Rafael Nadal

Nadal cried before Oz Open after knee injury

Rafael Nadal admits that he broke down in tears prior to the Australian Open after he injured his knee while standing up. The Spaniard, who had injured himself in Melbourne the two prior years, defeated rival Roger Federer in the semifinals and will face the winner of the match between No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 4 Andy Murray for the title on Sunday.

“I explained that after my match on the first, what happened the Sunday before on my knee, something very strange," he said. "But that's why, because Sunday afternoon, 24 hours to play my first match, I was in my room crying because I believe I didn't had the chance to play Melbourne. So it was a very, very tough situation for me, these hours. Two weeks later I am here in the finals, so is a dream for me because having very bad expectations 24 hours before the first match, and now two weeks later I am playing well.”

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http://tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=16096&zoneid=25

Steve Tignor just tweeted this:
"Rafa: Hurt his knee sitting in a hotel chair yesterday. No knee movement, went to the hospital. "Strangest thing that ever happen to me."

He is the only men who can injury while sitting on a chair. Haha.

more on Rafa:
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Nadal raring to go
12/1/2012

Spaniard Rafael Nadal has dismissed concerns over his fitness, saying his shoulder is 'in perfect condition' ahead of the Australian Open.

The world number two plans to take off February to recover from a nagging shoulder injury, but will compete at Melbourne Park in search of an 11th Grand Slam title.

Nadal, 25, said his semi-final loss to Gael Monfils at the Qatar Open to start 2012 was a better result than he had expected.

"It was a better result than I thought and the shoulder is in perfect condition," Nadal said in Melbourne on Thursday.

"Normally, you warm up for half an hour, 40 minutes, but there I was warming up for maybe an hour and a half on match days to practice a little bit more."

While he won a sixth French Open crown last year, Nadal lost to world number one Novak Djokovic in the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open.

Nadal said towards the end of last year he had lost some passion for the game, but he did lead Spain to the Davis Cup title at the start of December.

The 2009 Australian Open champion said he was working hard to regain his world number one ranking.

"I played with fantastic passion the last two matches of the year in Davis Cup," Nadal said.

"I've been working hard. I think I'm working the right way. There's Djokovic (to compete with), but there's a lot of fantastic players around and I have to be ready to compete against everybody."

"Last year I lost six important finals against him, but I played finals and that's something really difficult to do. I know how difficult it is to be (in finals) almost all the time."

The draw for the Australian Open will be made on Friday.
http://bit.ly/y3sRgr

on Rafa's sore shoulder (Jan 12):

Nadal, at an official appearance for the tournament’s vehicle sponsor, said “my shoulder is good. I’ll try to do my best.”
http://yhoo.it/AtWGV8

According to sources, Rafael Nadal has decided to add weight to his racquet, the Babolat AeroPro Drive GT. In its stock iteration, the AeroPro Drive is 11.3 ounces (strung)—relatively light compared to other touring professionals—and is balanced 4 points head-light. Reportedly, Nadal is modifying his equipment with hopes of adding more speed to his serve.

"I had to make the change even if I am not better in the beginning," Nadal told reporters. "We had to make the decision so that it will be better in the future. Probably that hurts my game a little bit to begin with. Is that a risk at the beginning of the season—yes. But it was still the right moment, to change. If not now, then when?"

What are the consequences of a heavier racquet for Nadal's game?

All other things being equal, heavier racquets are more powerful. As physicists Rod Cross and Crawford Lindsey, in Technical Tennis, write, "If a heavy and a light racquet are each swung at the same speed, the ball will come off the heavy racquet faster because the heavy racquet has more momentum and more energy that it can transfer to the ball, and it will lose less energy."

The caveat, of course, is that a player may not be able to swing a heavy racquet as fast as a light racquet. Heavy racquets are relatively more difficult to accelerate, not to mention maneuver; and so, for a recreational player in average physical condition, a heavy racquet may not in fact increase speed of shot. (Though they may, as Cross and Lindsey note, provide a bit more control, as "they don't need to be swung as fast to achieve the same ball speed.")

Tour players, on the other hand, are exceptionally fit and technically accomplished; Nadal, as we all know, is one of the fittest and accomplished of them all. So, with a heavier racquet, will Nadal be able to maintain his racquet-head acceleration through the ball? Will a heavier racquet give Nadal more power—and, by extension, more free points on his serve?

I would answer a tentative yes, though to what extent is far from clear.

Interesting and revealing comment from Rafa's coach "Uncle Toni" on Djokovic:

"Djokovic is better than us. We only have a problem against Djokovic, [but] a problem is when you die."

"[Djokovic] runs better; his mentality is stronger; and he has changed little things in his game. He's playing without many mistakes. He is more compact. Before, Djokovic was a wonderful player, but sometimes he made some mistakes. Now the head is very, very strong. [Rafa] thinks he is the best player in the world right now."

I've got no doubt that Rafa has a mental problem with Djokovic now.
If Rafa loses his first few matches against him he could be in for a long and painful year.

I'll be observing Rafa and his shoulder closely after reading this:

Rafael Nadal plans to take several weeks off after the Australian Open to recover from a nagging shoulder injury.

The second-ranked Nadal said Thursday the injury surfaced before the ATP World Tour Finals in November and that he was still “not 100 percent.” He only decided three days ago to defend his title at the World Tennis Championships, a two-day exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi.

