Pre-framing his return with that last sentence. Most likely he will be able to play Rotterdam. If they fear a possible backlash from his retirement against Mandy, they may smartly opt to skip it. However, by saying his participation relies on the medical tests, they seem to think that will absolve him i.e. the MRI and the doctor(s) are the scapegoats.

I don't think that Rafa would fake an injury and give up so easily on defending his title and his ranking. He is a fighter, he has come back from worst scorelines before to win a match. I'm sure he felt that something wasn't right with the knee, and as a precaution decided not to push it as he was so far behind in the match, he would have had to put a lot of pressure on it to be able to fight back, and because he persevered playing with pain last year knowing he had a problem with his knees and he paid such a heavy price for it, he may have been over cautious. Once beaten, twice shy, as they say.

I just hope he can come back soon, because he has a lot of points to defend in the first qtr of the year. Andy was the better player on Tuesday, but that doesn't mean that Rafa will never beat him again. After all Rafa thrashed Roger at the French Open in 2008, but Roger has beaten him since.


Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

As usual chr18 with all his crap. Why are you always questioning Rafa's integrity. I think everyone of us can see that he injured his knee during that tie-break. Only a person as blind and as bias as chr18 choose to ignore that. Maybe that has something to do with one's own integrity too!

Your comments chr18 are unfair and unkind.
@ Carrie, Andy was indeed the more confident player as I had expected, he knew that Rafa had not been his best and took advantage like most do nowadays knowing that Rafa has injuries that are permanent almost. Andy was definately stronger mentally. I know doubt that Rafa will get the better of Andy once again on his day and I for one am glad that Rafa chose to retire and save his body from further destruction, he does indeed have alot of points to defend and wants himself fresh for the spring/summer crucs of the season when he can gain alot of ground.
I wish him a strong recovery, tennis is more exciting with Rafa in full flight! Vamos always Rafa!

whatever those ANTI-RATA say WON'T matter AT ALL! They're so negative about this and will STAY that way whatever happens. THEY ARE SO SO AFRAID OF RAFA that in DESPERATION, the're always wishing for him to be INJURED! ,,,,, Because a HEALTHY NADAL will WIPE OUT anyone on his way to the CHAMPIONSHIP,,,, and that includes (with all due respect) the MIGHTY ROGER FEDERER!

chr18, it is true that people with low integrity, are quick to doubt other people's integrity. Trustworthy people have no problem trusting others.


Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

Nadal did exactly the right thing. Also, those first two sets played with he and Murray were by far the best tennis that I've seen at the AO this year.

You have to understand this site is filled with Rafa haters much in the way that people voted blindly for obama and love Federer. So take everything said here with a grain of salt. Weve seen with our own eyes what happens when Rafa is completely healthy.

All you Rafa haters who think Rafa is finished and is sitting with his head in his hands, take a look at the video of Rafa at the airport on his way to Spain. He looks relaxed and is very pleasant to the airport staff, posing for photographs with them.

He'll be back. Life is full of ups and downs, and as long as you accept that, you will pull through the downs.



Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

Sorry, I forget the link:

http://www.nadalnews.com/2010/01/27/jan-27-press-round-up/




Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

carrie and other Rafa fans, do you think that Rafa should undergo a surgery on his knees and fix his problem once and for all? I think Tsonga did go for surgery on his knees and he looks very fit and healthy now. I don't know anything about knee surgery to fix tendinitis problems and do not know whether the problem may come back even after the operation. Its pains me to see Rafa suffering like this and he has to take pain killers so frequently and bear with the pain. This knee issue is holding Rafa back, as I can see that he gets hesitant when running for the ball. The knees issue may affect his serve and his shots too as he may be afraid to exert too much force on his legs.

If his current knee injury is not that serious and rest/treatment can do the job, maybe he should go all out to win the clay and grass events. After that skip the rest of the season and go for an operation, rest and come back next Feb and starts the new season. I think the points he may gain during the clay/grass season should be enough to keep him in the top ten position so that he need not face the other top players in the earlier rounds of tournaments. What do you all think?

I see people are still hating on rafa over here:)
Rafa might be out for a month!
http://www.marca.com/2010/01/28/tenis/1264681216.html

It's really sad,when i come back to read rafa news and the first post is a negative one.
Goodness Chr18,you couldn't wait could you,huh:(

Never-the-less,Rafa fans..everything happen for a reason.If Rafa has to stay out for a month then it's all good.He'll come back on clay and that will help his confidence and he's knees.Then that will help him build his confidence for RG and take wimbledon too.

