Poll: Will Rafael Nadal Ever Win Wimbledon Again?

The sentimental side of me would say yes,however the realistic side of me says no.

June 24th, 2013 at 7:06 pm

LOL: what kind of thread is this? Wimby 14′? Let us Rafa fans get over Wimby 13 first! Me personally: I’ll be pleased IF Rafa even gets to week 2 @ Wimby in future. ONLY then would I consider a title run. More than anything else though: I’ll take a healthy, competitive Rafa for a good period over any title and then bust. Love his tennis> over success!

June 24th, 2013 at 7:24 pm

What is this poll going to serve?

June 24th, 2013 at 8:04 pm

What poll is this???

I vote no because I know with my brain he wasn’t My Rafa whom I knew.

I cried not for the lost but it wasn’t him anymore. His game has taken toll into his body.

God bless you Rafa.

@Alison. I wish that I could stick with you all as a fan but I only pop in whenever school break

June 24th, 2013 at 8:23 pm

He has no chance if you keep picking him.

June 24th, 2013 at 9:22 pm

I keep pickin Rafa but he is not winning the vote! WTF?

June 24th, 2013 at 9:32 pm

“I keep pickin Rafa but…”

LOL keep pickin Rafa but(t)

June 24th, 2013 at 9:52 pm

Navratilova said months ago he needed surgery, however painful it may be, that is the reality.
Today was a shadow of himself, without mobility, protecting the backhand, without enthusiasm to chase balls he usually win, even his tics for the service he forgot.
It’s sad but his chances are minimal to regain the title on the grass of Wimbledon.

June 24th, 2013 at 10:03 pm

oh thats right, Dr Navratilova, now shes an MD. Lol…

as predicted, the excuses will follow in fanatical fashion

June 24th, 2013 at 10:13 pm

Woo Chicago! Happy for them – great end with 2 goals in a minute to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and a game 7. Whoo-hoo. (Lots of Canadians on Chicago team!)

June 24th, 2013 at 10:56 pm

(and *stop going to game 7) Woo hoo. Kane may be small but he’s a superstar on the ice.

June 24th, 2013 at 10:57 pm

I was rooting for Boston as my nadal hater x personal trainer is a Chicago fan. Not my day in spectator sports. But I can’t complain as the past few months have gone my way, nadal winning seven tourneys and of course, the heat winning the championship on Thursday. But now I have a long stretch of the marlins, dolphins, hard courts for rafa ahead. The sad thing is rafa has a waaaay better chance of doing a north American hard court sweep then either miamis football or baseball team making any kind of significant run!

June 24th, 2013 at 11:13 pm

Well Boston, you could say, are more a defensive-to-offense team whereas Chicago are more goal-scorers, so maybe it makes sense in another way Kimberly. I find Chicago the much more exciting team to watch, and Chicago play kind of dirty, with hits after the whistle and so forth. I like some of their new talent though, like Seguin.

June 24th, 2013 at 11:17 pm

^ Sorry I mean Boston play kind of dirty after the whistle, not Chicago.

Their line of Kane/Bickle/Toews just lit it up the last few games, scoring again and again – good team, exciting!

June 24th, 2013 at 11:19 pm

I was watching the game as I was avoiding Wimbledon prime time for obvious reasons. That was crazy. They scored two goals in like under a minute!

June 24th, 2013 at 11:19 pm

I was sure they were going to game 7

June 24th, 2013 at 11:20 pm

That was so exciting, that ending – love hockey. Not as much as tennis, but close.

June 24th, 2013 at 11:21 pm

Why not ? He will be 28 even next year and has about two years of best tennis left with him. Ironically his early exit at Rolland Garros might help him in his quest for Wimbledon where he will find the transition a little bit easy. I see him winning atleast once if the draw of luck favours him.

June 25th, 2013 at 12:41 am

@ Michael.thanks for your post 12:41am. Encouraged words for devastating Rafa fans

June 25th, 2013 at 1:05 am

Metan,

Victory and defeats are part and parcel of any sport. The problem Tennis celebrities like Roger and Rafa faces is over expectation. They are thought like super human and immortal. Well, what this defeat of Rafa conclusively prove is that they are humans and are susceptible to ups and downs in their career. But what is special about them is they keep making comebacks much against the universal opinion. There lies in their greatness.

June 25th, 2013 at 1:40 am

Knees ! Knees ! Knees ! Anybody wants to appreciate how good Darcis played ? Did anybody even watch the match ? Darcis had one backhand error in entire first 2 sets. You heard me. Just one and that too he has a single handed backhand..rafa just had one tactic to attack his backhand but to his surprise he was not able to break it..rafa did not have a clue what could be his other tactic. How many of you felt he was injured in the first 2 sets ? I didn’t. Darcis’s backhand slice worked like magic, deep inside the court just inches behind the baseline something which rafa didn’t have any clue how to retrieve. Darcis played very inspired tennis , served good when he needed to and maintained his composure during big points. I would say Darcis won this match to a much greater proximity than rafa lost it due to watever reason.

June 25th, 2013 at 4:01 am

Darcis played good tennis, not extraordinary.No big weapon really, just the slices. Nadal just lost to an inspired player, and please … no more Knees !

