After clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking, Rafael Nadal will continue his Paris campaign when he goes up against Pablo Cuevas in the Paris third round on Thursday. Dominic Thiem and Fernando Verdasco are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Pablo Cuevas
The year-end No. 1 ranking has been clinched. Nadal locked it up for the fourth time in his illustrious career when he defeated Hyeon Chung 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday. The top-seeded Spaniard is 66-10 this season with two Grand Slam titles and four other winners’ trophies (including two at Masters 1000 tournaments) plus a runner-up performance at the Australian Open. He is 17-0 in his last 17 matches against opponents other than Roger Federer.
It is safe to say that Nadal is not facing Federer on Thursday; not even close. Cuevas had not won a single match since the French Open prior to his arrival in Paris, a brutal stretch that saw him compile an 0-10 record. Out of absolutely nowhere, the 36th-ranked Uruguayan has picked up victories this week over Karen Khachanov (6-4, 6-2) and Albert Ramos-Vinolas (6-7(5), 7-6(1), 6-2). Cuevas is 1-3 lifetime against Nadal with a clay-court upset in last year’s Rio de Janeiro semifinals. With Nadal in stellar form and the underdog nothing short of hopeless over the last five months, another upset will not be taking place.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games
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(5) Dominic Thiem vs. Fernando Verdasco
Thiem and Verdasco will be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers on Thursday. Their only previous encounter came two years ago at Wimbledon, where Verdasco prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The Spaniard is a bigger underdog now according to the rankings (No. 39 to No. 6), but current form suggests otherwise. Thiem, as usual, has been a borderline disaster since the end of the clay-court swing. The 24-year-old Austrian is 8-9 in his last 17 tournament matches, but he at least managed to hold off lucky loser Peter Gojowyczk 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4 on Tuesday.
Verdasco is coming off a semifinal performance last week in Stockholm and so far in Paris he has taken out Andrey Rublev and Kevin Anderson. The 33-year-old sent Rublev packing for the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan with a 7-6(1), 7-6(6) victory and he eliminated Anderson from World Tour Finals contention by getting the job done 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. This is a good opportunity for a confident Verdasco against a struggling opponent who has admitted that indoor hard courts are a rough surface for his game.
Pick: Verdasco in 3
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WWW?
Nando in three Rafa in two losing 5-7 games
Thiem in 3, Rafa in 2
Thiem?!?!?
Verdasco continues to amaze…plays with the determination of Ferrer….gotta love him!
Love it when this Verdasco shows up!! We need this version of him more often!!
What happen to Thiem? Why is he losing early in so many HC tournaments? Is he carrying some injuries or is he simply feeling the fatigue after a long season?
Thiem is just not good indoors. He is amazing on clay, okay on outdoor hard courts, and pretty much bad everywhere else.
Thiem did mention that losing to DelPo at the USO after being 2 sets up affected him very badly mentally.
Looks like a Nadal v/s Delpo and Pouille v/s Cilic semi http://www.138mph.com/tennis-will-del-potro-take-out-rafa-nadal-paris-masters-semifinals-revealed/
Keep your mind focused, remain confident, stay strong and fight bravely, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNo3Lh4WsAAb4p0.jpg
What a fantastic run Benneteau is having on his last showing in Paris, how amazing would be if he could go far there.
Seems like Dimitrov imploded against Isner when serving for the match, what a pity, really aprecciate his game, but he has to work on his second serve on the off season, it’s a big weakness.
Not surprised about Thiem going home, he has a long way to adjust his game to hardcourts, to unidimensional right now.
The way Nadal is playing, I think Cuevas will send him packing. I think he winning two RR matches at the WTF will be a big achievement already. Luckily for him, he has already secured the YE no.1 ranking; it looks like he’s running on low energy at this end of season.
I agree about Rafa losing this match. He had the early break in the second set and was broken and now he’s just not hitting his shots cleanly.
It’s frustrating to see Rafa give back the break when he was in control of the match. Maybe after clinching the year end #1, he just wants to get ready for WTF.
Rafa is really giving away this tb. Unbelievable.
Another missed volley from Rafa. I just cannot believe what I am seeing.
I am done watching this. Absolutely awful from Rafa, just giving away the tb and the second set to a guy who has been on a losing streak.
Oh great. Now Rafa is getting his knee taped. He needs to get out of there.
This has always been the trouble with Bercy. Most of the players are just plain exhausted, many of them nursing injuries, some with hidden agendas (e.g saving themselves for the O2, Davis Cup etc.)
Such horrible tennis from the world no.1!
Those who wish for Rafa to lose early here may have their wish fulfilled. The way he’s playing, the WTF title is also looking unlikely.
He has himself to blame, when he’s having the upper hand, he just lost his focus, and now he has his knee taped up; if your knee is not ok, then all the more hurry up and wins the match quickly! You’re not doing your knee any favor playing like this!
If he wins today, he should withdraw. Its like the same mistake that Fed did in Montreal. Also, if he cant last beyond 1 hour 45 minute match, he should pull out from WTF.
Cuevas came into this event with a double digit losing streak. He hadn’t won a match since the French Open. The French. Open. #what
P. Cuevas is not playing bad but Rafa might win.
S**t 🙁
Rafa has never been comfortable at this tournament – one of the reasons he has has skipped it so often. Even if he gets past Cuevos delpo is waiting in the wings and has looked impressive so far this week.
He just broke.
The court and the ball just give the impression of club tennis, not up to Rafa’s game.
