Rafael Nadal Has A Torn Patella Tendon, Will Miss Next Two Months; See You In 2013?

I ll huf and I ll puf and will blow your house down.

How many tails or tricks are there to follow. all of a sudden they come out with this news. Wake me up when he will enter next tourney. should be aprox. 6 months past wimbly.

September 3rd, 2012 at 11:14 am

Rafa talking to his doctors:
I have made such a huge mistake when I didn’t tell Sienna and tennis-x about having a possible torn tendon and that I was trying to avoid surgery. They don’t seem to understand that I am under NO obligation to reveal ALL of the possible problems until I know my course of action. I am not playing, so I don’t know why they worry about it anyway. I will be back later doc….I need to ask Sienna if I have her permission to please Xisca or if she will say if I can have sex then I can play tennis since she seemed worried that I would be able to please Xisca.

September 3rd, 2012 at 11:37 am

^lol :)

_____________

“two of the most important tournaments of the year” ???? I thought he said FO and Wimby were?

Oh well, whatevers. Get well soon Rafa. I have friends that have had to get surgery for a Torn Patella Tendon, so its good that he is taking his time. Seems like his knees have really taken a toll with more than one thing wrong( like multiple?). Not to be forgotten is that he has been on the tour already for 10 years…..running hard. I think this is a great decision for him. If he can fully recover he has probably got a good 2 years left playing giving it one last run at Slams before he leaves the game.

September 3rd, 2012 at 11:50 am

@juljo724: LMFAO- what a post! :-)

September 3rd, 2012 at 11:58 am

@skeezer: “I think this is a great decision for him. ” AGREE- I think he is thinking long term, hence this decision. So wise move by rafa. IMHO, he should forget this year and return in 2013. Either way, all the best with your recovery rafa!

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:01 pm

I honestly don’t get how he keeps avoiding surgery. The biggest issue is how big of a tear there is. If it’s really small, then therapy should help the process. But if it’s normal sized or bigger, then I’m pretty sure a few months off isn’t enough to completely heal it. I’m also pretty sure that, at this point, he might as well have surgery and then start the healing process, otherwise this is going to be a recurring issue and could get even worse.

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:08 pm

The problem with this injuries and age is that eventually he won’t be able to have a comeback. As much as I think he will still win some Slams, eventually, he will not bounce back. Similar to Federer, eventually he will stop winning Slams. The sad thing with Nadal is we pretty much know for sure, he will probably end his career due to an injury.
Well, Hewiit is playing after more than one surgery, so, all is not lost.
Best recover and return soon before he loses the killer instinct that mess up Fed’s head:)

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:19 pm

I’m confused. Last weekthere was a comment from another site, that Nadal had PRP injections. How can his doctors do this if he has a torn patella tendon? I wonder if they know what they are doing. People who have torn patellas ca’t walk nor play gold, which is a very demanding sport.

Yes, I agree Nadal does not have to say anything to us, but it’s what is required of world athletes, that is, to apprise the media and their fans of their injuries.

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:31 pm

@juljo724 at 11:37 am;

Now, that’s what I call a funny post!

Thank you.

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:35 pm

We have to, IMHO, go with what rafa is saying- as all other information about him is mainly speculation. He states that he shall ONLY return when he is 100% and that he is pleased that his doctor says that no surgery is required. Based on that, IMO, him and his team are dealig with his issue accordingly. We need to remember that rafa’s last big injury scare was 3 years ago- so they are managing it fairly well, IMHO.

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:38 pm

Alok, I know from reports that he had PRP injections back in 2009 when he withdrew from Wimbledon. I have not heard about it this time but it is known to heal tissue quicker and uses the own person’s plasma. It may be small as Ben suggested and thus, trying other avenues instead of surgery may have been the object of his rehab.

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:41 pm

@juljo724, the comments I read stated the PRP injections were given a bout a klittle over a month when he pulled out from the Olympics.

My stupid uncle who is 65 had those PRP injections for a torn meniscusand it made the problem worse for him. he had surgery about a month ago. He said the injections were extremely painful and worse than the surgery.