Let them all fight to be a number in the rankings.The only thing that matters is the person that goes home with the #1 trophy at the end of the year.

Vamos Rafa!!

how is Rafa out for a month bad news?

If he is smart, he will be out until AT LEAST Indian Wells, but preferably the clay-court season.

if he is out for a month that means he will be back for Indian Wells skipping Rotterdam and Davis Cup..i doubt he thinks of playing Dubai, his intention was not to anyway..

the spanish media has it that rafa will be trying to get in shape for indian wells so most probably his comeback tournament will be indian wells.and uncle toni has said that a doctor in australia had told him that the inkury is not a very serious issue (unlike the last year) but now they are waiting what the spanish tennis federation doctor has to say. rafa was supposed to ger inspected on thursday,waiting for the MRI report and further details with anxiety.

This is an excerpt of the link alik kindly provided:

To clarify the diagnosis and extent of the injury, Nadal will take place this afternoon an MRI in the clinic TOP of Barcelona, under the supervision of your doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro. The ultrasound imaging was done in Melbourne at the conclusion of his quarterfinal match with Andy Murray, revealed a tear in the quadriceps tendon. Depending on the amount of broken fibers, the most damaged and the biomechanics of player-for a lefty is worst right leg injury, will establish the final time low. But the reality is that the 30 days of planned Nadal preseason to prepare the hardcourt U.S. tour will become a heavy and lengthy rehabilitation.

chr18 and Solitudine, shame on you for sullying the reputation of a world class professional sportsman and his team for suggesting that he is faking his injury to save face. As I pointed out earlier, you are judging people by your own standards.

I for one don't care what No Rafa is in the rankings; if he needs the time off to get fit so be it. He will always be my No1 player, because no other player is more watchable on the circuit or has ever been in my opinion. Only McEnroe and Edberg come close.

Rafa has done a lot for the game by just being Rafa, and any reasonable person with any integrity will not for one minute think that he was anything other than honourable when he threw the towel in against Murray. People who doubt his trust should look at themselves in the mirror.

luckystar, if yes of course if surgery is the answer then he should go ahead and do it and get it sorted once and for all. A far as the rankings are concerned, it seems to matter little who you have to play in the early rounds. Murray seeded 5 had the easiest passage up to Rd 16 when he faced Isner. I hasten to add that I am not trying to belittle Murrays great run through this tourney, I'm merely saying that a lower ranked player could have easier early rounds because of the luck of the draw.

I agree with Ricky, not much is happening in February anyway, so it's not a bad time to take a month off. At least I will have time to do things other than Rafa watching. Lol


Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

Here is an article I just read on Rafa's injury...I copied the most interesting part..

Nadal's knee problems cloud playing future

The recurring knee tendonitis that prompted Rafael Nadal's retirement from Tuesday night's Australian Open quarter-final against Andy Murray has again clouded his playing future, with a local sports medicine expert predicting the Spaniard could face another period on the sidelines of between three and six months.

As Spanish Tennis Federation doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro prepared to delay his flight to Adelaide for next week's Fed Cup tie against Australia to assess Nadal's troublesome right knee in Barcelona tomorrow, Melbourne doctor Peter Brukner described chronic tendonitis as one of the most difficult sports injuries to treat.

The second seed's title defence ended three games into the third set on Rod Laver Arena with Murray well in control, his movement compromised after a dash to chase down a drop shot late in the second set. Nadal has a long history of knee problems, and was sidelined for nine weeks in the middle of last year, the injury compromising his French Open campaign and keeping the then No.1 out of Wimbledon altogether.

"Tendonitis can be career threatening, certainly," Brukner said. "It might be that this is just a minor flare-up and it settles down reasonably quickly, but the worry is that he might need an extended period out of the game, given that the nine weeks didn't really seem to do the trick. He might need three to six months out of the game.

"Tendonitis can take a long time to treat and that's obviously something that these guys don't tend to have, and the fact that it hasn't responded is a concern. Treatments range from various strengthening exercises, to injections, to surgery, but you obviously try and keep surgery out of it, because the problem is that you're basically out for six months. It's actually almost better to break a bone. The tendon becomes degenerative and you have to start the healing process again because they don't heal by themselves. And you have to hope that they can deal with the incredible loads that the Nadals of this world place on them; tendons aren't designed for these sorts of loads."

Lleyton Hewitt suffers from a similar condition, as do fellow players including Fernando Gonzalez and Gilles Simon, the Frenchman who withdrew before the tournament began. "It comes and goes," says long-time Australian Open physiotherapist Ivan Gutierrez.

