Rafael Nadal

A page and forum to discuss all things Rafael Nadal.

Nadal 5

Current ranking: 14

Last result: Australian Open second round (lost to Mackenzie McDonald)

Next tournament: Roland Garros

58 Comments on Rafael Nadal

      • I agree. In 2016 Rafa will be eight years older than he was when he won that Olympic Gold medal in Beijing in 2008. So Hawkeye is correct regarding age and also a Novak who is far better than he was in 2008. I am not saying it can’t happen, but there are some factors that could come into play.

        Rafa missed the 2012 Olympics and we know how devastated he was not to be able to carry his country’s flag. I am sure that he will have a great deal of motivation in 2016. He will do his best as always.

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      • How much older is Djoker since Olympic 2008? Let me work that out using my calculator so that I don’t get it wrong…………………….Ahhhhhhhhh 8 years!!!!!! Same as Rafa! Who’d have guessed?

        Oh! I think we are being told that Rafa is a worse player now than he was in 2008, (silly me, why didn’t I get that?) even though he’s won 2 USOs & 1 AO title on h/c since beating the mighty Djoker twice.

        http://cdn2.crushable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/TV-Shows-Underrated-Reddit-5.gif

        Rafa has been injured for almost 12 months in the last 3 years hence his lack of titles so let’s keep things in perspective.

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      • nadline,

        What part of this do you not agree with? “In Rio Rafa will be 8 years older than in Bejing. These years he is injured more often and more seriously than was the case about 7 years ago. There years he is more likely to not be able to compete at any particular tournament or not be in close to his best form than he was 7 years ago.”

        And what part of this do you not agree with? “7 years ago Rafa rarely had trouble defeating Novak (and Novak had more injuries than lately). These years Rafa has more significantly more trouble defeating Novak than then.”

        All that the Bejing tournament was (other than associated with the possibility of winning an Olympics single medal, was one hardcourt tournament out of many over 4 years. It happens to be the case that Rafa managed to win it during the first year he was getting really competitive on hardcourt, while he has not gone on to win in particular a huge number of fast hardcourt events since. Just because the Rio tournament also will have the medals associated with it does not make it more similar to Bejing than to, e.g. WTF tournaments, other than not coming along at the end of the season.

        Now, was Rio going to be played on clay then that would change some of the above as considerations of best form, and Novak’s challenge to Rafa (among other players), In that case you could more confidently say that Rafa would stand a pretty good chance at a medal, even at age 30 (if not injured).

        Reply

  3. I agree that Rafa gets injured more frequently now than he did a few years ago but I don’t think Nole is more likely to beat Rafa now than Rafa is to beat Nole. Since Nole’s evolution in 2011, they have been pretty even in beating each other apart from Nole’s stellar year of 2011 when among other things Rafa was suffering from burnout.

    I don’t know what else Rafa has to do to stop being seen as only that good on clay. Injury has been his biggest setback in the last few years. If he stayed fit I don’t think there is a favourite between him and Nole when they play each other, it all depends on who is playing better on the day.

    People make it sound like Rafa doesn’t stand any chance against Nole except on clay even though Rafa has beaten him on h/c recently and when Nole won the AO against him, it took nearly 6 hrs. That’s hardly a sure thing.

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    • nadline, I don’t think anyone posting here would disagree with what you wrote about Rafa and Nole. No one is saying he has no chance etc. Clearly that is far being the case.

      But the point we were talking about is not that. Not at all in fact. And I find it interesting that you don’t answer to that point …augusta tends to do the same… just change the topic a bit each time. Perhaps it is a kind of tunnel vision that hawkeye alludes to.

      That point was that Nole is quite a bit _harder_ for Rafa to beat nowadays, relative to 7 years ago. And Rafa is more likely to be injured or not fit these days, clearly by everything that happened for a number of years now, relative to 7 years ago, and that’s not going away.

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    • “seen as only that good on clay”, ”
      People make it sound like Rafa doesn’t stand any chance”
      “sure thing.”

      Hahahahahahaha!!! Classic nadline.

      Let’s just say that Nole has a better chance against Rafa on hardcourts than he does on clay (especially best of five which Olympics final is). No one implied any different.

      Also, Nole was 4-9 vs Rafa heading into the Olympics including 0-5 in best of five matches.Since that time Nole is 15-14 including 3-4 in slams so to say that Nole is no more likely to beat Rafa now than in 2008 is hilarious!!! (as is to ignore the comparative advantage Rafa has on clay. Rafa is 7-0 vs Djokovic in best of five matches on clay!!!

      Too funny!!!!

      #NadlineDisease.

