Interesting article:

Nadal, on his knees

That article was basically what some have been saying for awhile and what I have reiterated for awhile. That basically there's an issue going on medically that could really threaten his longevity if he doesn't make some changes. Its ashame that he's so young dealing with this but hell...don't have to play so much. Play the master's series events, slams, a couple smaller tournaments and just chill. Won't keep the #1 ranking but not being #1 doesn't mean not being the best.

And they are calling Uncle Toni a drama queen but I think Uncle Toni knew the deal from the get go and it was Rafa who was just trying to keep the seriousness of his situation inside the camp. This isn't the first time Uncle Toni has talked about Nadal's knee problems. Now if Fed's camp had said this the day Rafa had won say the US Open and Fed was knocked out early, people would've been all over him. So i do think Uncle Toni's timing lacked tact and took away from Roger's moment.

I'm of two minds. I respect that Rafa didn't once mention his knees as a reason for his loss to Soderling and rarely, if ever, makes excuses when he loses.

On the other hand, it does seem a bit odd that he's lowering expectations so drastically as Wimbledon approaches. If he's not wearing tape and has the same pain he's supposedly had for years, why are we even talking about this?

Yeah good point Terp about stolen thunders...exactly like Federer's Tammy Faye moment p**sed all over Nadal in Australia this year.

But this alarmism form the Nadal camp is getting way too old. Nadal constantly complains about the calendar then does nothing to change his own schedule. Memo to Nadal: it's not up to the ATP or the ITF to make your career easier by shifting the calendar or altering the ranking system to suit you. The calendar is the same for everybody. You don't like the heat, kid? Get out of the kitchen. No one's forcing you to play tennis for a living. Change your own schedule, or make due with what's there. But shut up either way.

If Nadal has tendinitis, or it's more degenerative version of tendonosis, then there's only one thing that will help: rest. It's 4-6 weeks for the former, and up to 6 months for the latter. The whole world understands this. So there's no heroism for Nadal's attempt to play if he's going to complain about a chronic condition which is easily remedied. He doesn't get to talk out of both sides of his mouth. Just like the rest of us.

I still don't see what the issue with that was. Federer is CLEARLY a sensiitive guy who cries often. Its not as if that was the first time we've seen him cry, so at least there was a precedent for that. But to each his own...it showed me his absolute passion for what he does and how that loss affected him. Again...losing players in most sports get the chance to go to the lockerroom after a big loss and cuss or cry and get themselves together. He had no opportunity to do that. Yes he was a blubbering mess but he's a crier. That loss was devastating to him and whereas that seemed more out of his control, Uncle Toni's comments could've been controlled.

Totally agree with what you said re: Nadal. Couldn't have said it better.

Thanks. I call Nadal on it when he behaves like a prima donna. And this whole injury thing is exactly that. He either is or is not injured. It's like pregnancy. You either are or are not. If he thinks this will take some kind of pressure off of him, his guise will evaporate the more matches he wins. So it's pointless to do it.

And whether Federer is or isn't emotional isn't the point. If he is, it doesn't necessarily follow that he must show it. There are places and times for that. After you lose a match isn't an approriate time to do so. You suck it up, and go cry in your beer privately - i.e., you Man Up. Just like Nadal did after losing the Wimbledon Final in 2007. I'm sure he was just as heartbroken as Federer in Australia. But he kept his compusre because it wasn't appropriate to indulge his emotions simply because he had them. Federer won - he accepted it, tough as it was, and let Federer have his moment. It was Matt Cronin who wrote in December of 2007, six months later, about Nadal's breakdown in the locker room that day after that Final, away from the cameras and microphones. That's the difference in personality between Nadal & Federer. Nadal's a gamesman. Feder is a diva.

Actually I thought it was moreso that Nadal is hard and Federer is soft.....emotionally of course. I know that sometimes I can fight crying, but there are other times when I'm just so overwhelmed that I can't help it.

Come on. You CANNOT be serious!

Federer broke down because it was an emotional match and because the crowd gave him a rousing ovation and he felt the love. I don't recall the crowd at Wimbledon doing the same for Rafa at Wimbledon in 2007.