So, for Nadal, it has come again ? in slightly different circumstances than before, but with the ramifications still unclear. The next event on the 23-year-old's schedule is the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam from February 8. His press agent, Benito Perez Barbadillo, said Nadal had woken to continuing knee pain yesterday and would have medical tests on his arrival back in Spain before anything more could be determined.

To be honesty Luckystar,I wish Rafa WOULD have an operation and be done with it.He's just 23.take a year off.come back and have a second career.by doing this he could play until he's in his 30's.It must be rough to keep starting and stopping because of and injury.
Woods had surgery on his knee,took a year off and now is fit as a fiddle.and Tsonga too.I wish somehow that he makes this decided.I never said that taking a month off was bad.I would him to stay off until the clay season starts

Thanks Carrie and alik for your response. I also feels that surgery is the best way to solve Rafa's knee problems. If it can really fix the problem, it may lengthen Rafa's career. I think its better than Rafa playing through pain all the time,holding himself back for fear of aggravating the problem and hence affect his performance, and threatening his career. I wonder why the Rafa camp didn't want him to do the surgery, there must be some reasons. Tsonga was absent only a few months from the tours after his surgery; if I'm not wrong, he missed the Fo & Wim 08 and came back for the USO 08. I don't think he took one year off.

As I mentioned, Rafa could skip the rest of the hard court season after Wimbledon; or maybe he could wait till after USO to do the surgery and return next year during the clay season. Anyway I wish well and have a speedy recovery. Rest well Rafa.

As per the article here: http://www.marca.com/2010/01/28/tenis/1264681216.html
Rafa's injury has nothing to do with tendonitis, it's a slight tendon tear. Even though tendonitis can be carreer ending and it does come and go, Rafa and Uncle Tony have both said that his knees have been fine as far as tendonitis goes. Rafa's injury can be pinpointed to one specific situation/movement where he hyperextend his knee (or stopped short?). It's not an overuse injury which builds slowly to the point where you have to take a break. In a month he will be fine...........As for those who think that he is faking his injuries, please stick to the facts.....

I'm clueless medically, but I don't know of a lot of precedent for knee surgery successfully combating tendinitis in tennis players. I know Darren Cahill unsuccessfully attempted to treat his surgically. And there are certainly a lot of player's struggling with it, so I would have thought some would look to surgery if it offered a good chance of removing the pain.

GBG, I think with the advancement of medical science, the success rate may be higher now than during Darren Cahill's time. I also wonder what Simon is going to do with his knee problem. I shall see what action he takes, if he too goes for surgery, then we may have a better idea of how successful knee surgery can be.

We can speculate all we want about Rafa's injury. None of us are doctors. I am confident that Rafa's doctor will do the proper tests and come up with an accurate diagnosis. That is the first step. Surgery would always be the option of last resort. I don't know what the nature of Tsonga's knee problem was, so we don't know that it's analogous to Rafa's problem. Tiger Woods tore a ligament in his knee, so that's a totally different thing. The good thing is that Rafa can walk on the knee. If it was catastrophic, then he wouldn't even be able to do that.

They will have to determine the extent and nature of this problem in the quadricep tendon. It's the exact same area that caused him the problems last year. If it's a slight tear, then they may feel that treatment, rehab and some rest will be enough. If it's something more, then only Rafa's doctor can decide what needs to be done.

Rafa obviously will have to take some time off. I just want him to do what is best for his health. I dearly want him to be ready for the clay season and play at RG.

As for the Rafa haters, well again I can't really say in polite language what I think of them, but let's just say that anyone who has to hate someone they don't even know with that kind of ferocity, has more problems than I do. It's really kind of sad. Hate and anger are a waste of energy and a waste of life. If some want to invest that kind of time in pathological hatred, then they must be miserable in their own lives.

very glad he's feeling optimistic. but i really, really hope he stays out until at least indian wells. much as i'd love to see him before then, it's just not worth aggravating the injury

his facebook status update says he's expecting a diagnosis in the morning and will the relase the info to the media. so i would advise people to take whatever is being said with a pinch of salt. not even rafa knows for sure what the problem is at he moment

if nadal cant win the french open this year, then he is done and dusted.
its over then for nadal.

when nadal loses, he loses very badly, some absolute thrashings. the scoreline is rarely close. once nadal retires he will regret having the worst serve for a former number 1 player ever. that serve is so manufactured, it doesnt look natural at all. it is his single biggest weakness.

if he cant win the french this year then if i was him i would retire. his play on big points is awful, his record against top 10 players is awful, his serving is awful.
he is a mere shadow of his former self, lost his bulk, lost his speed and lost his invincibility.