June 25th, 2013 at 7:39 am

@Michael: thanks? Can he win Wimby? Of course he can. Been there and done that twice. Plus 3 RU’s. Question is: how will he navigate through week 1 in future IMO. Knees? Folks should look at 3rd set, near the end. Darcis hits a volley that is so retrievable for Rafa to get yet he stops grabbing his knee as he needed to push off his left knee. Commentators, reporters are saying his left knee seemed an issue. I doubt all of them blog online as Rafa fans, LOL!

June 25th, 2013 at 8:07 am

Taking a helicopter view of yesterday: in a Grand Slam event, Nadal does not lose in straight sets to anyone, not a single player in the top 10 and not even Lukas Rosol.

This means that he was hampered in his play, which certainly compromised his thinking during the game. You said it here, Darcis has no real weapons, and Nadal has overcome players with lots of weapons. Anything else makes no sense.

June 25th, 2013 at 8:18 am

Brando,

Rafa has some physical issues and they have to be sorted out soon. But, I think he is paying the price for over exerting himself in the clay court season. He could have skipped atleast one clay court Masters in my opinion. But, he played them all plus the Barcelona. That is for sure bound to take a toll. All said and done, Team Rafa is seriously lacking in scheduling it in the right manner. I think with Rafa’s troublesome knees, scheduling acquires even more greater importance in the whole scheme of things. If only Rafa had skipped Rome and played Halle, things could have been pretty different. But that was not to be. Team Rafa goofed up yet again !!

June 25th, 2013 at 8:56 am

“Nadal does not lose in straight sets to anyone, ”
Don’t trust them lying eyes!

June 25th, 2013 at 12:17 pm

Rafe on wimbledon grass during the first week is probably actully ranked outside 100. He becomes a top 10er by the second week.So,I think there should not be a huge surprise that he got beaten by 135th player on the very first day.

June 25th, 2013 at 12:19 pm

Huh?!

June 25th, 2013 at 12:23 pm

Hey Jane,

Great game last night! I’m a Habs fan first and foremost but the ‘Hawks are up there for me. Duncan Keith and Toews were absolute beasts last night. Happy to see a skill team beat the goons from Boston (…though I’d take the Bruins team over the Habs roster tomorrow if I could).

June 25th, 2013 at 12:28 pm

Rafa….I do think Rafa can win Wimbledon again. It’s all health dependent for him.

Anyone who thinks Rafa lost straight up to Darcis isn’t being completely honest with themselves. Rafa is hurting. No doubt about it. He’s played a lot more tennis than Darcis the last 3 months and the guy has knee problems. He can slide on clay and take that stress of his knees. There’s no sliding at Wimbledon as Azarenka will attest to.

June 25th, 2013 at 12:34 pm

Exactly, he played way too much tennis leading up to RG and now he’s paying the price. Whether the knees are the issue or burn out or fatigue who knows but he’s not getting any younger either.

I think he might get another RG but anything else…?

June 25th, 2013 at 4:25 pm

Nope. No more slams outside clay for Nadal.

He will win one more RG in 2014 and retire with 13 slams.

June 25th, 2013 at 9:15 pm

Once bitten, twice shy goes an adage !!

Thrice bitten, yet no shy – new adage related to the Team Managers of Rafa !!

Rafa has to fix this immediately if he is to stay long in this game. He has to be very careful with the scheduling of tournaments. It puzzles me as to why he is so careless despite the fact that his bad scheduling time and again have proved to be his nemesis.

June 26th, 2013 at 1:32 am

Michael completely agree Rafa played alot of tennis lately, which finally caught up with him which is sad as it was Wimbledon,i suppose when you are riding the crest of the wave doing so well,you want to carry on,to eventually suffer from burnout,it was a mistake to play all that CC tennis,and i did ask myself Barcelona why?i hope he plays a lighter shedual now,especially clay as he has nothing to prove there anymore,and try to peak more for grass and other surfaces,as Ben said he has been vulnerable on grass before,but when it comes to USO HCs although not considered his best surface,the irony is hes never struggled through so many 5 setters that he has at Wimbledon,added to that as Kimberly said hes plenty of time to get ready for the HC swing and have a good run,and get in the right frame of mind now.

June 26th, 2013 at 2:05 am

Considering the physical condition and his style of play, I am not sure and have my own doubts if he can win at SW19. Post injury, his game is more suited for the clay and I feel he will struggle on hard courts as well. Not sure if he can play at the top of his game for two weeks at grand slams other than French Open.

June 26th, 2013 at 3:01 am

It’s tough to not play. If you don’t play, you can’t defend the points you had from the previous year and slide down into lower rankings. This means you have to play the better players earlier. Nadal was seeded 5th at Wimbledon and would have had to play Fed in the quarters. A Fed-Nadal match up is, at worst a semi-final match (probably even a final at Wimbledon).

June 26th, 2013 at 12:49 pm

Rafe on wimbledon grass during the first week is probably actully ranked outside 100.

Hhahha
rognadfan. Yes, you are right like Stakhovsky!

June 26th, 2013 at 6:03 pm