Does Nadal Fake Injuries?

[bman]

I, for one, am tired of him always entering a tournament complaining of an ailment, then playing phenomenal tennis the whole tournament with no sign of a problem. This knee thing is the last straw for me. He seems like a great guy, but my guess is there is something going on here. Thoughts?

[stotty]

Not faking

Nadal does not fake injuries. He has had career threatening injuries in the past which have made him hyper-sensitive towards his body...even slight injuries seem to stress him out because he fears they might turn into something worse. Anyone who knows someone who gets repeatedly injured will be familiar with this scenario...it's how people turn into hypochondriacs.

I really don't think he is faking his injuries. He does use gamesmanship, however. And I do think he is guilty of taking himself too seriously at times.

[jbill]

gamesmanship - injury

I remember a match between Nadal and Federer about three or four years ago at the Hamburg Masters where Federer was up and rolling something like 5-1 in the 1st set and Nadal called out the trainer for some kind of supposed thigh problem. Well, after the extra time on the change of ends due to the trainer attending to Nadal, Federer promptly lost his rhythm, the set and the match. And that's why Nadal did it in my opinion, to make Fed lose his rhythm, to cool him off. it was a case of pure gamesmanship cause it sure didn't appear that there was anything wrong with Nadal physically in this match. So, in my opinion, Nadal certainly isn't immune from faking an injury in order to win a match. On the other hand, I really don't believe Federer has ever resorted to that kind of thing; he doesn't want to win that way.

[don_budge]

Bears?

Do bears poop in the woods?

[bman]

Jill...do you remember Fed dominating Nadal 5-2 in the first set of the French Open last year, then the mysterious injury timeout, then Fed loses the set 7-5?

How about the timeout vs. Del Potro last year at Wimbledon, when Delpo clearly had the momentum?

[jbill]

Yeah, Bman. That's exactly what I'm talkng about. Nadal isn't afraid to use that kind of gamesmanship to win a match. He loses my respect when he pulls that kind of stuff.

Jim Bill

[johnyandell]

I agree that he is a master gamesman. I've said it for years actually!

Check out the "tactics" in the 2007 French.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/notes_on_tour/john_yandell/french_open_2007/french_open_2007.html

Think a hint of how Rafa really is also came out in the Oscar B. serve controversy.

[GeoffWilliams]

Let's look at him: Always makes the other guy wait, and always goes on court behind him. Always arranges his watter bottles "just" so. Yanks at his butt a lot. Was listed on the spanish doctor paper work as one of the ped clients. A psych master without comparison. A momentum breaker without parallel. His game is more than just topspin and slice. http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blog...ael-nadal.html

[jbill]

Doping

Geoff,

Thanks for the reference to the article about the strong possibility of Nadal doping. I enjoyed reading it. The author makes a strong case. I would say there is more likelyhood that Nadal is doing it than not. The pressure to win is huge in all professional sports these days. It would be kind of ironic if he actually was doping. The media makes Nadal out to be a "man of such polite and gracious character".

Jim Bill

[stotty]

With regards to Nadal and the drug accusations.

You're innocent until proven guilty, I'm afraid. There is NO factual evidence that Nadal takes performance enhancing drugs...only speculation.

I have said this before and I'll say it again. You don't need performance enhancing drugs for tennis. You can get as fit as you need to be to play even the most vigorous rallies. Tennis is a stop/start game with plenty of time to rest and regain your breath back...you even get to sit down at changeovers. It's very easy physically compared to, say, running a marathon or cycling...where it's a drone... and about getting from A to B non-stop as fast as you can...drugs can play a huge part in sports like this.

As for gamesmanship, this is down to the sport itself to deal with, which it can do in several ways.

* No towelling down between points
* No bathroom breaks...perhaps 1 break for a 5 set match
* No trainers allowed oncourt during matches
* Only allow 15 seconds between points...
* Disallow any other activity that breaks up play

Trainers and toilet breaks are the worst offenders on the list. I have never seen Federer take a toilet break or request a trainer. Nadal seems to call on these loopholes all the the time.