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:03 pm

Alok stated “Yes, I agree Nadal does not have to say anything to us, but it’s what is required of world athletes, that is, to apprise the media and their fans of their injuries.”

That he has but he can only tell us what he himself knows for sure. Talk is alot about if he would play Davis Cup so he ended that speculation. He could’ve waited until this was over, since this Open doesn’t even involve him, but the team needed to know. I think it is more important that the other players and teams know first before the fans, since they are affected the most. The players probably knew, as Roger had stated, he and Rafa talk about injuries and trust each other not to blab to the media.

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:08 pm

Rafa had PRP injections when he was out in 2009 and he always said they helped him. He had great results in 2010. PRP involves the patient’s own plasma and I would guess, like any other medical procedure, not every result will be the same. Sorry about your uncle’s results.

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:11 pm

^ Helped him back then, , ya, but anyone have any validated studies of long term effects of this therapy? Like Alok said with first hand experience from his Unc? Jusk askin….

____

Alok,

We are only talking left knee here, maybe the PRP was for the right knee?
____

Guess we can all guess here, but it is not unlike Nadal’s camp to give out confusing info. One thing is clear, he is out and he is injured somewhere somehow.

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:44 pm

@skeezer, It’s funny, my uncle had the tear in his right knee and was hoping the PRP would heal it. I don’t know if you know anything of the meniscus, but on ce it frays ot, the knee collapses, like the timing belt of a car.

I’m laughing, my uncle is sort of a hychondriac and after he got the left knee operated one, he was beginning to feel that his right kneee should have surgery. it wasn’t until we told him try PRP that he stopped talking. Now, both knees are fine and he’s glad he nad the surgery and left the other kneee alone. He went back to India to get his surgery done after the US doctors told him not to have the PRP injections.

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:57 pm

Skeezer wrote “^ Helped him back then, , ya, but anyone have any validated studies of long term effects of this therapy? Like Alok said with first hand experience from his Unc? Jusk askin….”

Don’t know about validated studies, but it is a newer type treatment (only a few years versus decades) and with ANY medical treatment, even surgery, there are no assurances that you will be totally healed and no assurances that there will be no complications.

September 3rd, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Fish withdraws cause of injury. What a shame!

I was so looking forward to this match.

Oh well…

September 3rd, 2012 at 2:15 pm

Meanwhile Federer is beneficiary of yet another walkover. How many does this guy get?

September 3rd, 2012 at 3:08 pm

WTF: “Meanwhile Federer is beneficiary of yet another walkover. How many does this guy get?”

If you play as many matches as Federer does per year, you happen to get some I’d say…

September 3rd, 2012 at 3:14 pm

I had no plans to make any such announcement. But when I saw the confusions you fans have, I decided to tell the news of my treatment and my plans.

It is all for you fans….

September 3rd, 2012 at 3:29 pm

@Nadal

Ha frigging ha. If you didn’t make “confused” announcements your “fans” wouldn’t be so “confused” about it.

September 3rd, 2012 at 3:52 pm

Nadal is so desperate to make headlines he is planning for a friday press release in Mallorca.

I am Suffering from severe braincrampsthe headlines will be.
And I found out that runner, runner spades are not so easy to get when youre trailing after the flop.

ythe way handicap is shooting under 5.0

September 3rd, 2012 at 4:36 pm

If you didn’t make “confused” announcements your “fans” wouldn’t be so “confused” about it.
–
I don’t need instructions on how to “handle” the injury. I am a pro at this. I have been doing it since the junior days. Timely medical time outs, mental time outs, etc. are planned in advance. No need to worry.

September 3rd, 2012 at 4:58 pm

too bad for kerber….she was my dark horse to win the USO this year. lots of surprises today on the women’s side. serena looked like she was hardly even trying against her opponent and still won 6-0, 6-0. scary.

props to kohlschreiber for getting the 5 set win over isner.

raonic murray should be good!

