I'm glad these guys are moving on, they've brought three Davis Cups to Spain in the last four years. When was the last time that happened? It also gives guys like Granollers and other young players a chance to play for their country. Job well done to this Armada.

Good decision by Rafa...............it's time to move on.................and in any case he will be gunning for bigger glory for Spain, Olympic Singles Gold!!!!

nadal is 25 not 24 as the article states. And please people, I've been asking for a long time, update the photos/pictures.

bleck - we only have so many photos of Nadal in his Davis Cup garb. Unless you were in Madrid this weekend and want to donate some, that is.

Bleck, not really surprised that you want more pictures of rafa but try and be a bit less transparent with your nadal love. Wouldn't want fed fans excluding you from their " all we won in 2011 is a glorified masters tournament but we're still going to party likes it's 2006" themed party!

Always knew you were a closet Rafan, bleck.

nadline, I'm not rest assured.

Cheryl, Ok, I can see that the davis cup photos might be scarce. But I've seen some pretty old ones in other threads.

http://tennistalk.com/en/news/20111128/Tsonga_facing_short_turnaro und_for_2012

Tsonga has had short hair for a while now.

http://tennistalk.com/en/news/20111204/Nadal_can_clinch_Davis_ Cup_against_Del_Potro_

Why put a photo of AO 2009 (I think) in a davis cup related thread.

Bleck, I know what you mean. There was a blog about Federer and Nole this year with a picture of Federer and Wawa at the Olympics?????? I also pointed out the irrelevance of the picture to the subject matter and it was changed.

I totally agree that if they are going to put pictures at all, then they should be meaningful. A thing worth doing is worth doing well.

@Nadline
The Djokovic photo is pretty old as well.

ps: great work and allways nice articles here, btw!

We have plenty of updated photos, but they all go into the same database with the rest of the pics to choose from when posting an article. We use a photo service. However, sometimes the wrong photo gets clicked on (as in the case of the Wawrinka/Federer Olympic pose. I meant to choose a different photo. it was a simple error), and sometimes the author of the article simply chooses an older photo for a little variety.

Thanks for the input.

If it's input your encourageing then I'd like to say I agree with Nadline and Bleck. It's a little disconcerting to see pictures from 3-4 years ago to events that are happening now. The stories in tennis change so quickly and it just seems to take away a little credibility or meaning of a story when the pictures are so outdated. The picture of Nadal you have here no longer reflets who he is today.

I love those shots of Rafa in his Spanish finery. Bring back the sleeveless, by all means. :-)

For all who are annoyed b/c they feel there are insufficient current photos, here is a lovely family shot, taken just this weekend.

http://s7.postimage.org/u0x2stqrd/Fullscreen_capture_12520 11_121519_PM_bmp.jpg

What a delightful picture. Thanks mara.

Rafa and his sister have certainly been blessed with good looks.

Rafa retired from DC tennis. Wow That realy shows how he feels about the event.
A player would never retire from slams or WTF when he is not injured.
And I mean retire for the rest of his career.

This is just another sign of rafa not being able to keep up with the elite standard.
Do not think he will return to the event come 2013. Already he exlained it is good for Spain the next batch of players will play DC. So he will not be taking court again for DC unless he makes a final fairwell for his fans.

"This is just another sign of rafa not being able to keep up with the elite standard."

At least Rafa has played DC for several years and WON for Spain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How many times has Fed played DC and won?!!!!!!!!!!!

Speak up Sienna.......................I cant hear you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did Rafa say that he'll retire from DC? I don't think so, he mentioned that he won't participate next year because it's an Olympics year, but he'll consider in the future years. Sienna again fanning the wrong fire! Also helping one's nation to win the DC certainly puts one into an elite group, as NOT every player is able to do that! So credit to both Rafa and Ferrer, the DC heros, being involved in so many cup winning DC matches! Well done to both!

The only reason Roger travelled half way round the world to play in a DC match was to qualify for the olympics..............it's all to do with me, me, me, as far as Federer is concerned. Most of the time wild horses couldn't get him to a DC match.

This lady is obsessed about Rafa ..its a sign of danger for her own stability and mental makeup..