The way this match is going, poor Cilic and Agut don’t need to play their match!
Shanghai and Basel are surplus to requirements. The season should end after the USO no WTF either. The players bodies need to recover.
I meant Basel and Paris and all the tournaments after the USO are not necessary.
nobody stops players from planning well. They can skip some tourneys.
No, most tournaments are mandatory and they count too many towards the rankings so they have to play to maintain their ranking.
luckystar, what do you think of the ball?
I don’t know about the ball, but Rafa is playing lousy tennis from his first match. I mean how can you lost your serve so easily once you’re a set and a break ahead? It’s either he’s too complacent or he has no idea how to play his opponents, but he’s leading because he just a better player than his opponents that they still couldn’t match him even when he’s playing horribly.
I hope Rafa wins this match and then withdraws. His knee needs rest and recovery.
Both are serving horribly this third set. The quality of the match has gone downhill, more errors than anything else.
Again lucky, my question from the beginning of this tournament: does he really want to win Paris?
Eugene, you should ask him, why ask me??
It’s a rhetorical question. I mean I understand he played both Montreal and Cinci to be ready form USO and then Beijing and Shanghai playing the momentum and earning points to end year N.1 But here… is it worth the risk?
I hope they can sort his knee out for before the WTF.
Might be best for him to withdraw if the knee is serious. Nonetheless a great fight as always even when he wasn’t playing good tennis
I knew it would be incautious to play Paris not being 100%. Plus, indoors is definitely not Rafa playground,so he was taking unnecessary risks for his health playing there.
We cannot forget that he has played an incredible amount of tennis this year, so it’s normal that is level of play is decreasing by now.
I fear that Rafa is in dangerous of jeopardize his 2018 chances with another possible injury falldown.
For your health, withdraw from the WTF King.
He’s lucky that he wins in the end; the way he serves, he’s likely to be broken if the match goes on longer.
I already knew from watching his first match that he’s not playing well here and it’s not going to improve much. He’s reverting to playing long rallies from behind the baseline, like playing typical clay court tennis. He makes the ball and the court look slower than they really are. I watched other players and they were hitting like it’s not a slow court – the Dimi vs Gasquet match was a fast pace one, typical of an indoor HC match.
TBH, I’m quite disappointed with the way he and his team approach this event and his matches; it’s like they all agree that he would grind out his matches, instead of playing more offensive tennis the way he played at Beijing. Why revert back to old way of playing on the HCs when the old way isn’t/wasn’t serving him well?
I think Rafa nowadays needs more time to think his way out of troubles, or changes tactic during his matches. At the USO, he had to struggle before finding his way to win his matches and he was successful because it’s BO5 so he had enough time to do so. I even feel that his Beijing/Shanghai game style was just a one off, he’s not going to replicate that way of playing going forward; I bet he’ll play horribly at the WTF, playing like the way he plays here in Paris. I mean, he won’t suddenly starts playing top class tennis when two weeks before, he’s playing horribly.
He’s one player who needs match play to feel confident about his game; he’s not Fed or Djoko on the HCs, they are confident with their games once they step onto the HCs.
Only great players can afford to play ‘terrible’ and still win against this Cuevas.
why? Cuevas has been awful.
Marton Fucsovics could play terrible and still beat Cuevas right now.
easily
He didn’t look impressive at Montreal and Cinci, but played much better at USO and won it. I think he has a real chance at WTF, unless he’ll be mentally and physically exhausted after a very intense season.
Eugene, USO was BO5, like I said, he had time to think and change tactics. WTF is BO3, one mistake and he may lose the set.
…. and then may lose the match next.
After the match, Rafa said:
It was a very difficult match, Pablo is a very good player.
It’s always hard playing someone for the first time, but I will do my best (against Krajinovic).
I don’t want to talk about the knee, but about the quarter final. I am in the most important city of my life, I am not taking risk, I just play.”
https://rafaelnadalfans.com/2017/11/02/photos-rafael-nadal-somehow-overcomes-knee-problem-to-reach-paris-masters-quarters/
You’re so right Lucky, playing passive/defensive tennis in this conditions it’s not gonna give him good results. If he continues to play like this, Delpo will beat in quick and straight, and at WTF, imagine the beatdown he will take from Federer.
He needs to get the agression back to his game, like he’s done so well in Beijing.
Let’s hope Moya can bring it back for the beggining of the next season.
It’s typical of Rafa’s mentality, that once he lacks confidence (in this case perhaps due to his knee being hurting?)he reverts back to more defensive play from the baseline. I mean if his knee was hurting during his match, why not served or hit bigger or harder, forced his opponent to go on the back foot and then won the point asap? I thought if you’re not feeling too good physically, you shouldn’t drag on but instead tried finding a way to win asap?
I think he’s not serving well and was slow in getting to the ball (resulting in two mishit volleys at the net) because he coulnt push hard on his knee while serving (for fear of injuring it) and his movement was affected. It’s his fighting spirit and will to win that pushed him to the finished line and winning.
Withdraw from the event Rafa. Why is he playing ?
Do you mean he had no tape earlier but got it on midway match ?
No tape, until changeover after losing the second set; the trainer taped his knee during that changeover.
He might have felt something during set two when he was leading with a break of serve, lost focus and then lost his serve allowing Cuevas to comeback and win the second set TB. He was horrible during that stretch; probably worrying about his knee. He should have played better in the TB when he had a chance to win, had a mini break but managed to lose in the end. Had he played or served better, he would’ve won in straight sets and saved himself some precious energy and also less stress on his knee.
