Never date a tennis player - love means nothing to them. vol.2

[Loves_Shizuka]

Yes, there.

[morqet]

Nadal withdraws from the US Open

[OnyxRose81]

So, yeah for Nadal fans it's time to worry.

[skatesindreams]

Nadal withdraws from the US Open

I wonder what's really happening?

[Rottie]

He suffered a second-round loss at Wimbledon and then is missing the Olympics and US Open. And he's pulling out of the USO quite a ways in advance, suggesting that this isn't a touch-and-go thing. He's been out for lengthy stretches before and has missed majors before, so this isn't new for him, and he's come back and won more majors. That should give us hope. But this can't be a good time for him.

[Lorac]

He suffered a second-round loss at Wimbledon and then is missing the Olympics and US Open. And he's pulling out of the USO quite a ways in advance, suggesting that this isn't a touch-and-go thing. He's been out for lengthy stretches before and has missed majors before, so this isn't new for him, and he's come back and won more majors. That should give us hope. But this can't be a good time for him.

No it isn't new but you can only put so much stress on the body and Nadal plays a body stressful game. I suspect his playing career will be much shorter than Federer's because of this. The fact that he has pulled out of the US Open so far in advance indicates a pretty serious injury that has been ongoing now for several weeks. I hope he can recover but do wonder if his year is done which is sad

[sequins]

I think his year needs to be done, it's just not worth coming back this year. It's obviously very serious and given his history and the way he plays I think we knew this would come but hopefully he can rest and heal enough to play next season even if he can only do the clay and grass court season. The hard court is brutal and I get the feeling his body just can't do it anymore. Nadal has amazed us before, but he has nothing to prove to anyone so I just hope he looks after himself and does what's best for his health and his future.

[jenny12]

Nadal withdraws from the US Open

Very sad. I hope he gets rest and comes back strong next year.

[Seerek]

With 3 rounds left in Cincinnati, the top 8 seeds for the men are provisionally:

Federer (drops to 2 if loses before Final and Djokovic wins Cincinnati)
Djokovic
Murray
Ferrer

Tsonga
Berdych
Del Potro (moves up to 6 with a win in Cincinnati)
Tipsarevic

[judgejudy27]

Did you not watch womens tennis around ten years ago, pretty much straight after Graf retired?!

You had Hingis, Davenport, Capriati, Venus, Serena, Henin, Clijsters and then the Russians... The tour was amazing! I love epics too, yet it was Graf who used to win so easily, so often, that players placed bets on who could keep her out on court for longer than an hour.

I love Graf to pieces, but aside from some of her matches with Seles and ASV, her "heyday" came at a time when womens tennis was a bit dull IMO. And granted, it's been weaker for the last few years, but to suggest the womens game has been shit since Graf retired is a bit unfair IMO.

1999-2008 is the all time golden age of womens tennis in fact. The Navratilova era was even worse than the Graf era, other than a past her prime Evert (while Martina dominated) it was a bunch of scab players who wouldnt even be top 30 in another era. Pam Shriver, who as much as I love her today, and as great a doubles player she was, played like a clumsy stork in singles from her playing years and couldnt play at all on the baseline if her life depended on it, was the perennial #3 or #4 for about 5 years then.

Womens tennis until the Davenport/Hingis/Williams/Henin era had no depth. That is by far the golden period of the game. Even today for all its complaints has more depth than the previous eras ever did. and

[Rafter]

I wonder what's really happening?

If you believe certain conspiracy theorists on the Internet, nadal is either cycling down from EPO or some other performance enhancing drug, or is serving a "silent ban" for doping.

[oleada]

Kerber snaps Serena's win streak in straight sets. She was the much better player today.
Serena was wearing a scrunchie

Oh and Andy M lost to [LL] Chardy....

[london_calling]

If you believe certain conspiracy theorists on the Internet, nadal is either cycling down from EPO or some other performance enhancing drug, or is serving a "silent ban" for doping.

Interesting. There were a lot of rumors about Nadal and performance enhancing drugs at the beginning of his pro-career. Tennis commentators also said he couldn't keep up his way of playing for very long because it was too physical. It's interesting how things have come full circle and now we're trying to guess which is the cause of his recent absence from the tour.

Tennis could easily be rife with p.e. drug use. But to acknowledge or crack down on it would be "bad for tennis." The people caught are always fairly low ranked (ex: Wayne Odesnik).

So if any of the top players are using, we'll probably never know for sure. But I would not be at all surprised.

ETA: I know the Olympics uses the World Anti-Doping Agency to test. Anyone know who the ATP uses for events under their jurisdiction?

[Loves_Shizuka]

Rafael Nadal has been diagnosed with Hoffa's syndrome.

I've copied this:

Confirmed:

- He has Hoffa's Syndrome - the fat pad behind the knee becomes stuck between bone and inflammed. Causes swelling and extreme pain. he and Toni have said he can train fine but is then in pain afterwards.]

- First had the pain towards the end of French Open - was diagnosed in Wimbledon.

- The main solution is rest - no practice and exertion. A last resort is surgery but Nadal wants to avoid that. He instead will continue physiotherapy and work in the gym to maintain fitness while he can't practice and get back to the court asap.

- Confirmed that he wants to play till Rio 2016 and will do everything he can to get there. Will probably play more on clay than on HCs. Is willing to play fewer matches, change his schedule, whatever, to give himself the best chance to have a longer career. For that reason he won't play till he gets the green light from the doctors and is 100%. Will hope to be ready for Davis Cup as it would be a good opportunity to return to court but if the knee isn't ready he won't play. Wants to get back to court at his maximum level and intensity.

Quotes:

"I'll return when the knee is healed. I won't force... I've already missed many important things and I won't risk any more" "I won't put deadlines for my return. Right now I follow my knee's orders"
"I work very hard every day to be ready as soon as possible. I'm really motivated to compete as soon as I can"
"For 6 months this year, I was competing to become #1 in the ATP ranking, but I'm not worried about being #3 or #4" (Was asked about this on the radio too - said at this point in his career he's not worried about ranking. When the number 1 was a chance and he was fighting in the race then it mattered but he's not bothered by whether it's 3, 4, 5, 6 - everyone has their chance to win matches.)

"What I want is to lengthen my career as much as possible"
"Currently, I'm not practicing on court, but I try to keep my fitness at the gym and with physiotherapy"
"I want to be fit, so that when I return on tour it is not difficult for me to pick up the pace"
"I want to be able to play at the OG in Rio"
"We'll follow a new approach. Probably from now on I'll have to play on clay more than on hard, which hurts me more"
"If I have to play less matches per year, I'll do it. If I have to modify which tournaments to play, I'll do it..."
"I'll do anything provided my career gets longer"

[skatesindreams]

Wishing him a complete recovery.
Tennis is more physically demanding than most people realize.

[Rottie]

All that acceleration and sudden stopping in all directions and sharp twisting is very demanding. Wishing Nadal a speedy recovery with no setbacks.

[FSfan107]

It's been an interesting match between Roger and Stan. Stan had his chances in the first set. Fed's first serve has been MIA today. He needs to play much better against Djokovic (in order to win) tomorrow if he holds off Stan.

[FSfan107]

Roger just served Nole a bagel, 6-0 in 20 minutes.

Is Novak awake?

[skatesindreams]

Novak tried to fight back; but, Roger looks ready for the US Open.

[jenny12]

Congrats Roger on another win! Djokovic looked like he was conserving energy for the US Open. I'm sure he'll play a lot better there.