September 3rd, 2012 at 6:34 pm

@Brando – I’d go with what Rafa was saying if his camp wasn’t constantly contradicting themselves. Apparently, according to Uncle Toni he was healed before the US Open but couldn’t play because he wasn’t rested enough.

I think the best approach to take with Rafa is to assume he is injured until you actually see him on court, no matter what news you hear out of the camp.

September 3rd, 2012 at 6:42 pm

Show of hands – in any context/for any reason, who’s surprised?

September 3rd, 2012 at 8:26 pm

Rafa does not own anyone anything.He is so humble and cracious to give what he can. Even if he is tired of tennis he has been my favorite and even if he does not come back I will always admire him and his determination. I have prob watched 30 minutes of theUS Open who really cares without him there. Hope you come back Rafa

September 3rd, 2012 at 8:34 pm

Steve, Thanks for the kinds words.

Trust me, there ain’t many like you in this world !.

September 3rd, 2012 at 8:46 pm

@Steve – I agree that Rafa doesn’t owe anyone anything. But especially since he doesn’t, the least his camp (and note, I am not talking as much about him personally as his team) can shut up and not mislead. That is the most frustrating aspect. Uncle Toni certainly insisted that Rafa would be back for the Davis cup. If they dont owe anyone anything, why did he say anything, especially since what he says turns out to e lie after lie.

That being said, I do agree Rafa is in a tough spot because people expect him to say something. I would much prefer that he either not say anything, or be completely honest (we don’t know…or we can’t be sure yet) than mislead.

September 3rd, 2012 at 9:47 pm

I will be very curious to see how Nadal plays when he returns. With the recurrent knee problem, his style of play and the factor of age creeping in, I wonder if he will still be as competitive with the top guys as he was.

September 3rd, 2012 at 10:08 pm

“If you play as many matches as Federer does per year, you happen to get some I’d say…”

Count how many he’s had at GS level compared to Djokovic and Nadal, especially when there’s rain delays and the other guys are forced to play back to back. He either gets his match in before the rain starts or he gets a walkover altogether.

Luck is always on his side. At 31, he could use it too.

September 3rd, 2012 at 11:45 pm

It is good that Nadal is thinking long term and his trouble torn knees need much needed rest. I am sure he is always capable of bouncing back strong. He did this in 2010 after missing the tour in 2009 and now I expect a similar come back from him. But I think he should skip the World Tour Finals because that is not the right place for his launching pad in his come back bid. It might kill his confidence if he gets beaten there repeatedly by top players.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:43 am

“Luck is always on his side.”

Friggin sour grapes material. Come out of the closet already.

The man has played over a 1000 ATP tour matches…….a few that may be lucky? Maybe, but you don’t play that many tour matches and win 17 Slams and say “Luck is always on his side”. No, its “Skill and Talent are mostly his side”.

——–

@addicted,

Re; Rafa. “Cry Wolf” syndrome. He has made his own mess of injury publicity.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:43 am

He either gets his match in before the rain starts

************** it helps he doesn’t bounce the ball a 121466786 times or be psychotic OCD. takes around half the time between points the other 2 take.

or he gets a walkover altogether.

************** helps that he doesn’t retire from matches himself. the other 2 have retired from big matches.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:49 am

I am not sure how this walkover is going to benefit Roger ? On the positive side, he might get the much needed rest ahead of his tough encounters. On the negative side, the match with Fish would have probably given him sufficient match practice which he has now been starved of. So, I hope this doesn’t upset the rythm of Roger.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:51 am

The doctors have a confidentiality issue, they don’t owe anyone an explanation except the patient. None of you publish the diagnosis of your doctors on the internet so why should Rafa not manage his medical information. The ATP must be kept fully informed and that all that matters.

The press are free to write what they want because they are hungry for news and if they don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story it’s not Rafa’s faul

September 4th, 2012 at 11:38 am

^ Well said.