“I had a problem before London with my shoulder and I had to stop for about 10 days before the (ATP) finals,” Nadal said Thursday in Abu Dhabi. “It felt better but again it resurfaced. In December, I did not have enough time to practice because of that.”

Nadal will play the winner of a match between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer in the semifinals on Friday.

He is hopeful his shoulder will hold up in Abu Dhabi where he will attempt to win the tournament for the third year in a row and in Doha, where he plans to play at the Qatar Open next week. After competing at the Australian Open beginning Jan. 16, the 25-year-old Spaniard said he would take February off to rest and practice.

AP.

BARCELONA, Spain – New Spain captain Alex Corretja is hopeful that Rafael Nadal will be available to the Davis Cup champions despite the second-ranked Spaniard announcing he won't compete in the event in 2012.

Corretja said Wednesday that neither Nadal nor David Ferrer have told him personally they will be unavailable for the five-time winners, so the newly appointed captain plans to speak to the pair at the Australian Open to see if they could play certain matchups.

"My obligation as captain is to speak to all of the players and the coaches. Not one player has personally told me that they will not play,". "If some players say they need time to rest, I can only respect that and try to put together the best team possible for each series."

Nadal and Ferrer indicated after beating Argentina in the final earlier this month that they would be unavailable with 2012 being an Olympic year, which has compressed the calendar. Doubles players Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco also said they may not be ready to step in so regularly, either.

Led by Nadal, the four players have been regulars in Spain's squad and helped it win three titles in the last four years.

Corretja signed a two-year deal on Tuesday to replace Albert Costa, who led Spain to a second title in three years in charge earlier this month. Corretja's first tie will be against Kazakhstan on home clay in Ovideo from Feb. 10-12.

Tenth-ranked Nicolas Almagro and Marcel Granollers are expected to step in to lead the team after playing supporting roles over recent seasons.

"The team will depend on how the players look and how motivated they are," "What I want to see is a lot of desire, that every player wants to be part of this team and be motivated about being part of the best generation in the history of Spanish tennis."

Corretja helped Spain to its first Davis Cup title in 2000 as a player, and the country has gone on to dominate the competition after also winning in 2004.

At least Rafa knows he can't keep playing the same way and hope to defeat Djokovic:

Rafael Nadal admits that he lost a little drive in 2011 because of many years of playing, and says that it's natural. "Over the years you'll lose a little intensity," he said. "You burn with the [amount of] competition. I practically had seven years without losing to the first two [ranked players] and that’s how it works in tennis. It's like when it’s said that I get hurt a lot. I do not get hurt much. It is impossible that I've been hurt a lot. Many people write from an emotional sense and not with pure [facts]. I have had hard times, problems, but not harsh injuries."

Nadal also said that he was too predicable this year and needs to regain the strength in his legs, drive and concentration. "Many times I had the feeling that I had no control of my matches," he said.

The 10-time Grand Slam champion also ran off a long list of things he did wrong against Novak Djokovic, whom he lost to in six finals this year.

"I failed in our first match at Indian Wells, where I should have won because the match was up to me at all times, until I started to play very badly. If I had won that match it would have lessened the anxiety in many other [matches]. In Miami, I got heat stroke, and yet I fought until the end. There was very little [that kept me from winning]. The final that really hurt me was Rome. What have I done wrong? In the third set of the U.S. Open final I went further [inside the court]. I went to my limit and made him go to his limit. I had cramps after the match against [David] Nalbandian, I left the tournament limping ... I took [Djokovic] to the limit. If I'm good in the beginning of the fourth set, we would have seen what would have happened. He was half groggy."

Nadal added that in order to be more successful in 2012, he needs to play inside the court more, be a more overwhelming player and not wait until he plays the top players to be aggressive, so he can get used to playing that way. "From Indian Wells to Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in London, that’s where I have to be my best," he said.

El Pais.

Some interesting comments by Nadal:


In an interview with DPA, Rafael Nadal says that the key to a more successful 2012 will be to rest more and to regain some mental freshness. Nadal won Roland Garros for a sixth time, but lost to current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in six finals.

Nadal also denied that he has serious physical problems. "It’s been mental exhaustion, but I hope to overcome these past months that have not been positive," said Nadal, who added that he has never seen a psychologist and isn’t planning on hiring one. "I've missed a little passion for the game, the intensity of my shots, strength in my legs and mental intensity. The most important thing lacking is the mental strength that leads to everything else… The main thing is to play again with the passion and intensity needed."

Nadal says that while he does not mind analysts saying that his mental strength is his best weapon, "People are very wrong when they say that I am a physical player. There are many people who can run faster than me."

The Spaniard disputed the contention of Boris Becker and other analysts who said that one of the reasons for his losses to Djokovic was that he went cross-court too much to the Serb's backhand, his stronger side.

"That’s too simple," Nadal said. "I don’t believe that. At times this year when I played him I have not been at the level [that I was in the past], and that’s the reality. That my forehand is not harmful to his backhand ... well it hurt him in the past, at Indian Wells, at Miami [where Nadal lost tight three-setters]. I see it more a mental issue. Maybe I hit three shots from the baseline and have been able to last to the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh ... With just three maybe I [wasn’t effective enough], but with more maybe I will be. That's what I have to do next year, not just against him, but also against the whole world."

Nadal added that he began to encounter problems with his serve after the start of the year, has a "coordination complex," and in order to do better in 2012, that he must serve harder and more accurately. He also said that his reflexes slowed in 2011 and he must return to normal.

Tennis Magazine.