Uncle Toni: Rafa To Return To The Practice Courts Next Week

Don’t go again until u retire officially!

November 15th, 2012 at 12:17 pm

I hope this turns out to be true and Rafa finally returns to the tour. There have been quite a few similar news items in the last five months which have turned out to be false. Rafa’s presence will make both the semi finals balanced again in case the top four reach that stage.

November 15th, 2012 at 12:56 pm

Hopefully Rafa will be back soon. But should he really be playing so much right before the Oz Open? I know very little about sports injury rehabilitation, but I’d think giving Kooyong a pass would be a wise move.

November 15th, 2012 at 1:18 pm

I hope its true. The mix of Slam contenders gets 33% deeper with Rafa. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him win Oz.

November 15th, 2012 at 2:06 pm

VAMOS RAFA! Should ( hopefully) be close to 100 % fitness now, already a month of gym work- so hopefully all goes well on court! Kooyong is a really good ahead IMO- matches under belt prior AO is a good idea!

November 15th, 2012 at 2:31 pm

Brando. I don’t think Rafa will play Kooyong. It will just be Abu Dhabi and Doha, the same as the last few years.

November 15th, 2012 at 3:05 pm

@Giles:

If so then that is a BETTER idea, since Doha offers competitive matches with a maximum of 5, whereas Kooyong is an Exho essentially with JUST 3 matches!

Either way, this is good news- and I hope more follows!:-)

November 15th, 2012 at 4:00 pm

Before any of you spread any rumors, I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to be back just after 6 months……not for the reasons u might think but because my knee needed a break of 6 months…..

November 15th, 2012 at 5:51 pm

i cannot believe that there is no single serious tennis site reporting on the news that Alvarino has shut down the use of Dr garcia del moral who has been linked to spanish tenis for almost 15 years!!!

It is truly incredible that Lance Armstrong has been put to bed and the spanish tennisplayers have been using this doctor for there “well being”…….

How much more proof do you want?

November 16th, 2012 at 6:45 am

This is one great piece of news except that it should not turn out to be mere rumour as happened in the past. It appears from the plain speak of Tony that Nadal is in fine shape and raring to go. He is scheduled to play in many tournaments, especially the all important Australian Open. I think Nadal and his fans should be patient in his come back and should not expect instantaneous success. It may take a while for Nadal to feel the game and produce the touch that has made him a legend already. The good news is that he is still in the top four unlike his 2009 lay off which means he will meet the top players only in the semi and final stages. Nevertheless, the competition is going to become more intense with his return.

November 16th, 2012 at 7:39 am

his silent doping banned must be up by the itf where is the vermin in the press this is a big story he is cheating not hurt

November 16th, 2012 at 8:19 am

Overachiever.

Just like Agassi.

November 16th, 2012 at 9:26 am

Nadal is the clay GOAT. On other surfaces than clay he needs a million things to go his way to win a slam. He is like Agassi who won just 1 FO and 1 Wimbledon while Nadal has only won 1 AO and 1 USO. Both overachieved at their worst slams to win a title at each of them. Agassi won 2 USOs at his second best slam while Nadal won 2 Wimbledons at his second best slam. The only difference is that Agassi won 4 titles at his best slam, the AO, while Nadal might end up with twice that number at his best slam, RG.

November 16th, 2012 at 9:29 am

Sienna, why don’t you spend more time looking for news instead of just whining. Took me 2 seconds to find this report from ESPN, along with many others. Here is an excerpt:
“The manager of the International Tennis Federation’s anti-doping program, Stuart Miller, said he investigated del Moral’s work in tennis in the wake of the USADA’s ban.

The ITF “interviewed Sara Errani, among others,” Miller told the AP. Citing confidentiality requirements, he wouldn’t reveal details of the investigation or say if the ITF determined whether del Moral helped players to dope.

“If there’s a case where somebody has breached the rules, it will be publicly reported,” Miller said. “So you can draw what conclusions you like from that.”

Read the articles and you get a better idea of what is going on instead of just complaining.

November 16th, 2012 at 1:16 pm

Miller is a joke. It will be publicly reported? Doubt it. Of course he’s not going to reveal the details of the investigation.

November 16th, 2012 at 2:01 pm

Thank goodness there is a link now for rafa fans to post on, especially the likes of Jamie, Rick, Roy and whoever else stirs it up on the Fed threads.

It will be a welcome return, in my opinion to see Rafa back. I have so missed the Rafa/Roger rivalries and I hope they resume with the same intensity as before. May be they will, may be they won’t. But having him return, is a step in the right direction.

November 16th, 2012 at 3:01 pm

Tennis as a whole especially the spanish tennis players are suspect. The Nadal ban is serious at this point in time. I believe more in a silent ban then in a so called injury.

November 16th, 2012 at 6:54 pm

Good I can get back to kicking his itchy buttocks!

November 17th, 2012 at 12:21 am

2013 will be even more interesting than this year

November 17th, 2012 at 3:22 am

WOW, so cool :D Can’t wait to see Nadal again soon

November 17th, 2012 at 5:06 am

Cool article! Glad to hear my favorite player is coming back!I see him coming back for the French but just sitting out the Ozzie.

November 17th, 2012 at 9:53 am

@sienna, not difficult to understand your beliefs….after all, as far as you are concerned, Rafa is the devil incarnate……..and we all know why!

November 17th, 2012 at 10:28 am

I hope the doping isn’t true. But something smells sort of fishy. I think a bunch of players are either doing something they shouldn’t have, something borderline against the rules, or they are using some very effective and secretive training regimen.

November 17th, 2012 at 12:58 pm

Michael @7.39am 17th November,i very much doubt many of us Rafa fans are expecting instentanious success,although i know im not and i suppose i cant speak for anyone else,to do so would be suicidal especially on this forum,most of us will just be happy to finally see him start playing again,who knows which way things will go,the scales will tip one way or the other,probably a do or die situation who knows,however it would be nice if people didnt take such joy in predicting his down fall,whenever the going gets a little tough for him.

November 17th, 2012 at 3:36 pm

Nice return

I’m waiting Rafa the No.1 chaampion 2013.

November 18th, 2012 at 2:38 am