,

I agree that Rafa may have several records at the end of his career, but if your looking for the biggest player as of now, its Roger. Even you cant deny that.

When the dust settles it will become apparent which of these greats left a deeper mark but we can only argue with what has transpired and not what may happen.

July 26th, 2012 at 5:11 am

@Daniel

The most impressive stat for me apart from the consecutive, GS quarters and semis are the consecutive finals.

No player had made it to reach all four finals in the same year. No one, no single person. Well except for this guy here.

All Four Finals Year
Roger Federer 2006
Roger Federer 2007
Roger Federer 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATP_World_Tour_records#Calendar_Year_Achievements

July 26th, 2012 at 5:17 am

@Rahul: I agree

We can all argue forever. We can talk about all the circumstances, all the ifs and or buts, all the what could have beens but the only thing that matters, what is true, correct and incontrovertible is reality. Federer has achieved the most out of all the tennis players who have ever played. Fact is fact. No amount of complaining can change that. Not to accept that is denial of reality. We do not live in a fantasy world. We should face and accept the truth whether you like it or not. Nadal may have a better H2H against Federer but as I said before, a fly standing on an elephant’s head is not taller than the elephant.

July 26th, 2012 at 5:29 am

Polo-So according to you Federer is elephant and Rafa is just a fly. But I am wondering why does the elephant loses to the fly often in a battle ??

July 26th, 2012 at 7:13 am

Dave @ 5.19pm July 25th,i work in a nursing home for the elderly,most of the staff who work there suffer with back pain to some degree,we have hoists,turnstands and all the proper equipment we need,but we still help the people to stand up from there chairs sometimes when the equipment is not always an option,we encourage them to do as much as they can for themselves,but sometimes they dont want to or cannot help,most of the time we work in pairs,so we are always sensible in the way we do things,its just the nature of the job i suppose.The thyroid problem was diagnosed by my doctor when i actually went to see him about something else,my heart would race for no apparent reason,and he looked at my eyes as they were quite potruding,did some blood tests,checked my blood pressure,and a few days later rang me and said i had overactive thyroid glands,although ive now had it removed almost 3 years ago,i still have regular blood tests,take thyroxine,and the hospital still monitor everything,i had a lot of mood swings before having it taken out,now ive gained quite a bit of weight too,but its pretty much under control though now,if your housekeeper has those symptoms maybe she/he too has the same condition,always best to get these things checked out.

July 26th, 2012 at 8:11 am

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/07/Features/London-Olympics-Draw-Ceremony.aspx

Murray on Djokovic half. Federer with Ferrer.

July 26th, 2012 at 8:21 am

Borg Says:
Sienna-Do you seriously think Federer will turn the H2H in his favour ? When a primed Federer was not able to beat Nadal, how cou expect this aged one to do that wonder ? if Federer continues playing like he says he will, the H2H may stop at something around 27-13 in Rafa’s favour.That must be too much for even Federer fans to swallow.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:23 am

Borg the h2h is turning as we speak. Roger wins 2 out off last 3 matches is a fact.

Please try to look at the nigger picture and that is that Nadal is not in his prime anymore. Rafa is lossing to #100 player in a second round of the most and ultimate tennis tournement in the world.

He is on his way down. You say he is in his prime? He is currently ranked #3 in the world and he is under great pressure from Murray to keep this ranking.

With the consistency Ferrer is showing at the big tourneys he has a real chance of upsetting Rafa for top 4.

I really doubt Rafa is an elite player at the moment in his carreer. Maybe on clay he stil is but the au open was an anomoly by Rafa and Djoker. There bad results in the other tourney are showing that.

Fed is again the standardin menstennis. Rafa and Djoekr have slid. Rafa even further the last 6 months. He is a shadow of the player he was. Especially on the fast HC and gras he is in no shape to come even close to Roger. Roger will streamrole Rafa 10 out of 10 times on these courts. On slow HC Roger and Rafa are no not even balanced. Roger is the favorite. Only on clay Rafa might be the one but next year that also will be even lesser of a certainty.

He is declining very hard.

July 26th, 2012 at 8:29 am

I meant to say obviously bigger picture

July 26th, 2012 at 8:30 am

@Borg: I knew I would lose that allegory on you.

Federer blocked the path to greatness of several very good tennis players like Hewitt, Roddick and Safin. Those guys are not weak tennis players.