September 4th, 2012 at 11:55 am

I hope Rafa shuts it down for the season. I can see him wanting to play, especially the year-end championships and Davis Cup (if Spain makes the final). But I’m guessing that more rest could only help with these issues, and Davis Cup and the year-end tourney are too high-stakes to test out his competitiveness and play. A healthy Rafa is good for the sport.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:20 pm

@Steve 27 – Again, the point is not that Rafa needs to say something. If he (his camp) stayed completely quiet, thats his prerogative, and his concern.

The reality is that his camp is NOT staying quiet. They constantly keep making public statements regarding what injuries he has. And they constantly (esp. Toni) make statements about how he is practicing and will be back for this tournament or the other.

Only to reverse themselves when the tournament actually arrives.

The problem is not that his camp is not saying anything. The problem is that his camp keeps saying things, only for those things they are saying turning out false.

He has full rights to keep quiet publicly about his medical issues. However, it is fair for fans to demand that if he is saying something, it should not be false/misleading.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:21 pm

^yep

September 4th, 2012 at 12:25 pm

@Addicted4444. I don’t think Nadal or Toni have ever stated categorically that Nadal would definitely compete in the tourneys he has missed so far. I think the hope was there that he would be fit to play but it did not work out.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:32 pm

Below are my two posts below on the issue. Unfortunately they are long (so read only if interested) and have many links (hopefully the moderator will clear them sooner rather than later)

September 4th, 2012 at 12:33 pm

Nadal “will stop for the next 2 months” due to a “partial tear of the patella tendon at the distal pole of the patella plus an inflammation of the Hoffa’s fat pad” in his left knee. In other words, Nadal now claims he has two injuries in his left knee: (1) a partial tear of a left knee cap tendon (patellar tendon) as well as (2) inflammation of the Hoffa’s fat pad (infrapatellar fat pad) that’s under and behind the left knee cap.

There are some questions and inconsistencies regarding Team Nadal’s stories about Nadal’s injuries.

On July 20 (when Nadal announced he pulled out of Olympics) and August 15 (two days before Nadal’s revelation of hoffa’s syndrome):

– El Pais noted that, according to their medical sources, Nadal underwent several scans (ultrasound and MRI, though the original El Pais report mentioned only ultrasound) and different tests at Wimbledon to confirm or rule out the existence of “a small tear in the patellar tendon in his left knee”. El Pais is the largest newspaper in Spain.
July 20
http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2012/07/19/actualidad/1342726563_247914.html
August 15
http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2012/08/15/actualidad/1345045933_297181.html

– Thus the Spanish news media knew Nadal was specifically tested for this injury. It’s reasonable to presume that the Spanish press tried to find out the results of these tests. Yet no major Spanish newspaper reported this injury before today. Did Team Nadal and/or medical sources deny before today that Nadal had a partial tear in his patellar tendon?

On Aug 16, 2012:

– Uncle Toni spoke with Spanish radio about Rafa’s recovery. “It was the right decision (to withdraw from the US Open). This pause will further prolong his career and, possibly, he will have no more problems in the future,” Toni Nadal told Spanish radio, adding the goal is to work for a “full recovery”.

– Toni hoped that his nephew would be ready to take part in the September 14-16 Davis Cup semi-final “There is a month to go and we hope that he will be fine, if not technically, at least physically…. “After Wimbledon we decided to rest a few days and then work on strengthening his quadriceps but it was difficult. We eventually managed to boost a bit of his strength but at the end of the training sessions he continued to feel discomfort and his recovery was not enough to face such a hard competition as the US Open. Now we are training normally, but it is not the same as competing four hours a day during a tournament.”
http://tinyurl.com/cat7b3h

On August 17:

– Nadal revealed that his knee problem was Hoffa’s syndrome (inflammation of the fat pad). He said he has had this injury since February (yet Nadal chose to keep playing a packed clay and grass schedule including non-mandatory tourneys like Halle and Barcelona). This was reported in El Pais and other major Spanish newspapers.
http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2012/08/17/actualidad/1345219069_465180.html

– Nadal never mentioned that he had a partial tear in his patellar tendon.