      Reply

      • hawkeye,

        Thanks for the stats. You made the point quite clearly. It’s not an insult to Rafa to state the facts. His rivalry with Novak has been much more competitive in recent years.

        The point is that no one here said that Rafa had no chance against Novak on hard courts. Obviously, from Novak’s point of view it’s better to face Rafa in the Olympics on hard court than on clay. Rafa was dominating their h2h back in 2008. Novak didn’t have the mental toughness or even the fitness at that time to take on Rafa. I have also said that Rafa’s game has definitely evolved and he is a more complete player than in 2008. But he has lot some of that incredible speed on the court. Injuries take their toll.

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      • There is no cause and effect here. The fact that Rafa is much better than Nole on clay doesn’t have to translate into Nole being better than Rafa on h/c. That is false logic.

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  4. Oh brother, I might have known who would go off after I wrote my comment! Okay, let me use my computer and see that Novak is eight years older! Yes! Who knew? But has he had the injuries that Rafa has over the years?

    Nadline isn’t going to answer the point, because it’s not about that. It’s about attacking someone, anyone here, who doesn’t give unequivocal, fulsome, over the top, non-stop praise of Rafa all the time!

    Tunnel vision? It’s more than that! It’s an intolerance for facts and a point of view that may differ from the self-appointed guardians of Rafa.

    Novak is eight years older and a better player than he was in 2008, when he just won his first slam. He has gotten mentally and physically fitter. Does that mean that he will beat Rafa in the 2016 Olympics? No! That is not what I was saying either. I am just saying that there will be issues for Rafa that he did not have in 2008. Novak has managed to avoid any serious injuries, so his body has not taken any toll. But we know how much time Rafa has lost from the game because of his injuries and now new ones are cropping up. It’s not a capital offense to face certain realities.

    chloro,

    I agree with your comments and thanks for clarifying what has been said. At least some here are able to read what is written and see the intent and meaning. Not one of us has said that Rafa has no chance! Not at all! But once again comments are being twisted and distorted to mean something that they do not. It’s a fact that Novak is a better all around player than he was in 2008. It’s a fact that he has not had any significant injuries that would require him to take long layoffs. One can say that Rafa is also a better all around player with an aggressive game, a superb net game, a great tactician on the court and still the best forehand in the game! But he has also dealt with serious injuries throughout his career. He has had to take long layoffs to recover. The concern is how his body will hold up.

    We all want Rafa to win the Olympic gold in Rio in 2016. But some of us are able to face some realities that Rafa will deal with as he will be 30 years old at that time. It’s just being honest. In no way does that mean that Novak is a cinch or guaranteed to win and also we should not assume that he is the only threat to Rafa.

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  5. Oh, one more thing. I do not see anyone here saying or even implying, that Rafa only has a chance against Novak on clay! That has not been said at all, certainly not by me. My concern about the Oympic tennis being on hard court, is that it’s tougher on Rafa’s body! Clay is much more suited to Rafa and doesn’t take such a toll on his knees and body overall. Yes it’s his best surface but there is no question that Rafa has proven he can take on Novak and beat him on hard courts.

    Save the ranting for those who diss Rafa as a one-dimensional clay court player because they refuse to give him credit for what he has done. He’s an all surface player who has proven himself in many ways, not the least in winning the career slam and in holding three hard court slam wins. Nobody here is arguing the point about Rafa beating Novak on hard courts!

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  6. To put it as bluntly as I can: the Olympics gold is prestigious and enters the history books more than most things tennis. On the other hand, it’s just one tournament every four years on more or less different surfaces (never clay, lately 🙂 in some large city or other in the world. It’s a bit random up to a point which of the best players around happens to win it that summer every 4 summers, and whether that is even one of the best players around. So while it is Olympics Gold, it is at the same time not much of a measure of the players involved as compared who had a consistent season, or won at least one slam lately, and such.

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  8. oh come on you people are acting like fedbots. Even if they postpone the Olympic games to 2018 and change the conditions to quick indoor hard courts, no problem! Rafa will still have no issues . After all, he has beaten novak twice in straight sets on indoor courts so how are you say his chances would diminish! stop hating you fellows! It’s time you get realistic ,okay?

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  9. The difference between me and hawkeye/chloro is that I always thought Novak was always a match for Rafa even before 2011 despite Rafa’s huge positive h2h against him up to then. So in my eyes, nothing has changed in how I view their rivalry.

    Anyone who thinks Nole is that much better than Rafa on h/c, should watch the USO finals between them where their h2h is 2:1 to Rafa. In 2010 & 2013, Rafa was totally in control, Djokovic was frustrated because he was being dominated throughout the matches losing in 4 sets both times on his preferred surface.

