Rafa - #1 ranking is no longer the objective

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa has said in a recent interview that attaining #1 ranking will no longer be
his objective. He just wants to be healthy enough to extend his career as long as possible.
This seems to indicate, he might be playing somewhat lighter schedule. It also seems to
indicate that his schedule would be clay heavy. More importantly, it appears that he has
realized that his body cannot take merciless pounding anymore and needs more TLC after
an year of injury to multiple body parts.

In 2015, he has already signed up for two South American Clay Tourneys that does no
happen during the regular clay season, viz., Rio 500 and Buenos-Aries 250. Along with
Doha , Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Halle that is already accounts for the six non-mandatory
tourneys that makes up the full schedule. However, only five of them will be counted as
one of the 500s is required to be post-USO as per the rules.

So, it seems to me that Rafa will continue to attempt to rack up points by playing lot
of clay stuff which alone will easily help him remain in top 5. He may continue to take
extended vacations (forced or otherwise) in the post-Wimbledon part of the year.

Also, it does not appear to be a pseudo-humble statement (I have to play my very best
to beat Pal Henri Mathieu in the 1st round of RG). It looks like Rafa is serious and means it.

 

[brokenshoelace]

It makes sense given his injuries. It shouldn't be the objective. If he wins a slam per year from here on out while being ranked say, 4th, that's perfectly fine.

 

[TsarMatt]

Seems like a perfectly rational choice to me.

 

[Kieran]

The #1 ranking always looks after itself if the players get the right results in the big events, as he says in the interview: "If I have become No. 1 because of the results I have, it’s great." It's never been beyond the realms that Rafa would clean up on European clay - or as near as dammit - and post successful results on a few HC events. Look at him in 2013, he was clearly the best HC player that year, and yet he worked his way cleverly back into things on clay. After the USO he played with less intensity, and the folly that year - imo - was playing them ludicrous exos with Novak in South America, when he ought to have been taking it easy. That's the kind of woeful scheduling he can do without.

This season, he went to Rio, before playing the twin US HC MS tourneys. So he's looking at scooping ranking points elsewhere than Rotterdam or Dubai. But the options are limited on clay and his main priority, I'm sure, lies in peaking for the majors. That can be done without breaking his back (or knees, or appendix, or heart)...

 

[Riotbeard]

Smart move overall.

 

[herios]

I don't see anything new here, compared with the last 2 seasons. This is what he was doing since 2013. It is just confirming the obvious.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Part of it is injuries..we all know about them..

but the other part is THE WAY HE PLAYS.

Federer is the mater of the 2 stroke point, and has survived relatively unscathed until now because of it.

Murray is in the same boat as Rafa in that the way he plays demands a physicality that is not sustainable week in week out across all surfaces.

I watched the 2014 French final last night. If his career ended today he would be a legend beyond a legend. When Borg retired at 25 with 6 French titles, his mystique was other worldly and along comes Rafa and shatters that record, then proceeds to win the French and Wimbledon in the same year, twice...and Borg was the last one to do that.

 

[Fiero425]

Part of it is injuries..we all know about them...

but the other part is THE WAY HE PLAYS.

Federer is the master of the 2 stroke point, and has survived relatively unscathed until now because of it.

Murray is in the same boat as Rafa in that the way he plays demands a physicality that is not sustainable week in week out across all surfaces.

I watched the 2014 French final last night. If his career ended today he would be a legend beyond a legend. When Borg retired at 25 with 6 French titles, his mystique was other worldly and along comes Rafa and shatters that record, then proceeds to win the French and Wimbledon in the same year, twice...and Borg was the last one to do that.

:nono It's just not the same because of the different eras! Borg had to deal with grass that was fast, chopped up, with specialists nipping at his heals! Lendl could win fairly easily if playing today with how nice the bounce can be; even in the final! Winning FO and Wimbledon will always be the toughest; even today because it's still 2 majors back to back! They've extended the break between them so Borg's 3 back to back wins of the "old World duo" wasn't attainable by most since the clay was even slower! That is why Borg is still elevated to GOD status to this day! :angel: :dodgy:

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Given that this (2010 onwards) is supposed to be a Nadajovic era, Nadal waving white
flag on #1 (that too at an age of 28) is really a bad news for tennis and not just for Rafa.
It appears that there is no serious competition to Novak in attaining #1 ranking for the
foreseeable future. We are just left with aging Fed, injured Rafa, gutless current generation
and immature next generation as competition for Novak. It would not surprise me if Novak
racks up three more years of YE #1 and another 100 weeks to his total at weeks of #1.