– On the contrary, Nadal also said his tendons (quadriceps and patellar tendons) are very recovered and regenerated well compared to three years ago in mid 2009. In other words, Nadal said that his tendons are better, which contradicts what he now claims.

– It’s reasonable to assume that the Spanish press asked Nadal about his patellar tendon — given that they knew Nadal had knee scans at Wimbledon — since hoffa’s syndrome and torn tendons are two different injuries.

– Nadal’s August 15 and 17 announcements in the middle of the Cincinnati were a distraction to that Masters tournament. The timing of Nadal’s announcement seemed designed to take advantage of Cincinnati for his own publicity. Nadal could have quietly announced his USO withdrawal and Hoffa injury the day after Cincinnati ended, but in a quiet week it would have had less publicity impact for Nadal.

On September 3:

– El Pais now claims that Nadal had already known since Wimbledon about the partial tear in his patellar tendon from the scans done at the time.
http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2012/09/03/actualidad/1346668132_034366.html

– If that’s the case why did Nadal claim — two weeks ago — that his knee cap tendons were better than three years ago? Why did Nadal withhold that he had a torn tendon since Wimbledon?

– Since Rafa already disclosed the Hoffa’s Syndrome, there was no logical reason to hide a second injury (the partial tear) — if indeed, he ever had a partial tear in the first place.

– Once again Nadal’s September 3 announcement in the middle of the US Open seems timed to take advantage of the USO’s publicity to keep Nadal in the public conciousness. Nadal could have quietly announced his Davis Cup withdrawal and the extra two month recovery time the day after the USO ended (his captain can still pick him for Davis Cup the day before the tie starts). Nobody is affected if Nadal shuts up for a few days out of respect for playing competing at the US Open.

Aspects of Nadal’s injury stories don’t add up. It may be that these injury excuses are just a smokescreen for him to take a break from the ATP tour due to burnout and/or to make changes to his game, or to take time out due to some other reason (maybe Xisca is pregnant, etc, etc). Nadal is entitled to take a break if he wants (after all, he’s been a pro for 10 years).

Nadal loses credibility over the way he handles the publicity of his ever-changing injury dramas, which seem designed to create an outpouring of sympathy and support from gullible people who have no time to check the facts. Nadal is one of only two players who have a publicity manager, obviously to promote a positive image and certain views about Nadal. Ultimately Nadal is responsible for what his publicity manager Benito does and what his doctors say for his publicity (Nadal’s Dr. Cotorro has been a loyal part of Rafa’s publicity machine for years).

September 4th, 2012 at 12:44 pm

^^^^^should read: Part 1, Part 2 to follow, stay tuned…….on my way to do more “research and documentation” on my favorite player, Rafa.

September 4th, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Here we see Nadal playing in a golf competition over last weekend, September 1 to 2. The supposedly injured Nadal (and his Hoffa syndrome and partially torn patella tendon knees, etc, etc) competed in a two-day, 36-hole golf competition: the Balearic Islands amateur individual championship held at the Canyamel Golf Club on in Mallorca. [Mallorca is part of the Balearic Islands].
http://ultimahora.es/mallorca/noticia/deportes/rafa-nadal/nadal-reta-elite-amateur.html

– On Saturday, Nadal shot an 81. On Sunday Nadal shot an 85 to finish in 13th place. Not bad for a 3.7 handcap golfer, and it shows he was trying to compete.
http://www.fbgolf.com/documentos/F3525.pdf

– But why was Nadal — supposedly in the middle of his recovery from a double knee injury — doing competing in a golf competition?

– Obviously, Nadal’s ‘double injury’ is not that serious at the moment for him to be playing competitive golf. And this begs the question whether his injury was ever that serious in the first place.