The game has the power to deal with gamesmanship...and it should.

[bman]

I think its foolish to say that performance enhancing drugs can't help in tennis. They can keep you going without fatigue in 5 set matches and help you recover more quickly in between matches. If there was no benefit, nobody would do it. (And some people have been caught, so you know it exists).

[don_budge]

Foolish or Naive...

With Stotty it's more an issue of naivety...he is too willing to give these million dollar babies the benefit of the doubt. Plus some cycling friend of his told him... Of course PED's enhance the skills of tennis players...it is arguably the most athletic endeavor on the planet.

So many athletes in so many different sports have been caught "doping". The amount of money involved has a lot of influence regarding judgement. Your point about the endurance factor is of course one of the key points with regards to performance enhancing drugs. Apparently some drugs enhance eye to hand coordination as well. The designer drugs of today are getting tougher and tougher to detect...the users can stay a step ahead of the testers.

Tiger Woods is an interesting story for instance. If you see pictures of him when he was younger he was a skinny fellow and now he is ripped like a NFL cornerback...who are probably all on some sort of "medication" as well. Immediately after Tiger's fiasco scandal he went into some therapy program and probably got all cleaned up from his PED's as well...at any rate his performance went into a tail spin. But recently his performance has picked up and judging by his appearance in recent pictures he has once again beefed up his body.

Nadal certainly looked like he was on something in the Australian Open final. The look on his face was rather maniacal even late in the fifth. Both players had super human endurance and it sort of makes you wonder where it comes from. Look at the definition on Djocovic's body...is that the product of the glutan free diet? Spare me...I am not so inclined to give these guys a free pass although the innocent until proven guilty is an admirable motto. Someday somebody is going to do some singing.

[stotty]

Nadal...PEDs, innocent or guilty...

I have taken plenty of flak before over my position that I think Nadal is a drug-free athlete...naive...foolish...call me whatever... I don't mind and can understand others' viewpoints on the matter. "We all see life thru different spectacles"...as Marlon Brando put it.

I read again parts of the article Geoff kindly posted a link to in post 8. The author of the article puts the improvement of Nadal's serve (presumably in 2010) down to PEDs because he finds such improvement "inexplicable by natural means". I think we can at least agree unanimously that Nadal's improved serve was down to technical advancement and not PEDs...and it IS explicable by natural means...it's called coaching. It does bring into question the validity of the author, however...seeing something that isn't there because he wants to...we've all done that...perhaps I'm guilty of the same in trying to vindicate Nadal.

If we were to break down the Aussie final, I wonder how much time was actually spent striking balls in rallies? Once you take away the 30 seconds between points, the sit down at changeovers, and all the other delay features in the match, the playing time will certainly be far shorter than 5 hours 53 minutes. I'm not saying it's isn't tiring playing a match like that...but you know what I'm driving at.

Can I finish by turning the debate on its head? Can someone tell me that it is physically impossible to do what Nadal is doing by natural means? And why doesn't Federer stand accused of the same crime? He is just as quick (almost) and fit...and never looks remotely tired...sure, he floats, glides...but it's still very physical what he's doing out there...and there's never a bead of sweat on the guy...even under the 35c Aussie sun...and he recovers from long matches very quickly too

Recovery time is the one thing that is questionable over Nadal...and Djokovic come to that. How Djokovic recovered so perfectly after his match with Murray does take some explaining. But then again can someone tell me that it is physically impossible to do what Djokovic is doing by natural means?

Nadal, Djokovic and Federer all have great physiques. Nothing special in a muscular sense... just well-built men. You don't have to be on PEDs for that.

[bman]

Serena is quite unusual.

[jbill]

That's a great one-liner, Bman. It really made me chuckle. I have to admit the same thought crossed my mind about Serena before you stated it.

Jim Bill