If Nadal would have won in 2 sets he would have also saved tons of money for his fans/bettors(even all @10grand) who expected Nadal to finish the match in 2 sets!
Sanju,
Yes. Rafa hadcto get the trainer to tape his knee before the third set. At least that explained why he was playing so poorly. I found myself wondering what was going on with Rafa and worrying if the knee was acting up,
I stopped watching after Rafa lost the second set, but I recorded the third set. It was obvious to me that Rafa’s knee problem was affecting his serve. He did get through on sheer will power.
But I don’t know why he would continue to play here. He is risking the WTF. Rafa stayed healthy up until now. But his knee has not recovered. This is the last thing he needs. I don’t want Rafa to have to spend the off season recovering from a knee problem and then not be ready for the 2018 AO.
Even if Rafa gets by his next opponent, there is no way he can beat either Isner or Delpo.
NNY,
Delpo and Isner didn’t look like world beaters either, they looked spent physically. In fact if Rafa gets past Krajanovic quickly, he’ll have good chances against Delpo or Isner.
If Rafa reaches the final (I hope he does), I would hope that Verdasco, Sock, Cilic and Bennetaeu tire each other out so that Rafa can have better chances of winning.
Rafa has always said he can only play on or close to the baseline when he’s feeling confident.
#YouSerious???
#NothingNew
#HOWMANYTIMES!!!!
#GroundHogDayAllOverAgain
Yep, he’s not confident thats what I’m saying; he must be worried about his knee so he preferred to play it safe, his way of playing it safe was to play more defensively from behind the baseline. It’s like his SA clay court swing in 2015 where he lost to Cuevas, he was certainly not playing with confidence there in 2015.
Yes nny Rafa will not learn. As simple as that.
Btw isn’t his qf opponent the same guy who almost beat cilic in Basel qf ?
Sanju,
This is for you and all Rafa fans. I was on VB and this is the information that they had.
This was posted by VB forum member cliffsiders –
“Posters on Twitter report in his presser he said he knows what his knee problem is – that he had it checked after Shanghai.”
Then there is this from forum member Natalie –
“Ubitennis
Nadal:”I don’t want to talk about the knee but about the quarter final”
Nadal:”I am in the most important city of my life, I am not taking risk, I just play”
Nadal:”It was a very long year. I just keep fighting”
Nadal:”I don’t worry to play tomorrow at 3,30 p.m. The rest is not a problem for me”
Nadal:”Of course I will play in London!”
@Rafael_Plaza
Nadal sobre la rodilla: “No me preocupa lo que pueda tener porque sé lo que hay, me miré después de Shanghái”.
Translated by @genny_ss: “I’m not worried about what the knee issue can be because I know what’s up, as I underwent a check-up after Shanghai”
I thought you might be interested to hear what Rafa had to say. It appears that he knows what is going on with the knee and feels that he can play.
thanks nny. must be simple tiredness that will heal with time but worry is that he has to play 2 weeks..
There’s a one week break between Paris and WTF.
If Rafa thinks his knee is OK, that he can manage it, then let him decide what he wants to do. I just wish for him to play more offensively and finishes his matches asap, not to aggravate whatever knee problem he has.
His match with Cuevas could be finished within one and a half hours, yet he let it dragged on till past the two hours mark.
His QF opponent is someone he hasn’t played against before, so I just hope he doesn’t take long to figure his opponent’s game. His opponent will play like there’s nothing to lose, just like Cuevas, so for Rafa’s own benefit, I hope he dictates play from the get go and stamps his foot on the pedal from start to finish, not allowing his opponent into the match.
Isner or Delpo won’t be easy SF opponent, so all the more Rafa has to win his QF match quickly and not wasting energy letting his opponent hangs around unnecessarily.
Rafa has never played well in Paris indoors. Good knee or bad knee, I dont think he is moving too badly. He cant be that stupid to play with injured knee and risk the injury further.
He’s not moving too badly, but bad enough to not reach the ball in time and hence misfired his volleys into the net, or his smashes ending at his side of the net. I mean he finished with 41 UEs, how often you see him with that kind of UEs? His serve was clearly affected by his knee, DF 7times in the match, or hitting his first serves into the net so often.
If Cuevas was that formidable, Rafa won’t be winning the first set so comfortably, had a break in the second set before fading away in the second set, and yet, had his chances in the TB leading 4-2.
It is very simple. Nadal is doing some many unforced errors and struggling to win because he is very tired from playing 84 matches this year(someone gave me that number).
Nadal’s tiredness coupled with his knee problem is restricting his free movement on the court, reaching the ball and not having the energy to hit the ball across the net many times or do overhead smashes correctly or take drop shots just over the net.
Nadal should not have competed @Paris Open and been smart like Federer to skip the Paris Open to recover and heal his knee injury to make him fresh and strong for the WTF London matches. Now I don’t give Nadal any chance of winning either the Paris Open or the WTF because of the above issues of Nadal (not because he does not have the required skills)!
Not 84, 77 including the Cuevas match. Where do you get 84?
He had at least reached the QF when he played there. Compared to Fed, Fed lost in his first match in 2009 to Bennetaeu, lost in R3 to Nalby in 2007,lost in R3 to Isner in 2015. The only thing is Fed won the title in 2011; if Rafa plays more aggressively and not allowing his opponents to hang around unnecessarily, he can win. The problem is he’s not doing that at the moment.