– Golf is hard on the knees, according to sports medicine doctors. Nadal plays his golf right-handed and both his injuries are in his left knee. For right-handed swingers, the left knee will be subjected to the most stress and strain. According to Golf Fitness Magazine, knee injury is the second most common injury a golfer can experience. The golf swing puts a tremendous amount of torque on the structure of the knee (especially the repetitive motion of pivoting onto the forward knee). This causes knee pain in many golfers, especially those who have had injury or arthritis. Several top pro golfers, most famously Tiger Woods, have knee injuries.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/234840-knee-injury-from-golf/

– In this clip, Rafa is hitting three golf balls (at around the 03:00, 07:00 and 10:40 marks): you can see how the torque of his golf swings puts strain on the knees of his relatively stiff left leg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff3XYcJAMeM

– Not surprisingly, eyebrows were raised when the injured Nadal competed in a golf championship. It was probably was no coincidence that Nadal’s friend Ignacio Guerras — the Madrid Golf Federation president — quickly provided a cover story for Nadal. Guerras claimed that golf was not contradiicted for Nadal’s knee injuries: “(in golf) at the most there is slight torsion/twisting. So (Nadal) can play golf with no problem”. Guerras is actually a traumatologist (an expert on wounds and injuries caused by accidents or violence, so he’s good if your knee was hit by a car and you need a trauma surgeon). But Guerras is not an expert in sports medicine – and his opinion might be contradicted by sports medicine doctors who treat golfers where knees are the second largest source of injury. Two days of golf in a competition setting is not a round of social golf or a controlled rehab in a gym — in the heat of golf competition on uneven terrain, an injured golfer could re-injure his knee.
http://www.golfersknee.com/

Nadal seems to be taking a very long time to recover from his non-serious injuries — 18 weeks and counting (9 weeks to date since his Rosol loss plus now another additional 9 weeks). This seems to contradict the view of sports medicine doctors that pro athletes tend to recover much faster than weekend athletes (partly due to their access to the very best doctors, physiotherapists, medical scans and treatments).

– Nadal’s Hoffa’s syndrome should be relatively straightforward to treat and cure. Spanish knee doctors have said that Hoffa’ syndrome (an inflammatory ailment like tendinities) is 100% curable and is not a serious injury. According to knee surgeons and doctors, non-surgical treatment for Hoffa’s syndrome should often bring results within a few weeks (not several months).

– Nadal’s supposed partial tear of his kneecap tendon is also not a serious injury (full tear/rupture is more serious). But it may or may not be easy to treat depending on several factors (e.g., size/location of the partial tear, state of Nadal’s tendons, etc.). Very small, partial tears of the patellar tendon can usually be treated with non-surgical methods. The patient is initially immobilized for 3 to 6 weeks until the tendon has fully healed (the patient has to wear a knee immobilizer, brace or splints to keep his knee straight to help it heal and he uses crutches to avoid putting weight on the leg). While the patient wears the brace, physical therapy/exercises are used to progressively restore the strength and increase range of motion of the knee. Ice application, anti-inflammatory medications and rest from athletic activities are also prescribed. Of course Nadal has been using other treatments as well, such as TECAR therapy, PRP injections, etc.
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00512

– Let’s ask the obvious question: If Nadal’s non-serious injuries are taking so long to treat and heal, then why is Nadal putting his knees at risk by playing competitive golf in the middle of his 18 month injury break? Given the severe impact of Nadal’s injuries on the length of his absence from the ATP tour, it is reasonable to expect that he would be doing everything possible to heal his injuries efficiently. Is he?

Can anyone blame others for bringing up the obvious inconsistencies in Nadal’s injury stories and in his actions/behaviors?

September 4th, 2012 at 12:56 pm

Nadalista: In other words, you are admitting to us that you have absolutely no answer or rebuttal to anything I have posted, lol.

September 4th, 2012 at 1:03 pm

Dave what a killer post. Iam glad to read it and think that I AM NOT CRAZY.
I smell a big fat spanish rat running around the basement.
And it seems T is losing his grip on his nephew.

September 4th, 2012 at 1:09 pm

@nadalista

What a “cop out” thing to say in response to a well written post. Figures.

September 4th, 2012 at 1:25 pm

Oh sorry Dave Sienna reads your cr@p.