From the flawed arguments of a few Nadal fanatics, it appears that Nadal devoted his career to beating just one person. He aimed for the best of them all, Federer. His fanatics seem to think this way, “If Nadal can not be the best of all, he should at least get a better record over who is considered to be the best to ever play, Federer.” Hence, the fly who stood on the elephant’s head. I cannot put it any simpler than that. Even a caveman could figure that out.

Now, Nadal’s supreme effort to beat Federer has wrecked havoc on his body. His knees have already given way and continue to do so. Federer is that good, he can beat you in many ways, mentally and physically. Look who is on top again? When the career of both guys are over, the safer bet would be on Federer to be considered as the more accomplished. Forget about the total majors. Just think of the quality of Federer’s wins. 7 Wimbledons is way better than 7 French Opens. How many year-end championships does Nadal have? Nada (sounds like his name, doesn’t it). Why nada? Because his only mastery is on clay where he knows he can amass as many points as he can because once the surface changes, he becomes “nada” once again. So he always ends up sputtering towards the finish line, every year. How great is that?

July 26th, 2012 at 8:50 am

Mem i dont consider my posts to be any better than anyone elses,the only thing im hear to do is give an honest and unbiased opinion,dont get me wrong if i disagree with what anyone says i will tell them so,but i dont believe in ranting and raving if i can help it,as its not my style and i spend enough nervous energy doing that in the real world,why the hell would i come on a tennis forum and loose my rag with people im never ever going to meet,when all i want to do is come hear for a bit of excapism,have a laugh sometimes,and of course talk about tennis.

July 26th, 2012 at 9:14 am

borg: “50% of the matches of Roger Vs Rafa were played on red clay. So what. Clay is the most important surface in Tennis”

You invite derisive laughter from even the borg queen! Clay is the most important surface in your dream world??? Of the 2012 season’s 67 ATP tournaments: 55% (37 of 67) are hard court events, 34% (23 of 67) are clay court events, 11% (7 of 67) are grass court events. Over half of each season are hardcourt events… and nearly the entire second half of each season is spent on hardcourts. You really need to stop watching re-runs of Nadal winning his clay tourneys.

borg: “A Goat as you like to call him, should be able to play anywhere and dominate. If Rafa is the Greatest player on Clay, how can Roger be called as the Goat?”

That’s monumental nonsense — a GOAT is GOAT because his record is better overall compared to everyone else in history, not because he is perfect in everything or on every surface. Every past GOAT in tennis history had weaker surfaces where they failed to dominate, e.g. Sampras and Gonzales on clay.

Was Rod Laver lucky to win the 1962 Calendaer Year Grand Slam? In 1960 and 1961, Rod Laver lost the Franch Open semifinal to his nemesis Manolo Santana. In 1962, Laver lucked out — his countryman Roy Emerson beat Santana in a five set semifinal… then in the final Laver was down 3-6, 2-6 to Emmo and barely won the fourth set 9-7 before pulling it out in five sets (Laver barely won the quarterfinal against his unseeded countryman Marty Mulligan as well). The 1962 French championships had just 6 rounds — who knows if Laver might have lost a seventh match that year had his luck run out.

Similarly when Laver turned pro, he faced another clay nemesis in Ken Rosewall since 1963. Rosewall won most of his clay matches against Laver since they first played in 1963 — even in the open era, then 33-year to 41-year old Rosewall still had a 4-2 winning clay record against Laver (four years his junior) winning clay matches from 1968 to 1976. In 1968, 33-year old Rosewall not only beat Laver on Bournemouth clay (the very first open tournament that started the open era), Rosewall then beat Laver at the first French Open.

If Tennis had been open since the 1950s, it is likely that Rosewall might have won at least eight French championships at Roland Garros and been the Greatest Claycourt player of all time. Rosewall won his first French championship at age 18 in 1953 and 16 years later won his last French championship (the first French Open) in 1968 at age 33. In between these two grand slam clay titles, Rosewall was banned from playing the grand slams when he was a pro during the closed era from 1957 to early 1968 — yet Rosewall still won 8 French Pro Slams in 11 years (this tourney was not held in 1957 when Rosewall first turned pro). The first four of 4 of those 8 French Pro Slams were held on Roland Garros clay but, given Rosewall’s dominance on clay, the venue was changed to indoor hardwood at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin basketball arena from 1963 to 1967. Regardless, Rosewall was considered the world’s top claycourter for 9 of those 11 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Pro_Championship