He knows his body better than his fans. He cant beat Fed given the current scheme of things . So maybe he wants to collect as many points as possible when the field is weak. I dont think this is a bad strategy at all.
Yeah, so all the more he should play and tries to win. Anyway, there’s no guarantee that Fedal would meet at the WTF; if Delpo is there, he may be the one preventing them from meeting. Rafa may win the title there without even needing to beat Fed. There’s always such a possibility.
win the title at WTF lucky? Cmon very optimistic :-). I would be very happy if it happens but I find it tough to see him going into even SF if he has DElpo , Cilic , Dimi, Zverev on his side given the way he is playing at Paris and he seems fatigued.
Cilic and Zverev will not be on the same half of the draw if Cilic reaches the SF here. Cilic will move ahead of Thiem and will then be no.4, so he won’t be in the same group as no.3 Zverev. So let’s wish that Cilic beats Benneteau tonight.
Thiem and Dimi will then be no.5 and 6 respectively. If Delpo qualifies he will be either no. 7 or no. 8 depending on how far he goes at Paris. He will be no.7 if he at least reaches the final.
I’m not worried about Cilic or Zverev at WTF, Rafa can handle them. I don’t mind Delpo in Rafa’s half of the draw, if he can meet and beat Fed in the SF. Thiem and Goffin, Rafa can beat them. The player I don’t like seeing in Rafa’s group is Dimi. I hope Dimi is in Fed’s group.
You’re right, lucky, It is absolutely not a guarantee that Fedal will meet in WTF. Both of Fed’s wins over Delpo at Shanghai and Basel were very hard-fought and close. Plus, just like Basel, WTF is another tourny where DelPo has a winning record over Fed. Delpo could very well beat ether Fed or Rafa, and prevent them from meeting. There are obviously factors for each guy that could make a difference. Hopefully Delpo is not too worn out. Hopefully Rafa’s knee holds up. And hopefully Fed’s back holds up. If all three of those factors are in place, then the WTF could be awesome!
Kevin, not likely now that Delpo can’t qualify. If Isner wins Paris he’ll qualify and if Rafa withdraws from WTF due to bad knee, PCB will qualify.
The quality of the field at WTF is really substandard, when players like PCB who keeps losing matches early in tournaments, still qualifies. And, Isner who hasn’t won much but wins one Masters and he’s in.
The tour really misses Djoko, Murray, Stan and Kei; they are the ones going deep in big tournaments like slams and masters and winning some.
Without Delpo to at least put up some resistance to Fed, Fed will have a clean sweep at the WTF. The field there, excluding Rafa, is pathetic vs Fed.
Goffin, Dimi, PCB (if he qualifies) have zero win over Fed. Cilic has only one win, Zverev two and Thiem two, that’s about all.
My ideal list of top eight at WTF is Rafa, Fed, Djoko, Murray, Delpo, Stan, Cilic and Kei. Not going to happen this season, but maybe next season, may not happen thereafter as Fed gets even older, almost ancient.
Haha, he’s definitely approaching “ancient” territory as it relates to pro-tennis age.
And, those who want him to lose early here to concentrate on winning WTF, don’t realize that if he doesn’t gain many points here and if he loses in SF at WTF while Fed goes on to win WTF, come 2018, Fed may take over as no.1 if Fed can defend his AO title and Rafa loses before the final there.
I’m glad Rafa and his team at least work that out and certainly don’t want Rafa to lose his no.1 ranking so soon after fighting so hard to achieve it. I’m sure Rafa and his team are good enough to calculate all risks involved and know exactly what to do to max out Rafa’s chances of retaining the no.1 ranking without risking Rafa’s health and well being.
He needs to be 800 points ahead at bare minimum. But Fed winning AO 18 again is not as easy as it looks
You never know so why leave it to luck when in the first place Rafa can do something about it by gaining as many points as possible? There’s no guarantee that he’ll win the WTF given how well Fed could play there, so why not gain some points or even wins the title here at Paris to gain 1000 points, and if he could do that, come WTF, he would have one less thing to worry about ( no need to worry about YE no.1, worry less about Fed catching him come early next year).
He may play better at WTF having no such worries bothering him!
to be honest lucky, i was more bothered he ends year as no 1. how long he keeps it does not really matter. I wanted him to equal atleast djokovics year end no 1 at 4 and he did that. Come to think of it, Fed is not far ahead at 5.
either rafa or novak can touch Feds 5 ye no 1 if they do well
Exactly, so why not try harder right? For Rafa especially, because he’s already at no.1. All he needs is to do better at those events that he’s not doing well this season (IW, Canada, Cincy, Wimbledon) and continues to do well at those that he has won this season.
My wish is for Rafa to defend his YE no.1 ranking and has > 200 weeks as no.1. He’s an ATG so it’s befitting his status to have at least achieve all those that his fellow ATGs (Sampras, Fed and Djoko) had/have achieved.
He already has multiple slams on non clay surfaces ( six ) in addition to his 10 FO titles, has 30 Masters at least (can add to that some more), has both singles and doubles Olympics gold medals and has helped Spain won four of their five Davis Cups. What he needs now is a WTF title to complete the list.
Nobody remembers YE1. Only Slams matter and to some extent Masters 1000 and WTF.
