This can only be explained is financial damage control.

He has been told of by T and the accountants that thisis bad for business so here comes the acting....

He took a beatdown at the hands of the Djokers this year ....if 2012 were even remotely close ...thats gone be the final nail in the coffin . We can start expecting retirements ...i dont get how he can come to the WTF tired when he had the most rest . granted he played a hell of a lot of matches this year ...but its not significantly different from 2010 . the main difference is in 2010 , there were no djokovic beatdowns .

Mentally tired, my dear fellow TT posters! Also his fitness was affected this year by illnesses and injuries. Just compare this year with last year, he played almost the same number of matches, same weeks of rest before the WTF, skipping the Paris Masters. The results at the WTF are different because of his mental and physical conditions being different. He reached 9 finals last year, winning 7; this year he reached 10 finals, winning 3. The main difference this year was definitely Nole. So it's not surprising he was mentally more tired, dealing with more defeats this year.

Rafa himself has said in the past, even during one CNN program, that he doesn't foresee himself playing till past 30. I've said in the past that he may play till he's 28 or 29, so whatever you posters want to speculate here, it's nothing new. Rafa himself has also mentioned that he'll play till 28/29, if I get his words correctly in one of his interviews.

lucky,

Don't you know that Rafa does only what Uncle Toni tells him to do? LOL!

You know what this is all about. They will read into Rafa's word what they wish. They want him gone for obvious reasons. I agree with you that Rafa's tough losses to Nole in all those finals took a mental toll on him. But he will be even more determined to come out strong next year.

Let people wish and pray for Rafa to go away and parse every word. We know better! :)

Rafa would have been better off pulling out of the WTF than play half heartedly. He's never been keen on it because he thinks it's too late in the season so he has never really committed to it. I think I'm right in saying that he has only participated in only half of them, considering he has qualified for it in the last 7 years. I just keep my fingers crossed that he gets his spark back. When Rafa is on fire, he is really wonderful to watch.

There were times in the last few years when Roger has been down and even his fans thought he should hang up his racquets, but he has persevered because he is chasing records and I don't think Rafa is bothered about records that's what is missing. If only he would whip up some enthusiasm to improve on his already impressive legacy.

If he plays until he is 30, he's still got the rest of his life to do what he wants. If the ATP could just relax the calendar enough to allow enough rest time and time for the players to have a life, all will be well. Aside from being tired physically, Rafa is tired of the grind, going for place to place throughout the year and not able to enjoy his own hobbies. It's OK for the fans whose hobbies include tennis because we are spoiled to be able induldge for the most part of the year, but it can't be that much fun for the players.


Vamos Rafa

In a way, Rafa's 2011 resembles that of Fed's 2008. Both started the year with illness and it derailed their season in that they missed their usual training period in Feb(Rafa had his thigh injury too to add to the problem); after both have one of their best seasons of winning three slams in a season. Fed also won one slam in 2008 and reached the final of the other two. Fed also did badly in the TMC winning only one match. Fed won four titles but without a Masters. Ranking points wise, based on current way of calculating, Fed has 9080 points and Rafa 9575 points (in 2011).

If Rafa can recover his physical fitness and rediscover his enthusaism he should be fine for 2012. Both Murray and Nole also have their own physical problems to consider. While Fed seems in the best physical condition right now, we can see from the way he played at the WTF that he also had his ups and downs from match to match.

Players outside the top four may also take advantage of the top four's problems. Delpo, Tsonga and Berdych all have being to the final of a slam (with Delpo winning one), so they may make some noises in 2012. I guess 2012 will be a competitive year and if there's one dominant player emerging from the field, I should say that player is really something. My guess is there may not be any dominant player in 2012, but a few players sharing the limelight.

Funny how every thing is alway redirected towards Fed and his 2008 year.

in 2007 Fed had a positive H2H against Rafa. Getting closer and closer to him on clay. It is not beyond any great imagination to think that he would have kept winning atleast the same amount of matches even more matches to close further in their mutual H2H if he not was struck by mono.

Nadal went I believe 4-0 in that year topping it of by winning 2009 AO open. So 5-0 was in a fact the h2h before Roger was totally free and cleared mono which led to back problems which where lack of fitnees etc... As a player you come into some ongoing badflow that obviously led to the h2h against nadal and certainly cost fed dearly in the slam count.
It is not so certain that if fed was not struck by mono that Nadal would have won Wimbly 2008 and given his lesser fitness AU open 2009.

http://gototennis.com/2009/10/27/pierre-paganini-on-roger-federer-as-l ong-as-he-plays-he-will-be-strong/

Paganini goes into the mono year. It is not a myth it was really threatening for his career. You can loko at others who has the mono and see what is become of them year and how the fair with it.

2008 might just be Roger's greatest year in terms of mental strenght and wanting not to fade away. That was orchastred on pure the love and passion for tennis.
So their you have the biggets difference between Nadal 2011 and Rogers 2008 Iit is hardly exciting to know rafa had 500 points more to the board then Rogers 2008 year. It is exciting to know that federer had a career threathening sickness and he fought through that sickness with passion and sheer power of the mind.

sienna, stop deceiving yourself. From the 2007 Wimbledon, it was clear that Rafa was getting cower to beating Fed there. The way Rafa improved in 2008, the Fed of 2007 couldn't beat him at Wimbledon 2008, that's my take. Rafa was reaching his prime in 2008 whilst Fed was nearing the tail end of his prime. Fed was already fortunate that he won the 2007 Wimbledon when Rafa had to have treatemnt to his knees during the final. Fed himself said it the best, that he better won his trophy before Rafa started to win them all. What foresight by Fed!!

The way Rafa played his 2008 FO, his best performance so far, does any sensible person believe Fed had any chance of beating Rafa? Fed wasn't even close to his 2006 Rome level( Fed's best level on clay IMO), what chance did he have in 2008? Not forgetting Fed can't even beat the Rafa of 2006 on clay! Fed's next best level on clay, IMO, was his 2011 FO final, still he can't even beat the Rafa of 2011, a poorer version of Rafa on clay. Stop being in denial.

not 'cower' but 'closer'.

While Fed was tough enough to fight through his 2008 and came back at 2009; so was Rafa. Rafa was injured in 2009, lost his FO crown and missed defending his Wimbledon, still he fought hard and came back strong in 2010 and had his best season in 2010. This year though he lost to Nole time and again, he still fought hard to reach the finals and kept trying against Nole. He's certainly not mentally weak or trying to avoid meeting Nole. I do believe Rafa will come back strong next year, after his year end break and a good rest.

With you on that one luckystar@12.24

No Luckystar. You are wrong about that. I do not take anything away because history cannot be repeated. But it would have been unlickely Fed would have dropped from #1 if he hadnot be struck by the mono. he is proving that the last 3 years. For instance only now Djokovic ios capable of beating Fed so his loss in 2008 semi was actually due to the mono. But what is done is done.
you claim the era of Nadal started in 2008 and Fed only was able to come back while Rafa was injured. Well that is just something. It only was possible for rafa to finally overtake Federer in 2008 because Fed suffered the mono.
You can deny this or get angry that is your normal reaction but it is the most logic explanation to give because Federer has proved he is at a higher level then 2008 at the age of 30.
It also is shown in the win/loss year Fed has had in 2008 15 defeats is the highest higher then following 3 years. So logic would say it was safe to point to an external event to taske place why he had more losse in that year.
But you can go on about your dear Rafa. I just have my own views on the years gone by and on 2012 which will be a cracker year for TMF.

sienna, mono is very serious bussiness. Ancic retired because of it and soderling is out for some months now with it. So I totally agree with you that had federer not suffered from it in 2008 he would have far surpassed sampras' #weeks at #1.

2008 was a combination of federer's level dropping, because of mono, and nadal's level rising.

Rafans, Rafa's on the cover of the latest Spanish edition of Esquire magazine:

http://www.esquire.es/actualidad-noticia/bon-nadal-buena- suerte_298.html

And boy, is he smoking........................please Santa, can I have me a Rafa?

Is this again about Federer and Nadal?

I'll dive into this one... just for the fun:

Nadal has the better H2H, but 54% of their matches are played on Nadal's strongest surface. Only about 15% is played on Federer's best surface, indoors.

Indoors benefits Federer, the purest ball striker and more attacking player. No wind, al lower bounce and a few bad bounces. The ball also travels faster through the air, which also helps putting winners past Nadal. The O2 arena doesn't have a fast hardcourt surface, there are faster hardcourts out there.

Federer takes the ball early, with a small margin for errors. Also his small racket head doesn't give him much margin. Outside, there are more factors in play. The wind changes the flight, the ball bounces higher, the bad bounces are more frequent and the ball travels less fast through the air. Resulting into shanking, which we didn't see during the WTF.

This plays more in favor of Nadal, who hits the ball a fraction later then Federer. This gives him a little bit time to adjust and play a safer shot. Nadal has more margin in his play... thus playing outside gives him an advantage. And the clay also gives him an advantage.

That doesn't mean that Federer can't play outdoors, but in the top of the game... the margins are thin!

If the clay were to be replaced with indoor tennis on a hardcourt... Federer would probably lead 12-2 on that surface. It plays into his strengths and nullifies Nadal's... and with clay it is the other way around. You can also see in their H2H that outside tennis favors Nadal....

Clay 12-2 in favor of Nadal (14 meetings)
Grass 2-1 in favor of Federer (3 meetings)
Hardcourt (outside) 4-1 in favor of Nadal (5 meetings)
Hardcourt (indoor) 4-0 Federer (4 meetings)

I do hope Nadal gets his groove back... tennis is more fun to watch when Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray play well!

Clearly Fed's mono was a mild one. Just look at Ancic and Sod, theirs were more serious, so much so that they had to miss a big chunk of the tours. Worse for Ancic, his was recurring so much so that he had to quit tennis. How can we compare Fed's to the likes of Ancic?

Yes Fed was obviously affected by mono but why don't you go and check his results? Other than the AO, he did better than his 2007 at IW/Miami; won Estoril, reached the final of MC and Hamburg ( almost same results as 2007 except that he won Hamburg in 2007); did better in Rome than in 2007 reaching QF instead of the 3rd round. How can a player affected by mono played better than his previous year? Clearly by the clay season his mild strand of mono was more or less cleared. His defeats at the hands of Rafa at RG and Wimbledon were due to Rafa's rise in his level and Fed's drop in his level. However, just compare the Rafa of 2008 to the level of Fed at 2007, we can see that Rafa at 2008 would beat that Fed of 2007 at both RG and Wimbledon. (dont forget Rafa in 2007 had already ran Fed close at Wimbledon, Fed had to rely on his good serves and won two sets in tie breaks). Now, if Fed didn't have mono in 2008, would he be playing better than his 2007? I seriously doubt so; clearly his 2007 was worse than his 2006, and there's no reason to believe that had he not had mono, he would suddenly improved in 2008 to be better than his 2007.

Now sienna's claim that Fed was playing better in 2011 than his 2008, what nonsense! On clay and on grass, he was obviously better in 2008. On outdoor hard courts, he was also better in 2008 by virtue of him winning the USO. It's only at the indoor hard courts that Fed was better in 2011 than in 2008. I believe in 2008 Fed suffered some back problems and he lost two matches in the RR stage of the TMC. Just imagine Fed had back pain now, would he still be able to win the WTF??

I cannot believe that anyone would come on here after all of the endless accusations about Rafa and his fans making excuses about injuries or illness, and seriously try to say that Fed lost to Rafa in RG and Wimbledon in 2008 because he had mono! That is so insulting that I don't know whether or laugh or cry! Outrageous!

If Fed fans can't face reality when Rafa beats Fed, then that is their problem. The rest of the world knows that Fed was beaten fair and square and no excuses!

Last year Davis cup victory gave Nole the confidence to become his better self ever and have a stellar year. Let's see how Spain does against Argentina and if the title goes to the Armada, if it has the same magic effect on Rafa for 2012.
Vamos!

Well the 2009 DC final victory also helped to propel Rafa's 2010 into a stellar year for him. It seems to me that Rafa needs all these ups and downs in his career to motivate him to do better. After his disastrous 2009, his 2010 was about redemption at the FO, and beating both Sod and Fed on clay, reclaiming his 'king of clay' title and the no.1 ranking. Also to reclaim his Wimbledon title which he was unable to defend in 2009. The career slam at the USO was an additional bonus, though it was obviously one of Rafa's career goal, as no one expected the USO title for Rafa after what he had been through in 2009.

Come 2012, it's about redemption time again, this time it's about one particular player -Nole. It's as if Rafa lives for all these, to prove time and again that he can overcome adversities in order to achieve greatness in his career. If his career is smooth sailing, I guess he might feel bored about it, as he strives on competition more than anything else. To him, the fruits of his labor taste that much sweeter if he puts in all his efforts. Rafa is a hard working boy!

Yes if Rafa was to talk this talk he would do the walk. But he showed us his true colours and those where not colorfull indeed.
They where grey cloudy and trublesome. A DC win would not at all give Rafa the rest(Mind) he needs to get his mojo back. It is not a reset button you can put a puin in to set the machine again.
I feel given his many losses this year that it will not bode well for his career.
Losing faith, losinbg hearth , losing passion is the utmost crime of a tennis player. There is only 1 thing certain with an all time great and that is their full an utmost comitment to the game. Rafa showed and told us his true colours.

He will have his work cut out to retain his Garros title.

Rafa's words were taken out of context by people like sienna. People like sienna certainly hoped for Rafa to lose interest in tennis and retire early, so that Fed's slam record remains intact. Rafa is here to stay, at least for another two to three years, enough for him to make further impact and let some fans of other players wary of him a little longer.

Fans of Rafa know him too well, that the more difficult the task at hand, the more competitive he becomes. If I were people like sienna, I would rather hope for Rafa to have a smooth career, get bored and goes away; rather than seeing him facing obstacles after obstacles, for each time after he overcomes an obstacle, he'll get stronger and better and scales new height; 2010 is a typical example. I expect 2012 to be better than 2011, may be better than 2008, or first half of 2009 or even better than 2010. We shall see, it's anyone's guess, until things unfold nobody can say who's right or who's wrong, so spare us those comments that 'Rafa fans are in denial' crap if anyone is thinking of posting them, and patiently wait for things to unfold in 2012.

We shall see what 2012 brings.... I think Nadal will be fine in 2012.

If you look at his career... Nadal does the most damage untill Wimbledon. After Wimbledon he hardly reaches finals or wins titles. This year showed the same pattern.

It seems that Nadal is at his best in the first half of the year.

Yep, after his break through year 2005, where he won three hard courts and two clay titles after Wimbledon, he hardly won anything after Wimbledon, until one of his best years 2008. From then he won titles after Wimbledon in even years, 2008 & 2010. Let's see whether 2012 will turn out like 2008 or 2010.

so funny how you people hold belief in looking at patterns or results happening years ago.
2012 will probably turn out to be like... 2012 . Is that strange? No it is notbecause there is never a status quo in tennis.
The only thing a player can do is try to learn from past years and for me it seems lik Fed is the one who does that the best.
He doesnot look back but only ahead. So that is why he is eager to implement all the richt choices for making 2012 a succesful year.
It is absurd to think the odd years are for Nadal unsuccesfull and the even years are succesfull. That is just so undeniably stupid that I am at a total loss for such illogic reasoning. But bthat would not stop me posting my comments to point these stupid and childlike thoughts you have about Rafa and his domination. LMAO

have a good one this afternoon. They probably flooded the courts to keep the courts the slowest in history. I am sure the mathces will be grueling annoying and I'll keep in check on TT to see how TPO is doing.

Luckystar, in 2008 he won the olympics and the mastertournament in Canada after Wimbledon and never made another final after Wimbledon.

2011: Reached the final of Tokyo and the US Open after Wimbledon
2010: Won Tokyo and the US Open after Wimbledon and reached the WTF final
2009: Reached the Shanghai final
2008: Won the olympics and the Canada masters
2007: Won Stuttgart
2006: Nothing after Wimbledon

You already mentioned 2005!

For me, it could be explained:

- He doesn't play much tournaments after Wimbledon
- He's burned out after Wimbledon and can't sustain his level
- Playing indoors gives Nadal more trouble

I think he'll be fine in 2012, but if his game has regressed or he's stilling not finding his groove... it will be shown in his clay season. This year he wasn't that dominant during the clay season:

- Djokovic handing him 2 defeats, when he was on a tear
- Nadal had a lot of trouble during the RG-final with Fed, the first 3 sets were very close contested. Normally he doesn't have a lot of trouble with Fed on clay.

But they all have about a month rest. So they can recuperate, adjust their game en find their confidence again. Can't wait for the 2012 tennis year!!!

Only a non Rafa fan won't understand Rafa. As mentioned, Rafa strives on competition and problem solving. First in 2009 he had his injury and therefore his down time, so 2010 was his come back year. This year he faced another problem in Nole, so his season wasn't that great. Knowing Rafa, next year will be his come back year again. It not solely odd or even years, it's just that he happened to have a bad year in 2009, happened to be an odd number year, and this year also is an odd number year, simple as that. Do note that 2005 was an odd number year, but it's his break through year!

Rafa needs all the challenges to keep him motivated; he's not like Fed. Fed always enjoys basking in his own glory, alright if there're challenges, no challenge, doesn't matter too, as long as he can showcase his brilliance.

Luckystar... I do think every athlete needs competition and challenges. That was makes them better! As far as motivation concerned... what more motivation does one need? Nadal can:

- Achieve his own goals in tennis
- Enjoy his fans and the crowd
- Compete with very good players
- Winning big prizes
- Make a fabulous living out of it
- Love of the game
- Try to break records

And why talk Federer down? He's trying to achieve some personal goals, perhaps break some records and plays because he just loves tennis.

As far as 2012 concerned.. let's see how that year will unfold. It's all speculation en predictions based on hope or a gut feeling! And my gut feeling is telling me that Tsonga and del Potro (when injury-free) will be challenging the top 4! I think they'll be the #5 and #6 player next year, perhaps with one of them winning a slam.

Bonker, when did I talk Fed down? Please read carefully what I wrote. The fact that you question me about Rafa and his motivation tells me that you don't really understand Rafa.

Fed always enjoys basking in his own glory, alright if there're challenges, no challenge, doesn't matter too, as long as he can showcase his brilliance.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds to me that you're thinking that Federer is a narcist, who enjoys showing to everyone that he is brilliant.

And indeed, I don't understand Nadal. I don't know what goes on in his head, or in anyone else his head. I can only guess...

Bonker,

The word is "narcissist". Why put words in people's mouths? If lucky wants to describe him that way, then she will.

Oh, and we don't need you to know what goes on in his head or understand him.

Nativenewyorker,

thank you for the correction, in my native language the wrd is narcist and I didn't know the English word.

I don't want to put words in peoples mouth, I just said how I interpreted. I'm happy to be corrected.

And you're correct, you don't need me to understand him. I don't... The few persons who can, are probably the closest to him.