It’s hypocritical that in three posts Borg emphasized that Nadal is 8-2 in slams against Federer, yet conveniently fails to note that Rosewall has a 9-5 record against Laver in all their biggest finals (6-4 pro slams, 1-1 grand slam, 2-0 YEC… in 1971 and 1972 the WCT Finals YEC was considered more prestigious than both French Open and Australian Open). Instead Borg pushes that Laver has a 36-20 all finals in favour of Laver (and incorrectly claims that “Professional slams it is 6-4” in favor of Laver) while others bring up the Laver-Rosewall H2H of 80-63 — fact is by the time that Laver first played Rosewall in 1963, Ken Rosewall was already over 28 years of age and about to begin his slow decline from 1964 onwards. Unlike Laver, Rosewall had the disadvantage of being sandwiched between two of the greatest in history: Pancho Gonzales in the late 1950s and Rod Laver in the 1960s.

Borg: “I only want to analyse who is the bigger player in their era and in the case of Federer Vs Rafa, the latter has a indomitable lead in terms of H2H and for other records we need to wait till Rafa ends his career.”

10-18 is not indomitable (as the precedent of Hoad-Gonzales indicates), neither is it relevant since the greater and bigger player in their era is not determined by H2H according to precedents. E.g., the precedent of Agassi-Sampras in 1999 shows that despite a 1-4 losing record to sampras (that’s twice as worse alosing percentage than Fed to Nadal), Agassi was still considered the bigger player in 1999. Furthermore, we already know that at Nadal’s age today, Federer just after the 1997 US Open had already won 12 grand slam titles, won 3 year-end championships and already had almost twice as many consecutive weeks ranked No.1 as Nadal today. Even an imbecile should realize that Roger was already greater by 2007 than Nadal today. [No serious analyst bothers about Lendl’s record number of Masters-level titles — as Mardy Fish once said he can’t remember how many Masters titles Agassi won but everyone knows that Sampras won 14 slams because it is what’s important. As well, winning the Olympics is not significant in tennis history, considering that 11 of all 12 gold and silver mens medalists were not even top 5 players (because the top men did not bother to parrticipate most of the time and the event often resembled an ATP 250 or ATP 500 event) and Nadal won his gold medal against No. 15 Fernando Gonzalez]. It is highly unlikely that Nadal will overtake Federer in the slam count since only 2 players in modern tennis history won six slams after turning age 26 (Federer and Lendl) and Nadal’s pace at winning slams has been much slower than Federer’s pace.

borg: “Borg and Newcombe played only four times in their career and this is just not enough.”

It is not enough that Federer has played Nadal only 28 times. In 1958, 23-year old Lew Hoad played a series of 87 head-to-head matches with 30-year old Pancho Gonzales. Young Hoad won 18 of their first 27 matches (18-9 H2H). But Gonzales surged back to win 42 of the next 60 matches against Hoad… finally defeating Hoad by 51 matches to 36.

borg: “So anytime Federer is beaten by Rafa, there is an injury excuse and still you label the fans of Rafa as whiners.”

Don’t exaggerate. Some of those losses occured when Federer was perfectly healthy.

Federer has credibility regarding his ailments. When Federer was injured against Malisse, appeared injured and wasn’t running around like a rabbit the way Nadal does. Federer holds the ATP record for never retirning from an active match in 1,045 total matches, even when he was injured or ill. And even when he was sick or injured he still had the courage to show up for battle, never cowardly running away from his rivals. in 2008, even after suffering a bout of mononucleosis that had dangerously enlarged his spleen and wasted his training efforts, Roger still showed up to defend his titles and No. 1 ranking. Astute observer Jim Courier: “”Federer was ill all season long, and the story was completely missed,” Courier says. “He hid it from everybody because it’s his responsibility to not show weakness, and he played through it because of his commitment to the tour. Which was a mistake. Mario Ancic [the Croatian once ranked No. 7] missed more than six months on the tour with a mono bout; it’s a serious illness for a high-level performance athlete. Roger needed to get off the tour and get healthy again. Last October, Federer conceded at last, retiring from a tournament for the first time in 763 matches because of lower back pain. It has continued to bother him, but history won’t care. Nadal “shot him through the heart by winning Wimbledon,” Courier says. “Roger was not at full tilt, but it doesn’t matter, because it changed the energy between them — possibly for the rest of their careers.” (from Sports Illustrated)

July 26th, 2012 at 10:07 am

alison, I presume from your description that your back pain comes from physically stressing your back by bending down, holding the elderly in positions that stress your back, etc. If so, besides the back care + supplement, it should help if you rub some celadrin cream and/or magnesium oil (you can use it at different times, once or twice during each work shift) on your back as a preventive — do this about 10 minutes before you start putting physical stress on your back at work.