Yes, Sanju, given that Rafa and Novak are 5-6 years younger than Fed, I’d say it’s very likely that at least one of them will get 6 YE #1’s. Obviously it’s possible that Fed could play as well as he has recently for another year or two, even if it’s relatively unlikely. However, even if Fed were able to continue to play this well even with the other top guys back, it will still be extremely difficult and unlikely for him to get another YE#1 as long as he skips so many tournaments. There’s a good reason why 36 year olds don’t get to #1. You need to be able to play a full season like Rafa did this year to realistically be #1. Sure, Fed had a good shot at one point, but it was always going to be very difficult when he plays such a reduced schedule. I am pretty sure Serena Williams is an anomaly, being able to play even less tournaments than Fed and getting to #1 in her mid-30’s.
So given all that, unless one of the younger guys is magically able to really step it up, who else aside from Novak, Rafa, or maybe Andy is realistically going to get YE number ones in the next few years? Stan has said that he doesn’t even think he’s capable of getting to #1 because he almost strictly plays well at the majors.
Rafa knows more than any of us what’s going on with his knee. He says it’s not a problem, so I trust him to do what he thinks is in his best interest. Rafa accepts that he cannot win every match easily unlike us, his fans, and I am more guilty of this than most, who think he is superman and should just roll over the likes of Cuevas. Cuevas had nothing to lose and on many occasions, he hit shots not expecting to get anything out of them and they turned out to be winners. Cuevas also has a great serve which is always a plus.
For me, it’s great news that Rafa is not worried about his knee.
Vamos Rafa!
YE no.1 will be remembered all because of the Big Four! How often we hear or heard about Fed surpassing Sampras ‘ 286 weeks as no.1, and how often Fed’s fans mentioned about Fed’s weeks as no.1 and YE no.1 when we have Djoko chasing that record.
It’s because of what the Big Four have and could achieve, that we’re now talking about and comparing their no.of slams, Masters, weeks as no.1, YE no.1, no.of titles, H2H and even prize money, endorsements and even their popularity!
I’ll bet that after they retire, their names will be brought up often and comparisons of the future generations will be made using them as yardsticks for measurements.
Before computers, players just did their own thing, there was not really any competition about how many this or that players had won. Yes everyone knew Borg had won the most Wimbledon and FO but Borg hardly played Australia. Now that the data is readily available and a criteria has been set, kind of, about greatness, players have something to aim for. Even though I think the criteria has been set around Federer’s achievements.
Rafa is practicing ahead of his QF match:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNs_gRWWkAENssr.jpg
Be focused, be confident, be strong, be brave, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNtQj5rWAAACDp1.jpg
Rafa is out of Paris!
I heard the announcement, so Rafa withdraws to rest his knee. He knows best what’s good for him. Rest well Rafa, and tries your best at WTF.
good decision.
Hey guys…i just heard a news that Rafa just pulled out from his match…Is it true guys??
Benito P-B @b1pr 12m12 minutes ago
@RafaelNadal has to retire from #rolexparismasters . Will try his best to be in London. He will post a message on his Social later. 😞
Thank God Rafa withdrew from Paris, glad he’s taking care and saving himself.
I really doubt if he’s going to the WTF.
Take you’re more than deserved rest champion ☝
Thank God he’s already secured his YE No 1!For me,It’s okay if he’s not winning WTF ..YE No 1 is a big prize & very satisfying too…With his troubled knee..to see him play at WTF is just a bonus for me…
Yeah, good decision. It was painful to watch Rafa last night in his match with Cuevas. He was obviously hampered with his knee injury…I hate to see Rafa suffer like that and playing with pain…
I am not optimistic about the WTF and Rafa participating. All it matters is for Rafa to recover and be ready for the AO!
Vamos Champ! Get well! We love you!
Absolutely Mira, the YE ＃1 is just an amazing achievement and truly well deserved given his overall performance across all surfaces this year, even more special given what Rafa suffered in 2015 and 2016.
It’s really sad if he can’t compete in London because with the field there, he’ll have is chances for sure. Maybe he’s gonna take the risk and go there, we have to wait and see.
He has to skip London. it will be stupid if he does not.
I think Rafa should seriously look to cut down on his playing schedule starting next year.
This year, his schedule is so full, playing 17 events already (was originally 19 with Queens and Basel intended, and 20 if including WTF). It’s crazy, and he played Laver Cup too.
I think he’s pushing his body, knees especially, too far. There’s no need for him to play so many events, just concentrates his efforts in those more important ones, drop those that he’s not going to win anyway. He should learn from Fed, stops pushing his body too far to its limit.
Next year will be the right time for him to do so, when he has fulfilled all exemption requirements; I hope he picks and chooses events to play wisely, no point playing 19-20 events and losing early in some or even many of them, or gets injured and has to retire or withdraw.
Yeah Gaviria…Really disappointed coz we can’t see him display his full form at O2[if he’s playing at all] but…i expect this to happen long before before Shanghai actually…When he decided to play in Rome last May,we discussed here how terrified we were at that time just in case he maybe overplayed & risk of getting injured before FO…But he thrived & gave us a very precious 10th FO & the unbelievable 3rd USO too..So,his knee injury now is due…If we’re to be honest..unconciously we’re already expect this to happen…For me i’m not surprised at all…
Just hope,he will rest as much as his knees & body need & will come back to tour still motivated to play tennis next year…
Rafa was stupid to play Laver Cup, Beijing and Shanghai in less than 20 days. He was all fine after USO which was not very hectic.
My sister texted me that Rafa retired from Paris. Despite what he said after his match with Cuevas, I had a feeling when I went to bed last night that Rafa might withdraw.
I could see him waking up today feeling the knee more. I am glad that he did what was best for his health.
