Nadalites – Rafa Nadal Talk

[the AntiPusher]

I hope he dosent return, and someone in his team or his wife can talk some sense, to him, his body at age 37,, cant sustain any more injuries. I understand as a athlete is is hard to retire from a sport, that you have played and have been great at, as I said before he has nothing left to prove. Some people have said he should have returned in the clay season? easier on your body, though who is to say he would not have picked up a injury.

Really. It's amazing and pure good fortune that his body has lasted this long.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Really. It's amazing and pure good fortune that his body has lasted this long.

Agree, his chronic foot injury which plagued him as a teenager, and for most of his career ,he was advised not to play tennis, he played on, knee issues, ab issues, hip issues, back issues, in spite of all of those injuries, he found a way to come back, at nearly 38 years of age his body cannot sustain anymore injuries

 

[Moxie]

Oh, man! I know that Rafa is years past his sell-by date, according to all predictions, even his own. But he kept finding another comeback, and the will to compete. I guess he's finally running out of road. I do hope he can heal up for the clay season, go back to Roland Garros, where they'll probably have the goodbye tribute prepared, and I will hope that they can mothball from one more year. I also hope that, no matter what shape he's in, that he carries the flag for Spain at the Olympics, which he was going to do in 2012, but had to withdraw due to injury. This year, I don't care WHO'S slot he takes. And selfishly, I hope he will play the US Open, too. I guess it will be a limp to the finish, but since a few years now, we rather knew it would be.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh, man! I know that Rafa is years past his sell-by date, according to all predictions, even his own. But he kept finding another comeback, and the will to compete. I guess he's finally running out of road. I do hope he can heal up for the clay season, go back to Roland Garros, where they'll probably have the goodbye tribute prepared, and I will hope that they can mothball from one more year. I also hope that, no matter what shape he's in, that he carries the flag for Spain at the Olympics, which he was going to do in 2012, but had to withdraw due to injury. This year, I don't care WHO'S slot he takes. And selfishly, I hope he will play the US Open, too. I guess it will be a limp to the finish, but since a few years now, we rather knew it would be.

Sorry Moxie I want him to retire now, his body has had enough, he cannot keep sustaining these injuries he will be 38 in June, I dont want him to mount another comeback.Rafa has a young family let him enjoy he is the greatest competitor in our game , he has nothing more to prove.

 

[Moxie]

Sorry Moxie I want him to retire now, his body has had enough, he cannot keep sustaining these injuries he will be 38 in June, I dont want him to mount another comeback.Rafa has a young family let him enjoy he is the greatest competitor in our game , he has nothing more to prove.

I take your point, but I don't see him working that hard for a year, looking so good for 2 matches, only to quit now. I just don't.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I take your point, but I don't see him working that hard for a year, looking so good for 2 matches, only to quit now. I just don't.

I see your point, it is worth it in the long run? I say this with a 'heavy heart' he needs now more than ever to listen to his body, I know he is Stubborn, your ongoing health and body is the most important thing, look it wont surprise me if he comes back to the tour in the clay season, he has already confirmed Barcelona tournament.

 

[Moxie]

I see your point, it is worth it in the long run? I say this with a 'heavy heart' he needs now more than ever to listen to his body, I know he is Stubborn, your ongoing health and body is the most important thing, look it wont surprise me if he comes back to the tour in the clay season, he has already confirmed Barcelona tournament.

Two things I will say: the ship has sailed on him doing a lot of damage to his body. I don't think you have to be a doctor to think that arthritis is in his future. Likely knee replacements, and now probably at least one hip, at least eventually. The other is that he has said that the thing that he loves more than even tennis is "competition." That's going to be hard to give up. I just don't see him getting so close to back to competitive level and not trying again. It will depend on what this "small tear" means. If he feels he can be competitive, he'll play on. When he doesn't, that's when he'll quit.

And then he'll play golf competitively.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Two things I will say: the ship has sailed on him doing a lot of damage to his body. I don't think you have to be a doctor to think that arthritis is in his future. Likely knee replacements, and now probably at least one hip, at least eventually. The other is that he has said that the thing that he loves more than even tennis is "competition." That's going to be hard to give up. I just don't see him getting so close to back to competitive level and not trying again. It will depend on what this "small tear" means. If he feels he can be competitive, he'll play on. When he doesn't, that's when he'll quit.

And then he'll play golf competitively.

Quite frankly he has run out of body parts to get injured I would not want to end up with arthritis, playing golf I can see in his future and another pastime he loves fishing in his boat

 

[the AntiPusher]

Quite frankly he has run out of body parts to get injured I would not want to end up with arthritis, playing golf I can see in his future and another pastime he loves fishing in his boat

As long as he isn't walking around like Pat Cash...poor guy I seen him years ago in Cincinnati...it was like watching a senior citizen in a lot agony pain

 

[Nadalfan2013]

I take your point, but I don't see him working that hard for a year, looking so good for 2 matches, only to quit now. I just don't.

He did look very good.

Personally I don't think this injury is serious. He definitely won't quit and he will still try to give it a shot by playing a few clay tournaments, RG and the Olympics. I feel that his tennis level is high so let's just hope that his body will be able to hold up.

 

[Kieran]

@Kieran Hey Brotha. Where are you? You're not allowed to take a sabbatical for another 8 days. What are your thoughts on Rafa's level of play so far?

Hey brother! Happy new year to you, and all!

I thought he looked great, was hitting deep, was fresh and eager, like a young calf. I was hoping and thinking he’d go on to win the title but he had that tight second set against Thompson - which is good for him - and went down by a hairpin, more or less.

He looked so great that Novak even invented another ‘injury’ - just in case!