Yeah, my housekeeper has similar symptoms. Depending on her diagnosis, I’ll try to help her find natural solutions to calm her thyroid system.

July 26th, 2012 at 10:26 am

allison,

that’s your choice! i pointed out an observation about you. that was my opinion! nonetheless, whatever you decides is good for you doesn’t affect me at all. i’m me and you are you! that’s it!

i’m sure you would prefer this blog be a utopia, we all would, but that’s not reality.

July 26th, 2012 at 10:29 am

Skeezer,

Ask Angel when nadal was crippled. i was responding to her comments. I’m sure she will be able to give you details.

July 26th, 2012 at 10:32 am

If the two most important achievements in tennis are considered, ranking and grand slams won,

– At winning slams, Fed is 60% better than Nadal.
– At being #1, Fed is 200% better than Nadal.

On an average, Fed is 130% better than Nadal.

July 26th, 2012 at 10:38 am

Interesting take on GOAT – http://www.tennis.com/messageboards/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20994&posts=25&start=1

July 26th, 2012 at 11:03 am

To summarize this interminable discussions, here is the conclusion based on statistical facts:

Federer is the best who ever played the game.

For those who could not accept and unwilling to face this reality, please go and see your psychiatrist.

July 26th, 2012 at 11:06 am

@ mem. Have you read Dave’s post at 2.52 am (I am sure you don’t have the time or energy to read the entire post) suggesting that I call him Uncle Dave. What do you think? Is this a fitting title or do you have other suggestions?

July 26th, 2012 at 11:17 am

my commentprobebly is not allowed for typo. I loved to put in some sugar for Borg’s defusion…

Sienna Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Borg Says:
Sienna-Do you seriously think Federer will turn the H2H in his favour ? When a primed Federer was not able to beat Nadal, how cou expect this aged one to do that wonder ? if Federer continues playing like he says he will, the H2H may stop at something around 27-13 in Rafa’s favour.That must be too much for even Federer fans to swallow.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:23 am

Borg the h2h is turning as we speak. Roger wins 2 out off last 3 matches is a fact.

Please try to look at the bigger picture and that is that Nadal is not in his prime anymore. Rafa is lossing to #100 player in a second round of the most and ultimate tennis tournement in the world.

He is on his way down. You say he is in his prime? He is currently ranked #3 in the world and he is under great pressure from Murray to keep this ranking.

With the consistency Ferrer is showing at the big tourneys he has a real chance of upsetting Rafa for top 4.

I really doubt Rafa is an elite player at the moment in his carreer. Maybe on clay he stil is but the au open was an anomoly by Rafa and Djoker. There bad results in the other tourney are showing that.

Fed is again the standard in menstennis. Rafa and Djoker have slid. Rafa even further the last 6 months. He is a shadow of the player he was. Especially on the fast HC and gras he is in no shape to come even close to Roger. Roger will streamrole Rafa 10 out of 10 times on these courts. On slow HC Roger and Rafa are no not even balanced. Roger is the favorite. Only on clay Rafa might be the one but next year that also will be even lesser of a certainty.

He is declining very hard.

July 26th, 2012 at 8:29 am

July 26th, 2012 at 11:38 am

Thanks Dave Celadrin i will bear that in mind,my significant other suffers with knee pain though and i read about what you recomended to Kimberly so i will tell him what you said,much appreciated,Holand and Barett are quite good for natural remedies,and he takes Hawthorne Berrie cassules for high blood pressure.

July 26th, 2012 at 12:10 pm

There are so many wise doctors on this site, it’s a wonder rafa doesn’t come here to read how to treat his knee. The wisdom is mind blowing.