I am concerned about the knee. I am sure he wants to play in London, but even that is not certain at this point. Just seeing him having trouble with his serve in the match with Cuevas, was enough to make me realize that the knee was bothering him.
I just hope Rafa takes it easy and gets treatment. Whatever will be, will be. He did so well to get almost to the end of this tennis year without any injury.
Any time the knee flares up it makes me worry.
I dont expect him to play WTF. He had this injury in Shanghai, rested for 1.5 week and played Paris and the injury again resurfaced. WTF will not be any different if he plays.
He really needs to pick and choose next year. Strictly play not more than 13-14 events per year. Choose AO, IW, all 5 clay, Queens, Wimby, Montreal, USO, Shanghai, WTF
that is all he should play.
Yeah he’s crazy! IMO, he should drop one of IW or Miami, drops Acapulco, drops Rome. If he plays Laver cup, then skips the Asian swing and then plays Basel and WTF.
We should now in hindsight thank him for playing Paris and wrapping the YE No 1. Had he practised on HC and turned up directly for WTF, he could have injured himself during practice too.
Rafa was done till Shanghai. He had played a year’s tennis or even more than that till Shanghai. I think he should skip WTF , anything less than a win won’t satisfy him. He has full two months to rest. He should be well OK and rested. AO should be priority over WTF.
Paris and WTF both being low bounce courts are not easy to body.
an interesting thought
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/875108/Rafael-Nadal-Paris-Masters-injury
In hindsight he made a real smart move to pull out.
I think its a precautionary pullout. Knee is bad, but Rafa has played and won with knees in worse situation.
I wont be surprised that he turned fit for London. He can take 5-6 days off and start to practice again.
If he cant win it or is hampered to win it , no point playing. He does not need to turn up just to participate.
I think he has given sufficient hint that he does not know about LOndon for now.
I think he can play at London and pulls out after one or two matches. I think he won’t skip it totally unless his knee is really in bad condition. I doubt he wants to miss it when he can play, win or lose.
Lucky my take is..if you just want to play 1 or 2..give someone else a chance and dont eat the slot away
Sanju, he still can give the slot away after one or two matches, that’s the beauty of WTF. As I said, if his knee isn’t that bad, my guess is he will play. He will want to take part regardless of win or lose. In 2009, he went to WTF despite in bad shape and lost all his RR matches; it’s not about winning,it’s about participating in a prestigious event for the to eight.
Fed did the same in 2008 with a bad back; played all three RR matches winning only one.
No, I dont think he should play WTF if he thinks that he cant last 5 matches. But I still think that he would play.
He was unsure about Paris in Shanghai but he played here. remember all top players keep secrets. They keep rivals guessing. Fed would be interested to know about Rafa’s participation in WTF just like Rafa was interested to know about Fed’s participation in Paris.
why would Fed care now? He has lost the No 1..I think he is more busy getting himself back in shape. He himself is bit tired.
“I’m not thinking about London, I’m thinking long term, to be able to continue playing tennis.”
Isnt there enough hint in this statement?
WTF is jinxed for Rafa.
Yep! Rafa will most likely skip the whole tourney! It’s not in Rafa’s blood just to show up and play one match or two knowing he would not be fit and healthy to win it and risking larger injury.,,no way…
You missed the point too; if Rafa’s knee is only good for two matches, that means it’s not ok so he won’t play at all! It’s not like he’s forcing himself to play for two matches and then withdraws.
He will play when he feels he’s good enough to play, just like at Paris Masters, but he won’t know beforehand how his knee will react. To not try when he feels he’s good enough to play is not his style.
Sanju you missed the point. If his knee is ok he will play, simple as that. At this point he is not sure yet so he can’t give any promise.
Rafa doesn’t know if he’ll play WTF so we don’t know either. He’ll get treatment for his knee, talk to his doctor and then decide. We’ll just have to wait and see, too.
Yes, Sanju, I don’t think Rafa will play WTF. There’s really no point if he’s not playing to win it, and I don’t think his knee will allow it right now. Better to rest and try to come back 100% for AO. He’ll have a few more chances to win a WTF title.
You’re right fellow Rafa fans. His schedule should be rethought by is team all over again.
Starting with Brisbane, why sould he play there ? Two weeks before AO,he should go earlier to Melbourne, getting ready and adjusting himself, than tiring himself at a minor tournament, plus the lineup there is looking seems no easy for 2018.
The same goes for Acapulco, despite being a 500 points event, it’s unnecessary, has the main goal should be to save himself for the big stages.
About the american hard court swing, he probably should play IW and Miami only if physically fit and rested.
There’s not much to say about the clay season, as it’s the most important part of the year for Rafa, so I don’t see him pulling a tournament. However, if he has a physically demanding clay season prior to Rome, he should skip it.
It’s not only about grinding himself before the FO, but also the accumulate of fatigue due to so many clay matches that could be reflected post FO and bring injuries for himself.
Playing Queens or Halle, should be on his run at FO. If tired, Rafa should look forward to Wimbledon.
Posteriorly, he should play the Canada Masters and skip Cinci, for the obvious reasons we all know.
After playing the USO, I agree that he should only play Shanghai and WTF.
He won’t skip Beijing but plays only Shanghai once he’s in China. So, he should skip the Asian swing totally and plays Basel or Paris and then WTF. In years when he plays the Asian swing, he should skip the rest until WTF. He had done that in 2010 and 2011.