 

[Fiero425]

Given that this (2010 onwards) is supposed to be a Nadajovic era, Nadal waving white
flag on #1 (that too at an age of 28) is really a bad news for tennis and not just for Rafa.
It appears that there is no serious competition to Novak in attaining #1 ranking for the
foreseeable future. We are just left with aging Fed, injured Rafa, gutless current generation
and immature next generation as competition for Novak. It would not surprise me if Novak
racks up three more years of YE #1 and another 100 weeks to his total at weeks of #1.

You checking out and synopsizing my posts? uzzled :angel: :snigger You truly covered it IMO; esp. about the guttttless current generation! They have all this talent, ability, and opportunity, but few seem to take advantage of it! Tsonga had 4 match points in Paris a couple years ago against Nole and couldn't close! Deliciano Lopez was up in a 3rd set TB on Federer 5-2 and a sitter overhead at the net, flubbed it and went on to lose the match; on clay! The world saw Andy Roddick nearly taking out Roger at Wimbledon in '09, up a set with several set points in a TB, missed the easiest backhand volley set up and went on to lose in the longest final, 16-14 in the 5th! He only lost serve in that last game; what a shame! :angel: :dodgy: Only Murray has taken advantage of a handful of opportunities, but he might be DONE! The way he plays is debilitating; just like with Rafa! It's too physical a game to play like that for too long! I don't have a lot of faith in Kei who seems rather fragile even with all his ability, while others like Cilic and Wawrinka waited too late to excel; the rest are head cases! :nono :angel:

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Part of it is injuries..we all know about them...

but the other part is THE WAY HE PLAYS.

Federer is the master of the 2 stroke point, and has survived relatively unscathed until now because of it.

Murray is in the same boat as Rafa in that the way he plays demands a physicality that is not sustainable week in week out across all surfaces.

I watched the 2014 French final last night. If his career ended today he would be a legend beyond a legend. When Borg retired at 25 with 6 French titles, his mystique was other worldly and along comes Rafa and shatters that record, then proceeds to win the French and Wimbledon in the same year, twice...and Borg was the last one to do that.

:nono It's just not the same because of the different eras! Borg had to deal with grass that was fast, chopped up, with specialists nipping at his heals! Lendl could win fairly easily if playing today with how nice the bounce can be; even in the final! Winning FO and Wimbledon will always be the toughest; even today because it's still 2 majors back to back! They've extended the break between them so Borg's 3 back to back wins of the "old World duo" wasn't attainable by most since the clay was even slower! That is why Borg is still elevated to GOD status to this day! :angel: :dodgy:

Borg being GOD gets no argument from me...

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Given that this (2010 onwards) is supposed to be a Nadajovic era, Nadal waving white
flag on #1 (that too at an age of 28) is really a bad news for tennis and not just for Rafa.
It appears that there is no serious competition to Novak in attaining #1 ranking for the
foreseeable future. We are just left with aging Fed, injured Rafa, gutless current generation
and immature next generation as competition for Novak. It would not surprise me if Novak
racks up three more years of YE #1 and another 100 weeks to his total at weeks of #1.

This is just classic Nadal sandbagging. He does this all the time to take pressure off...

"I have to play my best tennis to even win a first round match.."

"I have to be very lucky to win XXXX this year.."

"If I don't play my best I am going to lose for sure..(or another variation)..it is impossible for me to win, no?"

 

[Riotbeard]

Given that this (2010 onwards) is supposed to be a Nadajovic era, Nadal waving white
flag on #1 (that too at an age of 28) is really a bad news for tennis and not just for Rafa.
It appears that there is no serious competition to Novak in attaining #1 ranking for the
foreseeable future. We are just left with aging Fed, injured Rafa, gutless current generation
and immature next generation as competition for Novak. It would not surprise me if Novak
racks up three more years of YE #1 and another 100 weeks to his total at weeks of #1.

I don't see a problem herelot

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I don't see anything new here, compared with the last 2 seasons. This is what he was doing since 2013. It is just confirming the obvious.

His schedule remains essentially the same. But, there is a whole difference in attitude here.
He appears to be resigned.