July 26th, 2012 at 2:35 pm

Mark,

I just got around to scanning Dave’s post and what a surprise the same script written by the same author. i don’t think it will sell too many copies outside of the fedfan circle.

it’s mimics the usual pattern; he continues to be in denial. let him tell it, each and every one of roger’s slams was won while he was enduring great suffering and pain, which makes him even more greater than what we give him credit for.

also, rafafans have got to remember that clay is not a surface, (LOL). so, the general concensus among fedfans is that it’s not surprising nadal has dominated that particular surface like no player has dominated a specific surface in the open era. in fact, what other player has been able to pull off an 81 match winning streak on any surface, particularly in the open era. so the fact that roger hasn’t been able to do that on any surface pains the heck out of Dave and other fedfans. my theory is that, they feel if roger is considered the “greatest player ever” and he couldn’t do it on grass or hardcourts, then shouldn’t no other player be able to do it. talk about cave man’s mentality. therefore, clay is NOT be a surface! these people are way outside the realm of reality, what’s so sad about it they actually have said so many times until they believe it. in other words, insanity is what it is! they have to believe something like that to ease their pain.

it’s just hard for Dave and some others to wrap their minds around the fact that nadal’s overall domination on clay is greater than roger’s overall domination on grass or hardcourts. those are facts! we can’t change statistics because we happen to not like the story they write.

oh but lest we forget, there are no masters on grass. grass court tournaments are very limited, preventing roger from dominating; if there had been more tournaments on that surface, then roger would have dominated them. like i said, fedfans can’t face the truth, it hurts too much.

you have to understand if things can’t be set up so that roger will have a greater chance to achieve something that nadal has already achieved (e.g. olympic gold, davis cup), then fed supporters conclude that those particular achievements are not significant. simply because, nadal has achieved them and roger has not! that’s the way the story goes in tennis!

July 26th, 2012 at 3:33 pm

@ mem. Excellent post. So, back to my question – Dave would like me to address him as Uncle Dave – what do you think? Hope you enjoy the Olymoics. Just please remember to root for all of Fed’s opponents. Can’t have him winning Gold – bronze maybe but defo not Gold. This forum would become absolutely unbearable.

July 26th, 2012 at 4:04 pm

Mark,

you’re funny!

I say call Dave anything he wants if it helps bring him back to reality, but i won’t hold my breath.

July 26th, 2012 at 4:37 pm

Mark,

btw, hope you enjoy the olympics also. i don’t know how much of it i will get to see. i’ll try to tune in as much as possible.

July 26th, 2012 at 4:40 pm

@ mem. I love the Olympics especially the synchronized swimming. Unfortunately the tennis will not be enjoyable with the absence of Rafa. Stay with us here – am sure there will be a lot of choice comments and sniping .

July 26th, 2012 at 4:46 pm

Mark,

i’ll do my best! i echo your sentiments about rafa’s absence. i read somewhere a couple of days ago that he is planning to return sometime in august. i’m not sure if it’s the roger’s cup or cincy. so much fabricated information is written about rafa until i find it hard to believe these things. i try to wait until rafa posts it on his facebook or until some other trusted source publicizes it. it doesn’t sound like it will be too much longer, hopefully not.

enjoy!

July 26th, 2012 at 6:15 pm

I have been reading through the posts of Dave. He is just a statistical machine. I am wondering how this guy is having everything in his finger tip ? Keep it up Dave !!

July 27th, 2012 at 12:45 am

The H2H factor is being overstressed by fans of Nadal and this has become more louder once Roger won the Wimbledon. I am expecting this to grow louder in the coming weeks especially if Roger manages to win Olympics too. All I would say to Nadal fans is that he must be shamed that a 31 year old is dominating the physical sport today with all that young guns in picture.

July 27th, 2012 at 12:52 am

@Dave
Any insights in why Nadal opted to rest for Olympics instead of the asian swing?

I know Asia is a youngmarket and Rafa is very popular there. Commercialy that is.I dont see any increasing numebers in spectators at his matches. But he sells the products I guess.

July 27th, 2012 at 1:04 am

@mem n mark. LOL!

July 27th, 2012 at 4:56 am

Sienna-Rafa makes 5 grand slam finals and then won the French making a record 7 titles. He also won Montecarlo (record 8th time), Barcelona and Rome. Then he just fumbles at Wimbledon due to the Tendinitis problem and you immediately jump that he is in decline. Federer wins just one Wimbledon and you immediately cite his upsurge. May be he won some Masters tournament too. I think you have taken a very early call about the shape of things to come. The season is long and who knows how are things going to turn. Regarding your optimism that Roger will turn the disastrous H2H against Rafa, I would say it is delusive. May be Nole has a better chance to turn the H2H against Rafa and not Federer. He has already been tamed by the Bull.