I have not seen such an obsessive craze for someone you so much dislike..multiple posts on multiple threads for sumone you dislike..Is this a first? I mean imagine posting 10 times more about a person you dislike than someone you adore..

God bless her to get well soon!!! Thank God Rafa doesnt stay in Netherlands ..

I read on another tennis site that Fed has confirmed he will play DC next year! Talk about impeccable timing!!!! Fed knows that:

1. He does not have a sniff at Slams any more;
2. He does not have a sniff at Singles Olympic Gold;
3. His only sure Masters trophy is at the WTF;

..............so why not sneak into the DC schedule in 2012 when all serious challengers will give it a miss to concentrate on stuff that matter, Slams and Olympic Gold? This will be his only chance to win DC!!!!

Hahahahahaha..........................can't help being transparent, can Fed?

Exactly RITB! He is now only capable of scrapping the floor for the crumbs. Gotta feel sorry for the guy.

jean you better not try to speak about tennis. History or the current affairs. You are totally at a loss. Stick to bashing Fed and his fans.

You just admitted that DC is a crumble and that was just what I told last week. So thank you for acknowledging this fact and for stating with that that the real major price was the WTF. You incredible dodo. You ar so dumb and full of hate that you did not even notice this claim you were stating.
But we will take it DC is nothing but Carnaval and wioth Fed entering can only be seen as he wants a funevent along the way to his glorious 2012 TMF year.

If Rafa was such a hopeless lost cause in tennis no one would spend sooooooooo much time talking about him. Some of his detractors think of nothing else but Rafa's career. To be consumed by someone you 'hate' must take it's toll on your health.

Thank you Nadaline.It is no hate or antthing. It is just the nuance. It is the voice of reason you galls are not capable to hear. I know it is a dirty job but someone has gotto do it. Little by little I can see the change in some off the postings. So I am doing a great job.

Sometimes I'll need to defend Fed or myself so I am glad that this has not been unnoticed by you.

Exactly RITB! He is now only capable of scrapping the floor for the crumbs. Gotta feel sorry for the guy.
jean
, 12/9/11 5:24 AM

And here's the rub, @jean....................after Rafa announced that he would not be participating in DC 2012, the blogosphere was abuzz with Fedfans congratulating Rafa for taking a page out of Fed's palybook by not over-playing.....

So, now that Fed IS playing DC 2012 in a crowded schedule (with the olympics in the mix), I am waiting to hear the same Fedfans congratulate Fed for taking a leaf out of Rafa's playbook by.........................over-playing!!!

I am not holding my breath................

Sienna
, 12/9/11 9:33 AM

nuance? Darling, you woudn't know it if it sat on your face.........................

rafaisthebest, "1. He does not have a sniff at Slams any more;
2. He does not have a sniff at Singles Olympic Gold;
3. His only sure Masters trophy is at the WTF;"

It'll be very tough for you to swallow your words come 2012. Ypu better prepare for it. I won't forget what you said when/if Roger wins a slam, a masters and/or olympic gold.

Good luck.

Okay bleck, you're on!! I promise not to choke IF I have to eat humble pie, and you have my permission to shove it down my throat if it ever comes to pass.........

However, I have a feeling I won't have to suffer that indignity, for some reason.............................


Here's to a cracking 2012!!!!

^^^^ Just to be on even terms. Nadal won't win AO, Wimbledon and the US Open. Also he'll end 2012 with less # titles won than Roger. And should he meet with Djokovic on FO he'll lose.

So you can "shove it down my throat" if any of the above doesn't happen.


P.S.: Maybe we'll end up shoving each other throats. lol

Everyone knows that there is a rivalry between Nadal and Federer, so it's not surprising that both sets of fans come out fighting for their man which results in trying to put the opposition in the worst light possible. We all do it, but the cruel and bitter criticisms of Rafa by some Fedfans goes far beyond what could be seen as normal.

It is not normal for 99% of a Fedfan's posts are vitriolic attacks on Rafa. Rafans mainly write about him, about their joys and concerns about his career, they don't go out of their way to beat Roger on the head day in day out with nasty comments and unsubstantiated allegations just to make their idol look good. Both Roger and Rafa have a lot to be proud of in their various careers, no one can take anything from them.

If Roger was the King of Clay, his fans would be making out that clay is the best surface ever, simply because Rafa is, they try and belittle the surface.

Fed winning more titles than Rafa? It's already happened this year, but it's winning the big title that's more important! Just ask Fed which he preferred, a slam or the WTF?? Imagine Nole winning 10 titles but only one slam, whilst Rafa winning three titles but all are the slams, which does a player prefers?

luckystar
, 12/9/11 12:48 PM

Don't worry Lucky................Fedfans are on a hiding to nothing come 2012. Why do u think Fed is committing to DC 2012 when none of the big guns are? The guy is already throwing in the towel before the bell rings!

I fear for Fedfans, you see, they do not handle disappointment very well..........

Time will tell who will eat humble pie in 2012..may the best player win..

I can only hope its Rfa..finally Rafa will have to do the job on his own..

sienna, don't make me laugh! Rafa was sick at the beginning of the year. He was injured during the AO. He also injured his foot during his match with Delpo at Wimbledon. His foot took longer than expected to heal after Wimbledon hence it affected his training schedule after Wimbledon and before the USO. That explained why Rafa wasn't at his best this year and hence the number of losses. To say that Rafa was fine the whole year was simply ridiculous. Please do not twist the facts to support your case, we don't buy into that. You simply want to argue for the sake of arguing. Go enjoy your Christmas instead of wasting your time here perpetuating the same old story!

rafaisthebest, 12/9/11 9:41 AM

No RITB, that's not taking a pg out of Rafa's book. Apparently that's passion and hunger according to the tard.

------------------------

Little by little I can see the change in some off the postings. So I am doing a great job. Sienna, 12/9/11 9:33 AM

Pat yourself on the back while praising yourself because no one else is doing it.

O yes Rafa is according to Rafafans record holding Garros champion!
He is got three masters titles in 2011
He only loses when he is sick or injured
Roger was 23 winning his first slam

So who is actually twisting the facts here on this site? When I make claims about his lack of passion i'll give hard evidence of that claim. Rafafanatics just lie about stuff.

Luckystar is right Nadal did win more important titles and Federer would very likely prefer a slam over the world tour finals coupled with two more appearances in slam finals. But I don't think Nadal being sick or injured being used as an excuse for his losses is fair to Djokovic or other players, he still got the final of wimbledon and the Us open alright so it surely can't have been that bad? Plus Djokovic had his knee taped during Wimbledon, yet he still won it, no one mentions that. At the beginning of the year Nadal was probably not 100% but he still chose to play, and reached the quarters of the Australian where he obviously got injured against Ferrer, that much is fair, but before that he got to the quarters without dropping a set, so again, how bad was he?

After his injury at the AO, he had to take time to recover instead of doing his proper training, which explained why during IW his game was off (in particular his serve and his backhand. His game was OK during AO) and his fitness was affected (looked how he ran out of steam during the Miami final. He hardly ran out of steam at the early part of the season in the past). While his fitness might be back to normal during the clay season, we can't deny that he was a bit off his game at MC( he mentioned he couldn't glide around properly on clay). His confidence was dented by the two defeats at the hands of Nole and they led to more defeats. Not forgetting he had to numb his injured foot during his QF, SF and F matches at Wimbledon. I would say he was physically OK during the USO final and Nole fought valiantly with an injured back and still got his win!

All in all, Rafa was plagued with illnesses (virus infection at Doha; fever at Rome hence his poorly played match against Lorenzi; stomach flu at the WTF when playing against Fish) and injuries (thigh and foot). Still he was good enough to be no.2, and it was because Nole was simply outstanding all year right up till the USO and that's why Nole is the no.1 player in the world. Even without his illnesses and injuries, Rafa may still lose his no.1 crown to Nole, unless Rafa has all his weapons working very well at the same time, especially his big serve of the USO 2010 and his DTL forehand and CC backhand.

Rafa fans have no intention of leaving this site, no matter how often they are threatened or harassed or warned.