Oh that´s absolutely true Lucky, I completely forgot about that huge detail. You’ve been such a role model as a Rafa fan for me, always sharing great stuff here, pointing out with precision so many things about our champion. What a fan you are 👏
Thanks for the compliment Gaviria!
Sorry everyone for the language mistakes, thinking in portuguese and writing in english it’s a bit confusing sometimes 😐
It’s all good Gaviria. English is not my mother tongue either. And nobody complained about it 🙂 You’re new here, right? Welcome!
Thank you so much Eugene, I’ve been following the Grandstand for some time, thought it was more than time to join here. Sorry, I just presented myself at the Rafa fans page. By the way, who is your favourite player ?
Federer. I hope we can be friends 🙂
Gaviria- I should have welcomed you a long time ago, myself… So welcome!
My condolences to the Rafans, as it obviously puts his WTF chances in question. Maybe he’ll be fine by then? In my opinion, I think he would be giving himself the best chance of getting that second AO tile if he were to skip WTF completely and be as fresh as possible going into AO. However, my opinion doesn’t matter because only Rafa knows what is best for him. Since he said that he is looking further ahead than WTF, that would make me think that he is most interested in doing whatever it takes to be as healthy as possible for the AO. But who knows, really?
Thanks a lot guys!
For sure we could be friends Eugene, seems like you have a very good taste 😊
Congratulations for the Maestro season, it has been great at so many levels!
What a pleasure and a joy has been to see the GOATS playing amazing level of tennis again, right when many people believed they were finished!
Hope both guys can kick in high gear in 2018 💪
Thanks Gaviria. It has been an amazing season for both Greats. I don’t feel the need to overanalyze who’s better. There are so many factors implied that I think no computer software or human brain can give an accurate verdict. I also think the law of averages plays an important role and where Fed or Rafa have done good/bad in their careers there is always a counter effect that was positive/negative. For example Rafa pays the price for playing a lot this season unfortunately, and he is yet uncertain for WTF. Federer had to skip clay and focus on Wimbledon. Had he played RG, he might not have win Wimby. And there are dozens of examples. The mental factor between Fedal took different forms and shapes during their careers; furthermore the equipment, coaches, schedules, style of play, age and their inner feeling towards each other ( which can’t be measured by anyone, neither them) personality etc make it less desirable to choose ‘one winner’ especially when neither of them deserves to be a ‘loser’ for various reasons.
In conclusion Gaviria, I respect both guys and enjoy their tennis and I find a little annoying and ride to compare them. It’s like trying to figure out the reason rainbow’s colors are in that specific order and which one is longer or more curved. Just enjoy it the beauty !
You said it very well, Eugene. These guys both had incredible seasons in their own unique ways. Same can be said about their careers thus far. So how can we really say one of them is “greater” when they have both achieved so much and been so great, often for different reasons? I don’t think we can, objectively or definitively. One thing is for sure- when these two guys are done for good, there will be a considerable hole left behind that may take a while to fill. And when all 4 of the Big 4 are gone, I fear that the ATP will be downright screwed, but that’s just me…
Kevin, when the big 4 are gone, I just hope I’ll continue to have interest in watching tennis. I guess I’ll feel quite ’empty’ for a while with no players like Fed and Rafa in action, but I deeply hope we’ll have some interesting rivalries rising. Of course they will not fill that empty gap, neither the should.
It’s funny when Fed wins a tournament or has a great achievement, some people congratulate you, assuming you are a Fed fan, rather than a Nadal fan. I enjoy reading your comments, you are being less subjective than most of us here, and I know your favorite player is Agassi. SO, why some posters here assume you support Fed?
For virtually the first time in his career Rafa has been playing ‘free from pain’ (his own words). I guess it was too much to hope he would get to the WTF unscathed by the heavy schedule – now it looks like he’s paying the price 🙁 With 20/20 hindsight it’s easy for us, the media and the pundits to pontificate about what he should or shouldn’t have done.
Let’s be grateful for the joy and happiness he has brought us in 2017.
If Rafa did not see knee problems coming, then it might be foolish on his part given the history of his knees. He did not rest well after USO as he could not decline Fed’s offer to play Laver Cup and obviously the huge apperance money there.
Fed has his share of mistakes playing year end exhos which softened him up before AO. Fed played approx 60 matches in 2013 when he was the same age as Rafa, although he played less because he lost early.
Rafa’s body lasted around 65 matches as well. So, he should restrict him to this number and not go beyond these many matches a lot.
He was all well after this year’s USO win. It all gave in the indoor season.
You said it all Eugene 🙂
I just can’t put one above the other, the GOAT is somewhere between them.
I think it’s appropriate that we celebrate Rafa and Fed’s great seasons. It has been a gift to tennis fans. Everyone thought it would be about Novak and Murray. But Fedal stepped up and owned this year.
We should just be grateful to be alive to watch two all-time greats defying age and showing all of us how it’s done.
That is why I dislike the concept of a GOAT. Both Rafa and Fed have accomplished so much, set the bar so high and have so many records. They are both the epitome of greatness.
Facts!! Let’s be honest people they’re both GOATs
I agree 100% with Ben.
Yup, both (Nadal & Federer) are GOATS! Both are GOATS in the sense that both eat fodder/Grass but they generally eat different kinds !lol
Nadal GOAT likes to eat the soft fodder/Grass ( eat/beat the ATP players playing on the soft clay surface).
Fed GOAT, likes to eat the harder fodder/GRASS (likes to eat/beat the hard court players and virtually eat the Green GRASS (GRASS court players on the GRASS courts!lol)!
