One common cliche among Nadal fans is that Nadal lost all of his matches at the end of 2009, particularly the semifinal at the US Open against Del Potro, because he was hurt and supposedly was a tiny shell of himself. But is this true? Of course not.
If we look at Nadal's run at the 2009 US Open in particular, he lost only two sets en route to the semifinal (15-2). And his two matches prior to playing Del Potro were against Monfils (against whom he lost the first set but then won the next three) and Fernando Gonzalez. I was able to find highlights of both matches and it is clear from each of them that there were no issues with Nadal's movement. Also, his attitude was highly positive in both matches and he was ecstatic after both victories, showing the kind of optimism you see from someone who genuinely believes they can win the tournament. He wasn't moping around and staring at his box because he was dealing with unbearable pain. No, he was fully energetic, prolonging points, and firmly believing that he could win the tournament.
I challenge anyone on this board to watch these two videos and argue that Nadal was hurt going into the Delpo match. Anyone really want to argue that? And why do Nadal fans repeatedly have to diminish and disparage Delpo's run in 2009 by saying he only won because Nadal was hurt? Besides being untrue, it is really sad that they feel the need to shoot down someone who was enjoying the best run of his career with an exceptionally high level of play. These two videos show just how full of shit Broken, Moxie, and Kieran in particular are. They are completely wrong about Nadal's level in 2009 and have always used a nonexistent injury as a convenient excuse for why Nadal got crushed by Delpo in the semis:
If we look at Nadal's run at the 2009 US Open in particular, he lost only two sets en route to the semifinal (15-2). And his two matches prior to playing Del Potro were against Monfils (against whom he lost the first set but then won the next three) and Fernando Gonzalez. I was able to find highlights of both matches and it is clear from each of them that there were no issues with Nadal's movement. Also, his attitude was highly positive in both matches and he was ecstatic after both victories, showing the kind of optimism you see from someone who genuinely believes they can win the tournament. He wasn't moping around and staring at his box because he was dealing with unbearable pain. No, he was fully energetic, prolonging points, and firmly believing that he could win the tournament.
I challenge anyone on this board to watch these two videos and argue that Nadal was hurt going into the Delpo match. Anyone really want to argue that? And why do Nadal fans repeatedly have to diminish and disparage Delpo's run in 2009 by saying he only won because Nadal was hurt? Besides being untrue, it is really sad that they feel the need to shoot down someone who was enjoying the best run of his career with an exceptionally high level of play. These two videos show just how full of shit Broken, Moxie, and Kieran in particular are. They are completely wrong about Nadal's level in 2009 and have always used a nonexistent injury as a convenient excuse for why Nadal got crushed by Delpo in the semis:
