In again, out again, on again, off again…that has been the story with Rafael Nadal and the Western & Southern Open so far this summer.
The Spanish news outlet Marta reported earlier this month that the world No. 4 would skip Cincinnati, which is by his worst Masters event. Nadal owns a mere 13-8 lifetime record, which includes three opening-match losses, just two trips past the quarterfinals, and no appearances in the final.
Nadal has not fared well in Cincinnati since 2009. He lost to Marcos Baghdatis in a 2010 quarterfinal and in 2011 he played an infamous three-set match against Fernando Verdasco before getting crushed by Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals. He obviously skipped the 2012 installment during his seven-month layoff from tennis.
Knee troubles perhaps contributed to Nadal’s first-round Wimbledon upset loss to Steve Darcis and Marca speculated that the former world No. 1 would bypass one of his worst events in order to rest for next month’s U.S. Open. On Monday, however, Nadal told reporters at an Inter Manacor football match that he would indeed be participating in both Canada and Cincinnati.
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Rafa kills me with his comments! The knee is here! Too funny! He obviously doesn’t want to talk about it. I wonder why he didn’t try to play a clay court tournament just to get into decent form. This is going to be hard and he knows it.
Potential 1/2 Finals : https://twitter.com/CoupeRogers/stat…94249032601600
Djokovic vs Nadal
Murray vs Ferrer
Potential 1/4 Finals : https://twitter.com/CoupeRogers/stat…94797207175168
Djokovic vs Gasquet,
Nadal vs Wawrinka,
Ferrer vs Berdych,
Murray vs Del Potro
damn nole has the easiest draw…rafa to face janowicz in rnd 3..
rafa to fall in the semis to nole…muzz has delpo in qtr..BAD LUCK MUZZ
horrid draw for Muzz
Yeah wc agree, it’s horrid.
If Gulbis comes out to play he’s very dangerous, Delpotro is shaping up nicely and if Andy gets that far either Berdych who always gives him the heebies, or Ferrer who knackers him…
Oh gr8 🙁
Rafa has a possible meeting with JJ in the third round. With only one match under his belt? I am not looking forward to that. Then he could get Wawa, who can be tough. Of course the semis would be Djoker and then finals would be Murray.
It does seem as though Murray has the toughest draw. Gulbis and Delpo and then Berdy. Unless one or two of them don’t make it through. You never know.
vamosrafa,
So are you saying that Rafa will only get to the semis and then lose to Djoker? He still picks up points and match play. Djoker has the easiest draw for sure.
Rafa-Jerzy could be massive
Ricky,
Rafa/Jerzy will give me a heart attack! With Rafa having played one match? What a nightmare!
NNY, I do not want this jerzy-rafa happening ! jerzy is too big a threat to rafa because rafa would not have played enough tennis to get really sharp…similar to the situation in indian wells where rafa’s 2nd match was gulbis and rafa lacked match play..rafa managed to play a grt match and win it but that was indian wells and this is montreal !
I would still give rafa the edge but yes I expect rafa to fall to novak in the semi..IF rafa is able to topple novak, that would be HUGE ..not totally counting rafa out of course but djo has to be favored here…I would not be surprised if muzz falls to delpo..delpo is looking great and he can beat anyone on these courts if he is having his day…
Gasquet is a very easy quarter final…tsonga’s and fed’s absence has disturbed the balance.. novak shud cruise to the semis BUT you never know 🙂
how fast is the Montreal court?
I am really excited to see what form Rafa displays! I don’t mind if he loses to Nole in the semis. Rafa’s aim should be to be in great form going into USO.
If he plays like he did before Wimbly, he is definitely my fave for USO though I realize of course that both Nole and Muzza will fight till the last breath.
If Rafa is seeded 3 or 4 at USO, I would prefer him to be on Nole’s side even though Muzz is a better match up than Nole. This is so that I maximize my chances of one of Rafa or Muzz winning the USO! Vamos Rafa! Vamos Muzza!
vamosrafa,
I agree with you about Jerzy. Normally I would think Rafa could handle him, but not after just coming back from being out for a while. He’s not match ready. Jerzy has the game to give Rafa trouble. I actually think that your prediction of Rafa going out to Djoker in the semis is a good one. Honestly, that would be a great result for him. He would gain a nice chunk of points, too. What Rafa really wants here is match play. He has to get the rhythm and timing on his groundstrokes.
I just happened to see Delpo/Anderson. Delpo is really looking good right now. He could shake things up in this North American hard court season. I checked out Djoker’s draw and I don’t see any real threats so he should get through to the semis.
Ricky,
You are asking us how fast the Montreal hard court is? Don’t you know? I know that Rafa has seemed to fare better at Toronto/Montreal than Cincy, so I assume the courts are not as fast.
If it happens, this would be the first time Rafa is playing Jerzy, correct? Well, Rafa was bound to play him at some point, rather he does here than at Flushing Meadows, the first time I mean.
ritb,
I agree with you. If he has to meet JJ, then let it be now. I was thinking back to I/W, when Rafa had to face Gulbis and lost the first set, but then came storming back. We all know how that tournament turned out! Then he met Gulbis at Madrid or Rome and it was another nail biter. But Rafa prevailed. I think Rafa’s smarts are his big advantage over JJ.