July 27th, 2012 at 4:58 am

Dave-Your own figure says 34% of the Tennis matches in the ATP circuit are played on Clay. That is a big one and it shows that Clay is the second most dominant surface in Tennis. I need not rewind Rafa’s victory on Clay when he is still winning beating the best. Tell me whether Roger has shown the same dominance in his favourite Grass ? I do not know from where you got this information that Rosewall is leading Laver in H2H ? By the way why we should go to Laver. How does it justify the disastrous 2-8 H2H of Roger who is being hailed as a Goat by his set of fanatics ? You are writing long essays means you are not correct. Facts are facts and they stare us on the face. Roger is inferior to Rafa and that is what their H2H states. All this overall record will be judged when players finish their respective career. Federer is 31 and his career is almost finished whereas Nadal is still only 26 and has more years of good Tennis. I expect him to overtake Federer even if he has one good year where he wins say 3 grand slam tournaments.

July 27th, 2012 at 5:10 am

french open is mostly won by one-dimensional players like muster, bruguera and the likes.

Wimbledon which is the World Cup of tennis is the home of champions like sampras, fed, borg, laver, becker and edberg.

lendl/wilander and becker/edberg – you know who is loved more by the fans. You can win any number of french opens, but it is the number of wimbledons that count for more. You ask any player if they want 7french opens or 7 wimbledons. except for spaniards like bruguera and alberta costa, every one will want 7 wimbledons. even rafa will trade his 7 french opens for few more wimbledons.

borg/mark/mem/brando can keep deluding themselves, but the tennis and international media have unanimously anointed Fed the God of tennis. The debate is now about how Fed ranks when compared to pele, ali, jordan and the likes. Most journalists think Fed is the greatest sportsman of all time.

My sympathies with rafa fans. There is a very good chance that djokovic will finish as the 2nd best player of this era – ahead of nadal in all non-clay slams, year end number 1 and championship titles.

Let us enjoy this beautiful year with nadal limping on the sidelines. I hope murray overtakes him and finishes the year number 3!

July 27th, 2012 at 5:38 am

alison: “Thanks Dave Celadrin i will bear that in mind,my significant other suffers with knee pain though and i read about what you recomended to Kimberly so i will tell him what you said,much appreciated,Holand and Barett are quite good for natural remedies,and he takes Hawthorne Berrie cassules for high blood pressure.”

You’re most welcome. If Holand and Barett can’t get these products then ask me for contact info to a pharmacy that should be able to mail these products to you.

InflaNOx is also a very powerful anti-inflammatory to add to my list above (it’s an alternative to Inflammation Relief or Zyflamend) but make sure you check the cautions since it could interact with certain nitrate-containing medications or supplements.
http://www.axiomahealth.ca/#!nox-products/vstc1=inflanox

Article on inflammation (tendinitis is mostly inflammation of the tendon)
http://aor.ca/assets/Research/pdf/inflammation/Advances%20Vol%204%20Issue%201%20Inflammation.pdf

For high blood pressure, consider either:

– Blood Pressure Relief
http://aor.ca/html/products.php?id=215

– Two products: Blood Pressure Essentials and Bioactive Co-Q 10
http://www.drwhitaker.com/heart-health/advanced-blood-pressure-program

Articles on blood pressure issues:
http://www.drwhitaker.com/heart-health-5/

*****

michael and sienna: thanks.

mem, borg, mark: no time to respond to everything you post. But just imagine I did respond and it rebutted everything you posted, whatever it was :)

July 27th, 2012 at 6:35 am

@borg, great posts,
I wanted to ask dave the same question you have said on your post abt how does it justify H2H 2-8

July 27th, 2012 at 11:13 am

Uncle Dave. “But just imagine I did respond and it rebutted everything you posted, whatever it was”. What! Even if one of us posted that fed was goat???

July 27th, 2012 at 1:59 pm

Borg… here ypu see a few years of the ranking of the top 4. Rafa in decline written alover.

for 20 tourney he has very little to show for. He almost is is out of the top 3 and he must be prepared to give way to his elite status in the nearby future. Only the clay swing can maybe save him him for another year in top 4.

Have a good one.

South African Airways
ATP Rankings 27.07.2009
Rank, Name & Nationality Points Week Change Tourn Played
1 Federer, Roger (SUI) 11,210 0 16
2 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 9,735 0 17
3 Murray, Andy (GBR) 9,260 0 19
4 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 7,990 0 22

ATP Rankings 26.07.2010
Rank, Name & Nationality Points Week Change Tourn Played
1 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 10,745 0 18
2 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 6,905 0 21
3 Federer, Roger (SUI) 6,885 0 20
4 Murray, Andy (GBR) 5,155 0 17

ATP Rankings 25.07.2011
Rank, Name & Nationality Points Week Change Tourn Played
1 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 13,155 0 18
2 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 11,270 0 22
3 Federer, Roger (SUI) 9,530 0 20
4 Murray, Andy (GBR) 6,855 0 20

23.07.2012
Rank, Name & Nationality Points Week Change Tourn Played
1 Federer, Roger (SUI) 11,075 0 20
2 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 11,000 0 19
3 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 8,905 0 20
4 Murray, Andy (GBR) 7,460 0 20

July 27th, 2012 at 2:43 pm

Ray-Federer is God of Tennis ?
Even God is imperfect.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:39 am

Sienna-Remember you are dismissing a man who made 5 consecutive grand slam finals and say he is on decline just by this one performance at Wimbledon which was an aberration. By the way, Rafa is not just a clay court specialist. He is an outstanding player on all courts and that is proved by his performance over the years in the grand slam events. Remember he has hit the butt of Federer many times in Grand slam events and that is the reason you fans pounce on anything when it disfavours Rafa. That is understandable. Remember the Bull has real powers to withstand anything. I see Rafa coming with all guns blazing in the hard court swing after a much needed rest. Best of luck to Federer.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:48 am

Metan-Dave always puts long answers most of the times without substance.

July 28th, 2012 at 1:02 am

Borg Says:
Keep dreaming Borg.

He only beat Fed once on a fast court and that was back in 2008 in the Wimbly final.

He really has no weapons to beat Fed on a fast HC or Gras.

July 28th, 2012 at 1:23 am

Sienna-What about 2009 and 2012 Australian ? Were they not hard courts. It was nice to see Rafa hit the butt of the GOAT.

July 28th, 2012 at 2:32 am

Borg: “Dave always puts long answers most of the times without substance.”

If you really believe the monumental nonsense you wrote, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is: substantiate your claim about my long answers.

If you fail to impress us… I might let you off the hook if you can identify the name of the Led Zeppelin song played during the Olympic opening ceremony.

July 28th, 2012 at 2:46 am

Dave-‘writing monumental nonsense’. That is your prerogative which I do not want to intrude upon. What is there to substantiate my claim. Rafa is 8-2 in slams against Roger and you were bringing in the rivalry of Laver and Rosewall to justify your hero’s predicament to wriggle out of this disaster. I said they are not related and moreover the H2H figures quoted by you between Laver and Rosewell is wrong which you can check in the wikipedia. Laver has only a positive H2H against Rosewall.

July 28th, 2012 at 2:56 am

borg, my H2H figures of big finals between Rosewall and Laver are accurate (see link). It is quite clear from the ‘head-to-head tallies’ section and ‘list of all matches’ section (pro slam and grand slam are in bold words) that:
(a) Pro Slam final: Rosewall is 6-4 against Laver (4-0 French Pro, 2-1 US Pro, 0-3 Wembley Pro)
(b) Grand Slam final: Rosewall is 1-1 against Laver
(c) Year-end championship final: Rosewall is 2-0 against Laver (1971, 1972 WCT Finals final)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laver-Rosewall_rivalry#Head-to-head_tallies

So you’re wrong. It’s clear you do not understood what you read in Wikipedia when you wrote: “Rahul-What is Laver’s H2H with Rosewall ? it is 36-20 all finals in favour of Laver. In Grand slams it is 1-1 and Professional slams it is 6-4. So how does this favourably compare with Federer Vs Rafa ?” Fact is, in the slams (both grand slam and pro slam), it is 7-5 in favor of Rosewall. Their next most signficant matches according to Jack Kramer were their 1971 and 1972 WCT Finals final (both were considered more improatnt than French Open or Australian Open in those years), both of which were won by Rosewall. So Rosewall was 9-5 against Laver in their biggest finals.

Laver-Rosewall are related and serve as a precedent because (a) they are the closest to Federer in greatness in terms of their record of accomplishments and (b) they are the biggest historical rivalry in terms of big matches played. OF course you would not accept this because this precedent rebuts your argument and both players outshine Nadal in terms of overall accomplishment.

Bottom line, what you wrote is monmental nonsense. In any case, there are several precedents in tennis history for disregarding negative H2H records (Laver-Rosewall is just one precedent).

