Rafa Reported Out of the French Open

[jimlosaltos]

According to Relevo, is a sports website written in Spanish and based in Madrid, Rafael Nadal will announce tomorrow (or perhaps today 4 pm his local time?) that he is forced to withdraw from Roland Garros.

Per machine translation,

Rafael Nadal misses Roland Garros.
The Balearic tennis player has not recovered from his injury and will not be able to attend the tournament that he has won 14 times.
At the moment, he has no return date.
By Nacho Encabo

https://www.relevo.com/tenis/roland-garros/nadal-jugara-roland-garros-20230517180042-nt.html

x

[jimlosaltos]

Relevo cover

filedata/fetch?id=100794&d=1684343328&type=thumb

[stroke]

I would say the greatest achievement ever in sports, Nadal's dominance clay court tennis since 2005, is officially over. I just think this was his last chance. He is just done at 14. Well, I guess big picture, whether he wins 14 or 15 is not a big deal historically. Joking aside, it appears the road is clear for Novak to end up with the most GS's of the 3 great ones.

[arturohernandez]

I would say the greatest achievement ever in sports, Nadal's dominance clay court tennis since 2005, is officially over. I just think this was his last chance. He is just done at 14. Well, I guess big picture, whether he wins 14 or 15 is not a big deal historically. Joking aside, it appears the road is clear for Novak to end up with the most GS's of the 3 great ones.

The road is open for Novak. But...

There are the new big 3 lurking in the background. Mind you, I don't think the new big 3 will be like the old big 3. But the current new big 3 are Alcaraz, Rune and Sinner. Ruud looked great last year but not so sure this year. Playing five sets against them at any point in time in a GS will be a tall task.

They have all won plenty of matches under many different conditions. The fear is gone and the willingness and physicality to stay at top form for a long match is there.

Novak has hung on to his longevity for a long time. Can he keep doing it?

I am like a good economist who has predicted 9 of the last 5 recessions. I have predicted 5 of his last 2 grand slam losses.

Economist keep getting paid to get it wrong. I am not paid. Can I keep doing it anyway?

[stroke]

https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Rafael_Nadal/132765/breaking-news-rafael-nadal-withdraws-from-roland-garros/

[jimlosaltos]

https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tenni...roland-garros/

Headline's a tad misleading since the article repeats the rumor "should" announce tomorrow. Regardless, sad news even if inevitable.

[jimlosaltos]

The road is open for Novak. But...

There are the new big 3 lurking in the background. Mind you, I don't think the new big 3 will be like the old big 3. But the current new big 3 are Alcaraz, Rune and Sinner. Ruud looked great last year but not so sure this year. Playing five sets against them at any point in time in a GS will be a tall task.

They have all won plenty of matches under many different conditions. The fear is gone and the willingness and physicality to stay at top form for a long match is there.

Novak has hung on to his longevity for a long time. Can he keep doing it?

I am like a good economist who has predicted 9 of the last 5 recessions. I have predicted 5 of his last 2 grand slam losses.

Economist keep getting paid to get it wrong. I am not paid. Can I keep doing it anyway?

I predicted Dominik Thiem would win a French Open title, yet I continue to post. So why not you? <g>

[jimlosaltos]

Coverage:

Rafael Nadal is taking a long period off from tennis and hopes to return next year as possibly his last on the ATP.

“My ambition is to try to stop to give myself an opportunity to enjoy next year. It’s probably gonna be my last year on the tour. I can’t say 100%.”

“I don’t know when I will be able to come back to the practice court, but I will stop for a while,” he said. “Maybe two months. Maybe one month and a half. Maybe three months. Maybe four months. I don’t know. I’m not the guy who likes to predict the future but I am just following my personal feelings and just following what I really believe is the right thing to do for my body and for my personal happiness.”

"The idea is to stop and try to see if my body begins healing over the next few months by stopping my training load altogether. Then, when I feel ready, we will return and will manage things as best we can.

No explanation has been given for why his posas injury, which typically takes 4-6 weeks for recovery, is not responding to rest and rehab. Coverage in NYT, and The Telegraph, ESPN with video of Rafa.

Comebacks in any sport are difficult but tennis' ranking system, which is designed to reward constant play in tournaments and punish part-timers, makes them even more difficult. As rankings fall during an absence, players have to play more matches and play against a more difficult field in early rounds -- just as they are trying to rediscover their form.

Here's hoping Rafa gets the good send-off he deserves. I recall what a tearful Fed, surrounded by cheering fans and sobbing players said after his Laver Cup swan song, from memory: "I lost my last individual match, my last doubles match, and my team lost here. But I couldn't be happier."

Links:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/sports/tennis/nadal-withdraws-french-open.html?smid=url-share

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2023/05/18/rafael-nadal-press-conference-french-open-2023/

https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=37677551

#Tennis

[jimlosaltos]

Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios is also going to miss Roland Garros because of an injury -- incurred after a car theft.

Only, Nick, the ATP's Jester-in-Chief ....

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/37673762/kyrgios-forced-miss-french-open-hurting-foot-robbery-agent

[stroke]

Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios is also going to miss Roland Garros because of an injury -- incurred after a car theft.

Only, Nick, the ATP's Jester-in-Chief ....

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/...y-agent

The fawning continuous media coverage of this idiot just makes him worse. All these players and fans have a negative take on Rune, yet Nick gets a pass. And Rune actually cares about his job and wants to be his best.

[stotty]

Such a shame Rafa is out of the contest. I though he had one more left in him. I had this year's FO down as fairly open in terms of who could win it, but it is now wide open. There are so many good clay-courters out there.

I am going with Alcaraz, hotly pursued by Novak...and then a host of others.

[jimlosaltos]

Such a shame Rafa is out of the contest. I though he had one more left in him. I had this year's FO down as fairly open in terms of who could win it, but it is now wide open. There are so many good clay-courters out there.

I am going with Alcaraz, hotly pursued by Novak...and then a host of others.

Hard to handicap when we (or at least I) have no idea how serious Djokovic's elbow injury is.

Djoko is a bit like Andy Murray, after a bad point both look like they're on death's bed. Win a point and they heal miraculously.

Makes it hard to recognize a real injury. But Djokovic certainly looked troubled, paused the Rune match to take painkillers. And, my amateur diagnosis, any time a joint that required surgery is re-injured it is serious.

[stotty]

Hard to handicap when we (or at least I) have no idea how serious Djokovic's elbow injury is.

Djoko is a bit like Andy Murray, after a bad point both look like they're on death's bed. Win a point and they heal miraculously.

Makes it hard to recognize a real injury. But Djokovic certainly looked troubled, paused the Rune match to take painkillers. And, my amateur diagnosis, any time a joint that required surgery is re-injured it is serious.

Yep, hard to tell with Novak. Only he knows.


Rafael Nadal: Why Spaniard's absence from French Open is hard to imagine even now it's happening: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/65633576

[arturohernandez]

I predicted Dominik Thiem would win a French Open title, yet I continue to post. So why not you? <g>

Maybe this is his year!

[jimlosaltos]

Maybe this is his year!

Hah! One can dream