Fed's behavior at the Aussie Open was anything but diva-ish. He cried and even though they gave him a moment to pull himself together, he made sure he spoke before Rafa so that Rafa would have the last word. Voicemail, you're clearly anti-Fed and are just looking for reasons to dis him. As someone else on this board pointed out, all the other players (and seemingly everyone involved with the sport) clearly appreciate and respect him. If he was a diva, you know that wouldn't be the case.

Definitely we see it through our fave-colored glasses, but I saw Rafa as the soft guy in that situation -- he comforted Federer for god's sake. I can't see that happening the other way around. Nadal has cried quite a bit, he just has tended to do it in private (Wimbledon 07 most obviously).

As for the injury issue, we're talking about it because there's a thread about it (you answered your question before you posed it WWCD), and because Toni Nadal never shuts his big yap. (Terp, I agree Toni's blabbering lacked tact to Soderling and Federer, though Federer has caught right back up in the tactlessness dept. in his post-French interviews.) There have been leaks about knee problems since Miami and/or his first round win at the French. (They just weren't given credence back then -- people said, oh sure, he'll win RG.)

On another board posters have been taking an official statement from Nadal today and running rampant with the assumption that Nadal is playing Wimbledon. It makes me wonder if people know how to read anymore. I saw nothing in Nadal's official statement today that makes me think he definitely will play this year's tournament.

All the "suspense" about Nadal's injury is as bad for (and from) him as it is good for the hypemasters. It's a mistake on his part that it's even being discussed unless he is pulling out of the tournament. It's going to be an interesting next year or two for Rafael. He reached #1, which largely was unexpected. Ditto winning a hard court major. But now he's finding out how hard it is to keep #1, something he didn't have illusions about when he got the ranking, but might be upset about now. I never thought Federer was truly going down for good, and never thought that Nadal would be dominant on anywhere near Federer's level (for a number of reasons), so I'm not shocked by the current situation, though it is a cold splash to put it mildly if you're a fan.

What remains to be seen with Rafael is how he will grow up. There are rumors his parents are getting a divorce. (When it rains it pours.) There is going to come a time when it would be smart on his part to not allow his uncle to mouth off so much. On the women's side we see Sharapova distancing herself from the far more annoying and now AWOL Yuri, who never contributed much to Maria's game. Toni is a bit of a genius in addition to annoying, so it would be foolish for Rafael to break from him, but he does need to be become his own man more than currently.



There are hordes of people who would disagree with you WWCD. Maybe you should catch up with your reading here, for a start. In fact, your description is wrong. Federer would not have spoken if Nadal hadn't reached out to him.

But really, this thread is getting catty, and the AO thing isn't the title subject. WWCD, I agree that VM on the warpath, but as for the players looking up to and respecting Federer, as Denise Richards says, it's complicated. He has made this work to his advantage. Of course multilingual gentleman Rog who kills you with kindness is going to be preferred to brutish Nadal who goes in like a boxer. The ATP isn't exactly full of rocket scientists, and many of them don't realize how Federer plays them like a fiddle.

Actually Two Hander there is some truth to what you said about Federer. He has his way of making comments that if women players had made them would be SOOOOO BLOWN UP. It irks the hell out of him that Nadal has dominated him. No matter how nice their exchanges at net are, I think privately he probably is hoping Nadal's knees cripple him for life. I do see a bit of phonyness in Fed, but I do believe the tear fest at the AO was pure devastation that he couldn't hold until the ceremony is over. Just because Nadal can do it doesn't mean that everyone is like that. And yes...Nadal does seem to be a sensitive guy too. Thing with Nadal is...I haven't really ever gotten a sense of phonyness or disingenuousness (ooo I hope I spelled that right) from him....EVER!!! The handshake at net with Soderling was the coldest I've ever seen from Nadal. Thats being real to me.

This thread it getting crazy and off-topic, but that's the fun!

A couple of things: First off, I don't think my description of the Aussie trophy presentation is wrong at all. Fed actually said that he wanted to pull it together so that Nadal could have the last word. He is too much of a class act not to let that happen. I've read excerpts of Jon Wertheim's book and the two are actually very close. Maybe not "friends" per se, but as close as two, say, colleagues could be. There's no way that Fed was in any way trying to steal Nadal's moment. And this armchair psychological analysis of Fed manipulating opponents with kindness and making it work to his advantage because the other players are too dumb to recognize it is as absurd as Martina Navratilova saying she doesn't like to talk.