But Rafa’s injury tells the tale, doesn’t it? He’s not looking like he’ll be able to battle through long matches, through long swathes of the season, and now he’s down to rolling the dice on clay, which is the unforgiving surface. I hope he can play, first of all, then we’ll have to see.

Again…

 

[the AntiPusher]

Hey brother! Happy new year to you, and all!

I thought he looked great, was hitting deep, was fresh and eager, like a young calf. I was hoping and thinking he’d go on to win the title but he had that tight second set against Thompson - which is good for him - and went down by a hairpin, more or less.

He looked so great that Novak even invented another ‘injury’ - just in case!

But Rafa’s injury tells the tale, doesn’t it? He’s not looking like he’ll be able to battle through long matches, through long swathes of the season, and now he’s down to rolling the dice on clay, which is the unforgiving surface. I hope he can play, first of all, then we’ll have to see.

Again…

Thanks Brotha.. Rafa played with no restrictions and he totally trusted his body...

In other sports like basketball, football and acourse baseball, the players who are returning from an recently major injury is put on a minimum minutes restrictions or for lack of a better word ..a pitch count.. unfortunately in tennis this is not the case.

 

[Kieran]

Thanks Brotha.. Rafa played with no restrictions and he totally trusted his body...

In other sports like basketball, football and acourse baseball, the players who are returning from an recently major injury is put on a minimum minutes restrictions or for lack of a better word ..a pitch count.. unfortunately in tennis this is not the case.

That’s a good point. The worry for Rafa’s is the same as ever, we don’t know where the next injury is coming from. But he did look great, and so we can only hope for him on clay, which is where I expect he’ll play next..

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

Sorry Moxie I want him to retire now, his body has had enough, he cannot keep sustaining these injuries he will be 38 in June, I dont want him to mount another comeback.Rafa has a young family let him enjoy he is the greatest competitor in our game , he has nothing more to prove.

I don't think Rafa is mounting another comeback, but rather, I feel that he just want to end his career on his own terms (and not by injury). I think he will play the clay season and the FO, but the one thing I think he really wants to do is play one final Olympics as close to healthy as possible. People seem to forget that he hasn't been healthy for any Olympic after winning the singles gold in 2008. He missed the Olympics in 2012 and 2021 due to injury, and was compromised in 2016 (he pulled out of the French Open and missed Wimbledon prior to that).

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

That’s a good point. The worry for Rafa’s is the same as ever, we don’t know where the next injury is coming from. But he did look great, and so we can only hope for him on clay, which is where I expect he’ll play next..

Rafa has confirmed a few clay tournaments already noting that he hopefully will be physically okay eg Barcelona. Note I am over his injuries period!

 

[El Dude]

Sad news for Rafa. I hear people calling for him to retire, but I still think that if he can make it back by March/April, he should give it one more go at Roland Garros, and then hang up the racket. Wouldn't it be grand if he did a Sampras? "This my house" and then mic (or racket) drop.

I mean, he was impressive in his few matches back - he can still move and hit the ball. So I think if he times it right, and with a little luck, he could be a real contender at Roland Garros.

That said, it is hard imagining him playing anything close to a full year, even if he can come back in March. The schedule is just too grueling, and I can see these sorts of injuries piling up.

 

[Kieran]

Sad news for Rafa. I hear people calling for him to retire, but I still think that if he can make it back by March/April, he should give it one more go at Roland Garros, and then hang up the racket. Wouldn't it be grand if he did a Sampras? "This my house" and then mic (or racket) drop.

I mean, he was impressive in his few matches back - he can still move and hit the ball. So I think if he times it right, and with a little luck, he could be a real contender at Roland Garros.

That said, it is hard imagining him playing anything close to a full year, even if he can come back in March. The schedule is just too grueling, and I can see these sorts of injuries piling up.

Oh yeah, he definitely has to give it a shot, unless of course there’s a possibility of leaving himself lame, or in a bad way. At this stage, it’s not “sad” because despite so many injuries in his career, he was still winning slams and the best player in the world just after his 36th birthday. But I suppose in another way it is sad to see this incomparable player booking his flights to the Grey Havens…

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

Rafa should skip Indian Wells (that's where his current, ongoing injury troubles began back in 2022), and come back during the clay season. If I were Rafa, I wouldn't play anything outside of clay going forward. This should be Rafa's 2024 schedule:

Monte Carlo (April 8)
Barcelona (April 15)
Madrid (April 22)
Rome (May 6)
French Open (May 27)

Hamburg (July 15)
Olympics (July 29)

Retirement

 

[El Dude]

Oh yeah, he definitely has to give it a shot, unless of course there’s a possibility of leaving himself lame, or in a bad way. At this stage, it’s not “sad” because despite so many injuries in his career, he was still winning slams and the best player in the world just after his 36th birthday. But I suppose in another way it is sad to see this incomparable player booking his flights to the Grey Havens…

Nice Tolkien reference!

Truly, not sad in terms of what he has accomplished, but sad in that he was playing so well and then immediately got hurt. I imagine it is very frustrating.

What he and Roger and Novak have done in their mid-30s is truly astonishing. Rafa in 2022 is Pete Sampras in 2007...5 years after he retired.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I will wait to hear what Rafa's doctor in Spain says and or/treatment for this new injury to his leg, regardless it might be small, it is still an injury, Rafa made the correct decision to withdraw from the AO.
I am fully aware any player that is coming back to the tour for over a year like Rafa, can pick up an injury, though Father Time is ticking he will be 38 in June,
Rafa wont come back unless he can be 'competitive' that has always been in his DNA
If he comes back in the clay season, I hope he dosent play the full schedule eg Madrid which is a HC with clay spread over the top of it
Rafa has already confirmed for a few clay tournaments, providing he is healthy.