    Whilst Rafa clearly has the advantage on clay, I don’t think any sane person would totally dismiss Djoker’s chances of winning against him at RG like hawkeye/chloro are so dead sure that Nole would be the undisputed winner in a 5 set h/c match even though the evidence is to the contrary.

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    • none of this is really debatable. Nadal is a MASSIVE favorite on clay. Djokovic is a MASSIVE favorite on hards.

      Fun question is: who would have a better chance against the other; Djokovic on clay or Nadal on hard?

      Reply

      • Easy, just look at the stats posted by @hawkeye63 below:

        Nadal vs Nole h2h:
        Career:
        Clay 14-7
        Hard:7-11

        Since 2011:
        Clay: 5-4
        Hard: 2-7

        Since 2012:
        Clay: 5-2
        HC:2-4

        The stats which matter are the career stats and those since 2012 (what have you done for me lately, hello?). Novak has a harder time beating Rafa on clay than Rafa has in beating Novak on HC.

        #TemporarilyCuredOfTheDisease

        Reply

      • It’s about even steven chances to answer Ricky’s question about who has better chances to win against the other on their favourite surface but Rafa has been injured/out of form for almost seven months now having played just 14 matches over that stretch.

        If they played on either surface tomorrow, Nole WOULD very likely win. It likely would not be pretty.

        Rafa is still the favourite on clay for this season no question (which says a lot about him given his lack of play and poor health issues recently) but this is Nole’s best chance at the French Open.

        Just checked and Rafa is only a slight favorite at the French.

        If you think that means I think Djokovic will win the French Open and Rafa has little chances to win then check yourself for fever. You could have the dreaded…..

        #NadlineDisease

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      • “If they played on either surface tomorrow, Nole WOULD very likely win. It likely would not be pretty.”

        You don’t say?? Knock me over with a feather.

        Could this have anything to do with the fact that tomorrow, Rafa will still be transitioning from a long lay-off to match fitness?

        #Rhetorical

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    • False logic. Bad assumptions. Misconstruing.

      Nah Ricky. My question is MUCH more fun. When did Rafa lose a match in the last seven years when physically fit?

      The answer separates the Rafabots from the tennis fans.

      #NadlineDisease

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      • Accusations without laying the foundation, tsk, tsk, tsk.

        Point out the false logic. Point out the bad assumptions. Point out the misconstruction.

        Thank you.

        *screech* Sound of goalposts moving……………..

        #NadlineIsRight

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      • hawkeye63 says:
        February 6, 2015 at 3:25 pm
        —The answer separates the Rafabots from the tennis fans—

        When I started to read Tennistalk five year ago, I learned that ‘tennis fans’ = Fed’s worshipers! These “tennis fans” have always given nasty nicknames to Rafa fans!
        I’ll never become a “tennis fan”!

        I’m a pride Rafa fan – no matter what (= no matter how “tennis fans” call Rafa fans)!

        http://www.emoticonland.net/smileys/sports/spoort014.gif

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      • Accusations without laying the foundation

        Exactly.

        Point out the false logic? Pointless. Ah WTF. WIth age, Nole has improved his chances h2h. With age, Rafa has missed more tennis.

        Waste of breath. You cannot reason with fedbots or rafabots

        Reply

      • You’ve made that clear that you are not a tennis fan by saying that you only became interested in watching tennis because of Rafa and by saying you will lose interest in watching when he is gone.

        I enjoy discussing tennis with tennis fans. I also enjoy calling out fedbots and rafabots on their pot and kettle behaviour.

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      • hawkeye63 says:
        February 6, 2015 at 3:56 pm
        —I also enjoy calling out fedbots and rafabots on their pot and kettle behaviour—

        I have enjoyed your helplessness! (Especially when you were bombarding THIS thread with photo shopped pics of Fed because of being someone’s “confused” victim ).
        😆

        Reply

  12. hawkeye63 says:
    February 4, 2015 at 9:29 pm
    Age and Djokovic. Two factors that have changed significantly since 2008.

    This implies that only Rafa has aged since 2008. When it’s clear that you have lost the argument you start moving the goal post.

    Reply

  13. nadline10 says:
    February 4, 2015 at 9:16 pm
    Rafa won OG on a fast h/c in Beijing so I don’t think it’s a problem for him.

    Reply
    hawkeye63 says:
    February 4, 2015 at 9:29 pm
    Age and Djokovic. Two factors that have changed significantly since 2008.

    It’s clear that you don’t think Djokovic has aged since 2008.

    Reply

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