September 4th, 2012 at 1:29 pm

Man Dave,

only god knows who’s right and who’s not, but man, you do good research in your posts! truly well-written. though I’m not gonna stress my mind pondering over anything about nadal’s whatever issues, but I simply couldn’t resist a response to your last 2 long posts re: rafa’s statements, which if not, absolutely convincing and all-reveaing, were still at least really ”stirring and thought-provoking”! good job!

September 4th, 2012 at 1:43 pm

Am convinced @ Dave is an eccentric!!!

September 4th, 2012 at 1:57 pm

Every week a different diagnosis.

Odd….

September 4th, 2012 at 3:11 pm

i think Dave’s analysis of the situation is spot on, well researched and totally coherent; his explanation of the situation makes much more sense than any so called stream of injuries that nadal is supposedly having and that the mainstream media continue to parrot without questioning all the inconsistencies (reminds me of another story that took place in september…); in my mind their there are only two logical conclusions to why he is not playing;

one, either he got fed up with the sport and is taking a break, a la mcenroe, or is quitting permanently, a la borg

two, he is serving the so called 6 month silent suspension, caused by doping problems, and it is being kept quiet by him and the itf so that the sporting image of tennis itself is not tarnished like cycling by being associated with drugs

by the way, i posted a facebook comment with these same thoughts on the atp site under the topic “NADAL WITHDRAWS FROM SPAIN’S SF TIE” and a few hours later the post and it’s comments had been removed without any kind of warning;

it’s nice to know that freedom of speech is being censored and curtailed both on facebook and on the atp site (so what else is new, but come on!);

i urge sienna, dave and anyone else that agrees with how suspicious this so called nadal injury story looks to flood both sites with comments about this subject

September 4th, 2012 at 5:48 pm

Well i AM not doing so great on this site because moderation is my midlename as it seems.

Iam just gratefull nadalista will read the comments ofespecially Dave. and I enjoy the way she takes those comments over to her friends on tennistalk.
So only reading comments over and informative posts about the issue is enough to bring some doubt and eventually fair minded view on the nadalfanatics.

Or not.

September 4th, 2012 at 5:57 pm

Dave —
Appreciate the material you have collected and put together, especially the second post.

In the second post, you point out how he is playing golf already and how that could be detrimental to his knee. And you go on to say how his injuries are not serious and that they should have healed faster.

Let us take these two assertions to be true for the moment (I am not an expert in medicine or golf). You then ask a few rhetorical questions:

“Let’s ask the obvious question: If Nadal’s non-serious injuries are taking so long to treat and heal, then why is Nadal putting his knees at risk by playing competitive golf in the middle of his 18 month injury break? ……… Can anyone blame others for bringing up the obvious inconsistencies in Nadal’s injury stories and in his actions/behaviors?”

Through these you conclude there is something “fishy”. To me, these messages doesnt sound that strange: it could be that his injury was serious enough to have missed a few weeks of tennis (especially with his style of play and on hard courts), but not serious enough to still be totally resting — so that, he is already “easing” into “action”…

September 4th, 2012 at 10:39 pm

^error: “messages doesnt sound ” –> “messages don’t sound “

September 4th, 2012 at 10:49 pm

Dave —

Now, responding to your first post. Again, thanks for putting together the material.

I have no bones to pick with you till you state “In other words, Nadal said that his tendons are better, which contradicts what he now claims.”
It most likely is not a contradiction (again I am not a doctor), and I think it is a question of how you interpret when he says “regenerated well”. Obviously he doesnt mean that his knees have become perfect after 2009, and that he will have no incidents regarding his knees here after. So i dont see a contradiction here…

You then state: “The timing of Nadal’s announcement seemed designed to take advantage of Cincinnati for his own publicity.”
Well, i dont know if it is connected to his communication with the Open (or when one’s cutoff date for withdrawal is). It could simply be related to that or it could be due to any number of non sinister “latent variables”.