If someone does not care about rankings and cares primarily about winning Slams, they
would try to be in peak form for the grand slams. So, in particular one would not play stupid
clay tourneys in South America especially at a time when it is not the clay season. The reason
Rafa seems to be playing these SA tourneys seems to be partly money (appearance fee) and
partly because he feels less confident about racking up ranking points in non-clay surfaces
(yes I know he did very well in hard courts in 2013).

Even if he does not care too much for #1, he would certainly want to remain in top 4 or top 8
bare minimum to keep his chances of winning more slams alive. It appears that he is not
confident of maintaining that without playing in SA clay tourneys. At least to me, it does not
make sense that someone of Rafa's stature and stage of career is choosing to still play
clay tourneys outside of the regular clay season (which I define it to be post-Miami and
pre-RG). Before 2008 when Rafa was considered only a clay court player, it was ok to do so.
Now, it does not seem to make sense any more.

 

[brokenshoelace]

If he's healthy, the number 1 ranking will remain an indirect objective. In other words, as long as he's healthy, he'll play the tournaments he wants to play, which realistically, he's in contention to win in each of them. If the results are coming, the ranking takes care of themselves. But I see this as more of a "take it every tournament at a time" approach for Nadal because he's unsure about his health, in addition to the fact that mentally, he doesn't feel there's a big point in making the ranking a priority. He's no longer 24 and has plenty of mileage. I think claiming "he's throwing the towel" is a bit of a stretch.

 

[shawnbm]

I don't see much of a difference from what Roger said going into 2014, and. Year like he had was quite good. I imagine Rafa feels he should hope to compete and leak at majors and, hopefully, bag one. Seems he's going into the new year with limited expectations so he won't be disappointed. Many go into the new year in such a state.

 

[lacatch]

I think some folks are making the analysis WAY too complicated . IMHO, this is little more than Rafa lowering expectations for himself (also "I'm not the favorite", etc.)===which has been his M.O. forever. Having said that, I do think he is letting folks know that his is lightening up his schedule, and as someone commented above, is merely confirming the obvious.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

If he's healthy, the number 1 ranking will remain an indirect objective. In other words, as long as he's healthy, he'll play the tournaments he wants to play, which realistically, he's in contention to win in each of them. If the results are coming, the ranking takes care of themselves. But I see this as more of a "take it every tournament at a time" approach for Nadal because he's unsure about his health, in addition to the fact that mentally, he doesn't feel there's a big point in making the ranking a priority. He's no longer 24 and has plenty of mileage. I think claiming "he's throwing the towel" is a bit of a stretch.

Of course, if Rafa plays and wins many tournaments he will become #1 whether or not it
is his goal.

However, this notion of "taking tournament at a time" is just a politically correct stuff. All of us know that even if somebody wants to become #1, they are not going to become one without winning
some tournaments and going deep in others (especially the big ones).

By extension of the same argument, one can say that "I am not setting winning the
tournament" as an objective and if I win each match, then tournament will take care of
itself (in fact this is often the standard statement made by many players in many interviews
- taking a match at a time). Then, one can say, I am just focusing on winning a set and
if I win three sets the match will take care of itself. Then one can say, I am just focusing
on winning the next game. If I win enough games, the set will take care of itself.
Finally, one can say, "I just want to win the next point" or just send the ball over to
the other side.

Of course, all of these are indeed needed. The point is that goals are always set at
a higher level although one cannot achieve them without achieving the lower level stuff.

As the interview was not in English, I don't know the exact context in which he
made the statement. If he was poked by the interviewer, than I would say his statement
is not worth deeper analysis (it would be much like every player saying I am focusing
on the next match and not looking at the draw). On the other hand, if Rafa voluntarily
said #1 is not a goal, then it attains greater significance. I believe the later is the
case, as he is not just referring to 2015 and he is referring to attaining #1 during the
rest of his career.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I think some folks are making the analysis WAY too complicated . IMHO, this is little more than Rafa lowering expectations for himself (also "I'm not the favorite", etc.)===which has been his M.O. forever. Having said that, I do think he is letting folks know that his is lightening up his schedule, and as someone commented above, is merely confirming the obvious.

%100.
This is how Rafa rolls. This is a natural extension of what Rafa says right before he plays the world #87. " I have to play my best tennis to win".

 

[Front242]

^ At Wimbledon he'd be right :snigger