It is true that JJ has to get there first. We will see. I am not going to get nervous until it happens.
ritb, it’s not certain that they will meet, they both have to make it to the 3rd round. I think Jano is a better player than Raonic who was bagled by Nadal in Barcelona, but Jano tends to overdo his serve, sometimes hitting the baseline and his game goes to pot if his serve doesn’t work for him like against Murray at Wimbledon.
nny and nadline, I was thinking more from the point that Rafa always has trouble with first meeting opponents. He needs those first time meetings to figure out the opponent’s game. Should they meet in Montreal, I expect the first set to be a nail biter, for Rafa to drop it even, and then take it in the second or third. I don’t think Rafa will give Jerzy any quarter because he knows he is a dangerous player and the last thing he wants is for Jerzy going away brimming with confidence thinking he has Rafa figured out.
His serve didn’t work because of Andy’s ROS, IMHO. Time and again you see a) these huge servers not being able to keep their serving up, especially in best of 5, best of 3 is easier for them and b) these huge servers getting nervous and making errors if their serves start getting returned.
Agree with nadline, think JJ is better than Raonic who, now he’s sacked his coach, seems to be playing worse.
A lot more to JJ’s game. Don’t like his on court behaviour though. He was so in Andy’s face at Wimbledon.
Like you deucy, don’t like Jerzy’s attitude to fellow players on court and the crowd sometimes. He really needs guidance in that respect because, of all the up and coming youngsters, he has the game package to be a real contender. I find myself looking forward to him play and then hating the welling resentment inside of me when he starts being a prat.
ritb,
I agree with you and deucy about JJ”s attitude. I really despise that kind of arrogance and bad temperament, especially when you haven’t done anything yet in this sport. I think it could derail him if the doesn’t get it under control. It happened to Marat Safin, who was one of the most naturely gifted players ever to come along.
I did not like what JJ did to Murray at Wimbledon. But ultimately it backfired on him. I hope that JJ gets it all together because he has emerged now as the one young player who could really make it big time in this sport. I think Raonic has taken some big steps backward. He seems to have lost his way a bit.
If Rafa has to win slams he has to be prepared to meet anyone in any round. Rafa has accepted this. I think we his fans should quit worrying about his opponents. In fact I wouldn’t mind Rafa meeting anyone and even losing as long as I am sure the draw is fair. As Roger is not in the draw, chances are, this is a fair draw. It is unlikely the organizers would have fixed the draw in favor of Nole or against Muzza.
Ricky, why aren’t all the comments visible?
holdserve19, have you tried clicking ‘Older Comments’ under the last post?
what comments aren’t visible?
Yes, Andy’s ROS was too good for JJ, so the rest of JJ’s game collapsed when he got desperate. Rafa is no slouch at returning either. It’s true that Rafa often has problems with first time opponents, but whilst he’s never played JJ, he’s now seen enough of him to have a game plan. Brands, was a total surprise,
I’d much rather see Djoko and Rafa on course to meet than Rafa having to play someone like Gulbis. Though Gulbis is inconsistent and sometimes plays far too aggressive, he’s got a great serve and can go toe to toe with anyone when his head is in the right place. Rafa has beaten Nole 20 times, 4 out of the last 5, so I’m not worried about him. I don’t care which surface it’s on; it’s not as if Nole blows Rafa off the court; their matches are always close.
Hello nadlineh, any relation to our nadline?
yes NNY, semis would be a good result..actually, I am waiting to see HOW rafa plays..if he goes out playing defensive tentative tennis in 3rd rnd/qtr/semi, i will be disappointed to be honest but if he goes out playing aggressive tennis at any stage, I will be satisfied..I know its asking tough questions from rafa to play aggressive tennis aon these quicker hard courts but he is surely capable of doing so.. I just hope the backhand is as lethal as it was during IW and the entire clay season …it peaked in the rome final and RG semi
vamosrafa,
Yes, I will be looking at Rafa to see HOW he plays, as you said. That is so important. Will he play defensively because he is not in good form having been out for a while? Will he have any trouble adjusting to hard courts now? He did so well at I/W after playing some clay court tournaments to get into form and get his confidence back.
We do have to expect that there will be some rust with his game. We also know that sometimes it’s the backhand and ROS that are the last parts of his game to come back. We all know that Rafa need match play. That’s why I hope he can go deep to get matches under his belt in preparation for the USO.
I hope rafa gets to play doubles with pablo andujar ..it would to nice to get some practise before his singles…rafa has also arrived earlier to the tournament site this year to get more practise… keep it up rafa
Rafa & Pablo Andujar are in the doubles draw. Their first opponents are David Ferrer & Feliciano Lopez.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/421/mdd.pdf
Holdserve: I can’t believe you are now openly declaring your dual fandom after all the maulings you gave me for having Andy as my second favourite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In holdserve’s defence, she was a Nalray fan from the off. She didn’t change on the way to Damascus.
Ha Ha