“Why did Nadal withhold that he had a torn tendon since Wimbledon?”
I dont know if he particularly denied it. I tend to interpret that he had a couple of issues with his knees — may not be super serious like some writers interpreted, but serious enough to take some time off — that he decided to rest during the part of the season that is particularly bad for his knees.

Clearly, the fact that he is not competing now (especially after his 3 successive victories over Nole, which must surely have energized him) means that his injuries are serious. That said, whether the injury is as serious as some writers claim or as serious as you claim that his team claims, i think, we may just be quibbling over words expressing varying degrees of uncertainties and seriousness…

September 4th, 2012 at 11:51 pm

Michael @12.43am 4th September Rafa was white washed at the WTFs in 2009,and went on to win 3 slams in 2010,so i dont see what difference it would make to the next season, whether he plays or does not play,as it always seems that he never has been a contendor there to begin with,one things for sure its not likely to get any easier the longer hes out as things move on,IMO as a fan i wouldnt want him to rush back unless he is fully fit,but if he is fully fit then he should play,you can pick and choose which tourneys to return for,but he would have to return sooner or later so whats it matter where or when he does return,its only delaying the enevitable,if he wins or losses either way,so personally i dont see what difference it makes either way,my two cents.

September 5th, 2012 at 8:23 am

Dave, I have some swampland I’d like to sell you….lol. Won’t be a problem since you obviously believe whatever the press claims (lots of your links to El Pais) and must also believe everything you read on the internet. All the better to put forth all yours and Sienna’s conspiracy theories. Hey! Where’s the alien stuff??

September 5th, 2012 at 1:01 pm

^ lol

September 5th, 2012 at 2:36 pm

It is all about information and education.
Dave is giving both especially for those who at first protest but they undeniably get educated on these issues.

September 5th, 2012 at 2:44 pm

Alison,

Nadal too is not getting any younger and I think he needs some confidence early and that is the reason I said that WTF might not be a good launching pad for him. He can start with some Clay court tournament if possible, slowly get back his confidence level and then make it big. That is my reasoning which you differ. Nevertheless, Nadal knows best what is to be done.

September 6th, 2012 at 1:25 am

Michael so basically your saying Rafa should miss the rest of the season,and the AO and the HC season next year,and return to the tour when the CC starts next year,which is in the spring,which is also months away,OK fine i suppose it lets us Rafa fans know where we stand,and that people believe he has no chance on the HCs, other than to win on clay,sorry but Rafa fans have more faith in him than that

September 6th, 2012 at 6:23 am

@ alison. Well said

September 6th, 2012 at 7:21 am

He’s better off not coming until the clay season. Outside of clay he has zero chances to win a title. That’s been the case for 2 years now.

September 6th, 2012 at 8:38 am

@alison

Nadal has not won a title off clay in 2 years.

His days of winning titles outside of clay are over.

His only chance will be during the clay season.

Perhaps he wins 1 more RG title.

That’s it.

8 RGs would be a great achievement.

September 6th, 2012 at 8:41 am

Jamie fair enough your entitled to your opinion,and you could be right,regardless of what happens next,im more than happy with Rafas overall achievements anyway,this Rafa fan sleeps easy at night.

September 6th, 2012 at 8:48 am

I have to say although i dont agree with alot of what Jamie says in his/her posts,ragging on Roger/Rafa,i will say at least H/S tells it like it is,none of the patronizing BS about Rafa needing to return to play on Clay to build up his confidence,and the WTF not been the ideal place to come back as loosing against the top players would kill his confidence if he gets beaten repeatedly by the top players.

September 7th, 2012 at 6:43 am

@jamie —

“Nadal has not won a title off clay in 2 years. … His days of winning titles outside of clay are over.”

Oh, not again… You say this of somebody who reached the last 3 out of 4 non-clay GS finals only to lose to Nole (who had an annus mirabilis, by all accounts)?

Seriously, there are easier bets than betting against Rafa ;)

September 7th, 2012 at 6:57 pm

^ And Rafa is going to be even more hungry next year. It wouldn’t be crazy to consider another 2010 ;)

September 7th, 2012 at 7:22 pm