Secondly, I do like Nadal and I agree that he rarely seems phony, but I think his reaction to his loss to Soderling was a bit disingenous. I would have liked to have seen a little more emotion -- a little more evidence that it stung really really badly which I'm sure it did. But his reaction of "When you walk on a court, you either win or lose" wreaked of spin. Be a man: Cry for God's sake!

I saw the ambiguity in his official statement. But if he really wasn't gonna play, then...

..do you think he's going to go through his 48 hour "treatment" period, stay in Majorca for an additional 5 days, fly to London on the 16th, and then just hang out for another 5 days to await developments before deciding whether to play? If it's as serious as tendinitis, which is enormously painful, doesn't it make more sense to actually wait and see if whatever your doctor recommends for the next 48 hours actually helps? If he's truly in doubt to play, it makes zero sense to commit to depart for London on a specific date a week ahead of time before you even know whether any "treatment" succeeds, dontcha think?

what a disgusting thing to say.

So what? It's true.

Um ...what's true? That you get to decide when guys need to "man up"? And what does "man up" even mean? That men aren't allowed to show emotion ... because? You have to keep a "brave face" ... because? Men don't cry in public ... because ? What century are you living in, tough guy?

I think Roger's win has sent you off the deep end.

It's going to be a lively Wimbledon. I'm expecting camp Nadal to be disappointed. Federer has to be the favorite. The stage couldn't be more perfectly set for him to make history.

Both of these tough guys have cried in public though Fed's also GOAT in the waterworks category.

WWCD, instead of judging Nadal's reaction to the Soderling loss on a scale of 1-100, maybe you should direct your attention to the Roland Garros crowd's behavior toward someone who was an undefeated 4-time champion. Nadal got the exact opposite of the fawning Federer has gotten at Wimbledon. While Nadal will never be as "loveable" as Federer, and the French Open crowd held it against him that he kept Federer from getting what he has now, personally I thought it was pathetically disrespectful on their part. But they are what they are and he is what he is -- he has to suck it up and move on.

Meanwhile Federer did everything but fellate the Roland Garros crowd in his post-match pressers from round one onward -- you're the one who has to be joking if you think Federer doesn't engage in mind games.

Also, what is so phony about what Nadal said? If you see the presser, it sounds and looks totally convincing and blunt. It's Federer who sulkily makes all kinds of little insulting jabs here and there at opponents and reasserts his superiority in defeat. Neither reaction is more genuine or truthful than the other. They are what they are. Lord knows there are a billion annoying things about Nadal as well if we're going to nitpick or asspick.

I think Roger's tears are genuine and endearing, but still a GREAT way to poke fun at him. This is a guy who tears up whenever the umpire says "new balls, please." See how easy it is?!

I've never quite understood the liking or disliking of someone based on how they conduct themselves in their press conferences. Including Serena. Who f'ing cares? It's as far as "part of the game" as anything I can imagine. The only exception I'll make to that is Andy Roddick, who gives the most biting, entertaining, and all-around funny quotes of anyone in the past 20 years. Maybe it's just me, but I really love his deadpan delivery and I think he's quick as a whip.

Though I talk about pressers as much as anyone, I also agree with a lot but not all of what you're saying, including the Roddick part. He's more honest than Federer and Nadal combined.

I see more significant stuff to criticize lately about Nadal or his camp in terms of what they say. The line that's starting to become obvious is the one that WWCD used as the header for this ranging thread. This past year, injury keeps coming up in the wake of his losses, in a way that is just as predictable as impeccable sportsman Federer being as snippy as Serena when he loses. Nadal's rep is already starting to take a beating because of it, and he would do well to ask his uncle to clam up, for a start. I'm a fan, and I'm getting tired of it.

The thing with Federer and press conferences comes from people feeling like what's revealed in the conferences contradicts the mainstream/surface image people have of him. I don't know how much that matters in terms of the game itself, if at all. But I think it's true, and it matters in the sense of who a person is as opposed to who they are perceived to be. I'm not saying Federer is evil, but he is a narcissist with a narcissist's view of reality. Based on the fact that he and Serena are the most dominant players of their era, maybe that's what's needed, or maybe it goes with the territory. Serena takes a LOT more slack, because she's a black woman and her comments aren't so subtly barbed. No one will ever call her Sportswoman of the Year.