So what I wrote earlier remains true: “It’s hypocritical that in three posts Borg emphasized that Nadal is 8-2 in slams against Federer, yet conveniently fails to note that Rosewall has a 9-5 record against Laver in all their biggest finals (6-4 pro slams, 1-1 grand slam, 2-0 YEC… in 1971 and 1972 the WCT Finals YEC was considered more prestigious than both French Open and Australian Open). Instead Borg pushes that Laver has a 36-20 all finals in favour of Laver (and incorrectly claims that “Professional slams it is 6-4″ in favor of Laver) while others bring up the Laver-Rosewall H2H of 80-63 — fact is by the time that Laver first played Rosewall in 1963, Ken Rosewall was already over 28 years of age and about to begin his slow decline from 1964 onwards.”

July 28th, 2012 at 3:54 am

Whatever be the H2H, even taking your figure for granted, 6-4,7-5, 9-5 all seems decent Dave when compared to the 2-8 thrashing !!

July 28th, 2012 at 3:57 am

Some of the fed fans are really twisted. Whatever tournaments that Federer cannot win ,they promptly certify as not important .When Nadal wins on grass,it overnightly becomes a slow surface.but when Federer wins on the same surface,it magically becomes a legitimate surface.Such stupidity and Hypocricy is really unparalled.It is called sour grapes syndrome.For winning on clay,it is not enough to have flashy shots.Along with talent,one needs to have true characteristics which define human grit and endeauver like perserverence,never say die attitude,endurance in the highest order ect.Tennis on clay requires pushing oneself beyond limits,which for flashy players is very hard to achieve.They want to show that they are such highly talented that they can win without even looking like trying.When on clay when their flashy shots do not work,they are at sea.Their fans are totally at loss and perplexed.To compensate for that,they make up the most irrelevant of excuses,which actually makes them look even more pathetic than they actually are.This is the case of some of the Federer fans.But it is actually beyond thier understanding for them to ammend their ways.They keep on banging their heads thinking that they must not let down their messiah.

July 28th, 2012 at 10:05 am

“When Nadal wins on grass,it overnightly becomes a slow surface.”

Overnightly? Not true. Mentioned the grass changed approx 2001.

You guys cool down already. Rafa is out and your whining. Instead of taliking about what really is going to stick ithe history books you types are stuck on boxing stats, not Tennis records and achievements that none will reach for decades to come. messiah? Nah, just a very good Tennis player.

The surface has slowed down in the Rafa-Fed era. Fact. So? Fed still has 17 Slams.

Rafa owns a 8-2 record agaist Fed with both make it t the finals in slams. Fact. So? Fed still has 17 Slams.

Nothing,…….is goig to ever chnage that.

July 28th, 2012 at 10:26 am

Borg Says:
Sienna-What about 2009 and 2012 Australian ? Were they not hard courts. It was nice to see Rafa hit the butt of the GOAT.

July 28th, 2012 at 2:32 am

Borg You do know which tournements have a fast HC and which have a real slow HC even almost slower then clay!

We can ask Dave to give us some insights if he feels like it.But the way you have been foulmouthing against him I dont know if he will take the job.

ENjoying TMF are you….

July 28th, 2012 at 10:56 am

@skeezer,

Your post @10:26am, show you are true gentleman n good daddy,,, hehehe,

Rafa owns 8-2 it doesn’t mean he is better than Roger but Roger 17 slams, it doesn’t mean he is overall the best, let’s time tell!

July 28th, 2012 at 9:41 pm

Wow it is sad to see how many people who can’t even spell correctly are so talented in their own minds at giving advise.

It is a sad thing, period. For any athlete of any sport to have to endure any injury. It is sad for the Olympics that such a great player will not be in attendance.

It is not the business of any of person but Rafa who coaches him or how he rehabs.

A simple looking forward to seeing you again strong and healthy Rafa, is all that is needed.

Best Wishes Rafa.

July 30th, 2012 at 1:02 am

arrogant gamesmanship player ever

August 12th, 2012 at 10:13 pm

Djokobic kicks Nadal in 7 finals all

August 12th, 2012 at 10:15 pm

Ray:

Djokovic will not win more slams than Nadal. He is already 25 and only has 5 slams. When Federer and Sampras were Djokovic’s age they had more than 5 slams. And with his playing style he won’t be winning slams at Federer’s age.

August 12th, 2012 at 10:24 pm