ATR, Nadal will win FO this year. he will dominate clay season again this year and get back the FO crown.

Calm down, attacking...I think Rafa himself said his goal for this year is primarily the FO title. I know you are upset about his whole situation and it does raise numerous doubts on his career. To be honest I would hate to see Rafa being an average player who is beaten badly by top 10 players. It is a major frustration to him and to all of us who admire him. If that was the case then I would prefer to see him retire. But he is far from being finished! He has and he will find his way back to the top!

True, I am very upset about his injury and I know all his fans are. I wonder if that could have been prevented in some way, if his team had not done a good job on his fitness and training, putting too much pressure on his body...his style of play just makes it worse, but then again if he does not stick to his style, he is easily beaten by top 10 players...if he needs to spend time off recuperating, then he will not be training and I was hoping so much he would be able to work on his serve prior to Indian Wells. And if he will not be able to play matches and build up his confidence, he will again became an easy target once he gets back on the tour.. uh, I hope Uncle Toni has some magic plan on how to resolve these issues...

1st thing to teach a young tennis player is......have a good serve.
2nd thing to teach a young tennis player is......be mentally strong.

if u dont have those 2 things, u cant succeed.

nadal could be out for a month:
http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=157070

Nadal always used to be the most mentally strong player on tour. More than physically his knee injury has taken a lot of toll on him mentally as well.

BUT lets not forget that he has not played on clay (apart from Davis Cup) ever since the injury. He desperately needs clay tournaments to get his form and confidence back. am very sure that this time around he will play it smartly and keep himself in the best of physical condition for the clay season.

Vamos! Rafa

officially out of Rotterdam

best news for Nadal fans since he won the 2009 Australian Open

Rafa has become a quitter. He makes injury a scapegoat now a days in a convincing way. His 6-0 loss to Murray in the third set last year, his act in Australian Open 2010. But how would he defend his slide in the ATP rankings. He should look in the mirror and decide. His days are over.

eskay, join the queue of people who judge other people by their own standards.



Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

So sorry eskay, I meant to say that you have joined the queue of those who judge other people by their own LOW standards.








Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

Clay Season will be Rafa's saviour... It can also be his graveyard because if he doesnt perform there, then ppl are going to say he's over.

He got so many injuries. I think best thing for him is probably take a 1-year break from the Tour and then sort all the injuries out before rejoining.

But I dont think he'll want to do that. He likes to play. But seriously, he should take a very long break. Nvm the rankings. Safin, Agassi all went thru the same thing and came back strong.

relieved he's out of rottterdam, especially as he injured himself there last year

and atul 1985 makes a very, very good point. davis cup was the first time he'd been on clay since may. so six months. and he played brilliantly. there was one point where you could see everything click into place. he hit a brilliant forehand winner down the line at the end of the first set. from then on he was back to normal

we were having such a nice little conv about rafa,then...what is wrong with some of you.why do some people insist on kicking rafa when he's down.Can't you just keep your negative opinions and comments to yourself.How can some of you be so mean.

Thanks Sib69! well you see Rafa feels at home in clay. His forehands when hit with depth are virtually impossible for anyone to attack as they dip, kick and spin prodigiously. He is miles ahead of anyone in clay. Even when he got killed by everyone at the WTF, he was like a completely different player on clay.

Look, the scenario right now is a bit similar to late 2007 and early 2008 when Rafa was consistenly beaten by top 10 players on hard courts. In came the clay season, and then we all know what happened for the rest of the year. The only problem right now is that there are injury concerns. If he stays healthy he will do fine for the rest of the year.

atul is so right, and i wud like to add that dull earlyh 2007 reason too ! nadal was not getting good wins at all and had a long title drought.he was so fired up at indian wells and won it and i remember well when he said ' I am very happy now,I am the same player who you people were blaming that why arent you winning big matches and now look I have won this ...'

Then came the clay season,utter domination once more ! he is a different beast on clay, murray is perhaps the best on hard courts right now and rafa was darn close to beating him in both sets ! 2/15 brk points is pathetic and hurtful,clay will be differnt .JUST PRAY HE STAYS HEALTHY !

alik,

The simple truth is that some people DO have to kick Rafa when he's down. They have nothing better to do with their pathetic little lives. If you are unhappy and feel like you have nothing going for you, what better to do in your spare time than trash a great champion once he is injured? It's unfortunate but there are sick people in this world. All you can try to do is ignore them and think positive thoughts about Rafa recovering as quickly as possible.

The clay season will soon be upon us and we will have much to cheer about with Rafa!