So, we have to respect both the GOATS and feed them the appropriate fodder!Ha,ha,ha…
The thing is, if Rafa didn’t play so many matches, he won’t get so many points that he could secure the YE no.1.
No one, including Rafa, could’ve predicted such a good season for Rafa; I guess he originally wanted to enter some 20 events (excluding the WTF) with Rotterdam, Queens and Basel in his schedule. Perhaps, he thought he won’t go far at AO, and so he included Rotterdam in his schedule. He skipped that after reaching final of AO.
I do feel the AO had taken a lot out of him, grinding out five setters thrice; that SF vs Dimi was really a serious grind ( I hate to see Rafa vs Dimi matches because each time Dimi would go all out just wanting to beat Rafa so badly and Rafa had to spend so much time and effort beating Dimi).
He’s out of this world on clay but I feel he should skip Rome, maybe he would then have enough energy to play at Queens and that might have helped him at Wimbledon. He doesn’t need that three matches at Rome to prepare for the FO! It’s not like he was beaten badly by Muller at Wimbledon, he had his chances in the extended fifth set, maybe with better preparation on grass he would be able to cross the finishing line with success?
I do feel that if Rafa wants to go far on grass, he has to somehow cut down on the clay events prior to the grass season, so that he can have enough energy and time for warm up event on grass. His Montreal/Cincy tournaments were disastrous, one of his worst since losing early there in 2011 ( 2015 was another), surprising for the good year that he had. Thankfully that did not affect his USO, I guess having played at least five warm up matches was good enough for him.
After the Laver Cup, even Fed was surprised that Rafa played at Beijing, so soon after LC. Perhaps, Rafa liked the momentum that he had playing at LC and he had a very successful Asian swing by his standard.
Maybe, just maybe, if he skipped Rome and played at Queens with better results at Wimbledon, that could’ve pushed him to secure the YE no.1 by Shanghai, and so he could then skip Basel and Paris altogether, giving him four weeks to recover from his knee issue and then be ready for WTF.
Lucky had he not played Asian swing he would not have been year end no 1. Those 1100 points made a big difference. Rafa admitted it himself that the clincher was the Asian swing.
Sanjay, read my post again. Where did I say he should skip Asian swing? I said he should skip Rome, played Queens, and skipped Basel and Paris. Read again.
No I am not saying you said to skip. I said this year that was the clincher for no 1. The 1100 points added.
Yeah, and replacing Rome with Queens may help him at Wimbledon and gain more points enough for him to secure YE no.1 after playing Shanghai and so he can afford to skip Paris. I just don’t see why he had to play at Rome when it’s obvious to us all (and Im sure to he himself) that he’s so tired after winning MC/Barcelona/Madrid and winning many matches in early HC season.
Yeah. I know Rafa is the type of player who needs matches to warm up for a big tournament, but never understood why he’s playing so many events before FO. Just play 3 max. Enough. Then go to FO more energized and warm up in the first 1-3 rounds if you need more.
I still feel he will try to play wtf but will eventually pull out seeing he can’t compete at his best.
My guess is he won’t play WTF. I think one week rest is not enough for his knee to recover. Had he played better at Wimbledon, or Montreal/Cincy, he might secure YE no.1 by Shanghai and so could afford to skip Basel/Paris altogher and had more time to rest and recover to play WTF. Too bad, some mistakes in his playing schedule and he’s paying the price now.
Yes he will attempt but pull out as he can’t compete is what I feel. He said he knows what issue is and the treatment as it has previously worked. So he will surely attempt.
Scheduling has always been a problem. In 2010 he did not play Barcelona, only 3 Masters 1000 on clay and he benefited. 2013 he lasted full schedule because he did not play AO and did not play Miami.
2017 his scheduling is awful.
I think in 2010 he did not play basel paris too.i remember he was on a break before wtf.
But in 2013 he played 3 tournaments in feb back to back winning 2. He was rested too for 6 months as he cut down on 2012 at wimby so that may have helped 2013 majorly.
Rafa should cut his schedule from 17 to 15 or even 14 events. He’ll be 32 next year. He won’t be penalized for playing fewer events come next year.
I hope he just plays Brisbane, AO, one of IW/Miami; on clay MC, Barcelona and Madrid (since he won’t skip his home events) and FO; plays Queens and Wimbledon; either Canada or Cincy or both and then USO. After LC, either skips Asian swing and plays Basel or Paris (Basel because he has contract to play there) plus WTF, or plays Asian swing (Asia being a big market for Rafa and his sponsors) and skips Basel/Paris and then plays WTF.
In hindsight, Rafa should be looking at how his fans are worried about his overplay.
While the star players are busy minting heavy appearance money and accommodating new tournaments just and just for the sake of money, at the same time fans pray for his well being. What an irony !!
Yeah, I guess both Fed and Rafa not only want the titles, but also the appearance fees and year end bonuses. I think they have to make appearances at WTF if they qualify in order to earn the year end bonus. Fed with bad back still played at YEC at Shanghai in 2008; Rafa made his appearance at YEC Shanghai in 2005 though he was not playing due to injury.
It’s a bit unfair, that regardless of how many Masters a player played in, once he missed the WTF (YEC) he’s not entitled to any YE bonus. Rafa missed getting the bonus in 2008 because he didn’t play or attend the WTF that year because of injury, even though he played in all nine Masters that year.
I must say sometimes it’s the sponsorship pressure; the players may have to play certain events because their sponsors have or want to have a share of the market for their products there.