What matters more than specific words, though, are the stances these guys take and messages they send. For a long time people were annoyed with the way Nadal was always saying Federer is the favorite when they play, especially when the upcoming matchup was on clay. So it'll be interesting to see if Rafael is as forthcoming about Roger being GOAT now that he (Rafael) has tasted #1 and Roger has fulfilled a major requirement of GOAT status that had been dogging him. How much of Rafael's view was genuine and how much tactical?

Likewise, Federer loves to talk about himself, and everyone else; if Toni Nadal was rude to talk about Nadal's knees during the French, so is Federer for feeling entitled to make his own Nadal diagnosis already to the press. (I see it as tit for tat, and bet Federer does as well. He's not naive. But did Nadal comment on Federer's mono? Did he say the cure for Federer's back problems was core exercises to work off Mirka's home cooking?)

Federer is riding high right now. Will it last or is he in for a rude shock? I tend to think the former, because Federer has just removed a huge burden that was more of a malaise than any mono diagnosis. He could be brilliant on grass this year.

You've convinced me, Snicks. From now on..I will Tow The Party Line on Federer: He's The Greatest Player Who Has Ever Lived. And I'll keep referring to him this way, even when he loses (which, as Two-Hander observes from his press conferences, is never through any fault or flaw of his own; the other guy just got lucky, or mono is to blame, or a bad back is to blame. etc.). After all, when they rename a whole stadium (and everything in it, like toilets, urinals and concession stands) after you for the expressed purpose of giving the devoted everlasting faithful (like you and me) a sacred shrine for our pilgrimages, ya know..that's High Cotton.

Federer (The Greatest Player Who Has Ever Lived) will most likely win Wimbledon. Nadal will most likely lose early, and then totter off into antiquity because of his Light Bulb Knees. So Federer (The Greatest Player Who Has Ever Lived) will only be threatened by Andy Murray, who will have enormous crowd support. But Andy would be that rare Major Titleholder: The Uniquely Unattractive one. But hey, if Lendl (perhaps the ugliest male major title holder) can do it, I guess Murray should have no trouble.

For the most part, pressers are rather humdrum, sometimes even robotic, exercises in which the players repeat the same old answers to the same old questions over and over again. So generally speaking, there is little to glean and therefore little to base an opinion on. But there are exceptions in both directions. Andy R is an excellent example of a player you have to like after watching his pressers. He is smart, funny as sh*t, candid, and dead honest. So when Andy pulls some of his jerkwad antics (like berating umpires), I cut him some slack because he's such a good guy otherwise. Two-hander, I don't know if you ever listen to Rafa's pressers in Spanish, but he is a different animal in his native tongue (second language? as a mallorquin, wouldn't Catalan be his native tongue? anyway ... ). In English, while Rafa is still one of the more refreshingly honest ATPers in his pressers, he is very cautious about what he says. Although much improved, his English is still not that good, a limitation he seems quite aware of. But in Spanish, Rafa lets it all hang out a LOT more. He is much more frank, at times even blunt, in his assessments of other players and of course of himself.

On the other side of the coin, you have players like Serena and Roger. I know it's just me, but whenever Serena goes into her pouty and ungracious sourpuss mode, it cracks me up. I have no rational explanation for it, and I perfectly understand why her sore-loser attitude rubs some fans the wrong way, but for whatever reason that I can't put into words, it doesn't bother me in the least. Feder, on the other hand ... OMG, how anyone can watch the ATP's pissiest B*I*T*C*H (after a loss, natch) and still be a fan of Federer's is utterly beyond me. I will grant you that he is a very gracious winner, but I cannot for the life of me think of an uglier loser in professional tennis today, or ever for that matter.

Oh wait, Jimmy Connors. Yeah, he was an assh*le too.

Testify! I'm SO glad someone said this. Thanks, BSR!

BoSoxRudy wins! Most non-sensical opinion of the year!

Finally! Now was that so hard?

I don't write on this board but I read alot of what you,very knowledgable gents write and I have to say that I love reading WWCD and Snicks.
I always get a good chuckle and appreciate that you all have strong opinions and don't mind placing them here for us all to read.
For the record--Fed is my favorite player and I for one have no problem calling him GOAT. His on court grace and mastery make me envious and want to play better and improve.
His tennis record speaks for itself and if every player had his/her personality added to the equation as well as every presser they gave....