Rafa did win three titles this year! One was his sixth RG title, equaling Borg's achievement. The other were MC and Barcelona and DC.

So much for facts. Rafa has a chance to win his seventh RG title and break Borg's record. I look forward to seeing him do it.

I can only feel sorry for anyone who has nothing better to do than drone on endlessly with absurd predictions for next year. So far the prediction of Rafa losing to Monaco was wrong! The prediction that Spain would lose to Argentina was wrong!

Going at that rate, then I will just dismiss anymore predictions of this kind, since they will be as wrong as the ones I mentioned.

Don't start about passion again Sienna - it is not something you can prove by quoting what so and so said - it is something that you can see with body language etc. If you did actually watch the DC final then there is your proof that Rafa's passion is alive and well.

I still think his 'injuries' and 'illnesses' are being used as excuses there, again he reached the final or Miami and Indian Wells and Rome! Im not saying he was at his best but he wasn't far off, these injuries are nothing compared to what i've seen in football for example, where players have to be stretched off and can barely walk. After the first set against Del Potro at Wimbledon they did something to his foot, after that he moved fine, so again it can't have been very bad, these top players have niggling injuries most of the time. Wel done for crediting Nole in the final as he was visibly injured at the end of the third and the forth, he was serving slower then I do at that point!

I really do not buy this argument that "players and/or fans use injuries/illness as excuses". Injuries and illness are part of life for these athletes. Just because Rafa reached the finals of Miami and/or IW does not mean he was not injured (i am not saying he was because I don't know) but that he played through his pain! They all do one time or the other.


And I hate it that this issue is brought up time and time again where Rafa is concerned to the point that Rafans are made to be sensitive about it. This is not fair.

And what gets me further is that Fedfans are the ones who are first to point out that Rafa's style of play makes him prone to injury, but when anyone points out any of his injuries (as a result of this style of play no doubt) or no, they are shouted down!

Soderling has been away for a long time due to illness. Suppose he comes back and makes the final of the first ATP tourny he plays in and loses? Are we not supposed to suemise that his long lay off had an impact on his perofrmance? People have been saying (rightly so imo) so about Delpo but when it comes to Rafa............taboo!!! And don't let's start about Fed..............he is allowed all the mono "excuses" he wants!

So, can we all agree that:
1. Tennis players are human, they are prone to injury/illness;
2. It is not a taboo to mention these illnesses/injuries, whoever it is;
3. Player injuries/illnesses are not excuses, they are reality.

Thank you.

Well said RITB.

rbennett, do note that I did not mention anything about illnesses or injuries during Rafa's RG, even when he was taken to five sets by Isner (isner on clay!). Rafa was playing rather 'badly' during the FO, we all could see that, but that was not due to any injury or illness issue. However during Wimbledon, he was obviously slower especially when running towards his forehand side, after he injured his foot. It's because Rafa was simply that good and competitive that even with all these niggles, he was still able to reach the finals. It's just like Nole was that good that even with some back problem, he still was able to go toe to toe with Fed in the USO semi for five sets and beat Fed there, and went on to beat Rafa in the final.

If we accept that Nole can play through some injury problems to reach the final and good enough to win, then why can't we accept that Rafa can also play through injury and good enough to reach the final? After all theyre the top two players, shouldn't we apply the same standard to both?

rbennett, how can you possibly compare injury in football to tennis. Footbal is a team sport, when a player is injured in football he gets replaced, in tennis the injured player either play injured or surrenders the match to his opponent.

In football, players have time to recover without the team losing out, after all the team doesn't pull out of a match because one player is injured, but in tennis there is no such luxury.

RITB-I didn't say anything about his style of play did I? And can we stop this 'Fed fans do this, Fed fans do that' rubbish please, Just because I disagree with you does't mean we have to go down that path. Del Potro and soderlings injuries and illnesses are obviously more serious then Nadal's as they were out for many many months, Del Potro, for nearly a year, Soderling, not sure how long it will be in the end but a while, this will have a much bigger impact then say, a couple of weeks.

And yes Luckystar I will apply the same standard happily, Djokovic can't have been very bad at Wimbledon as he won the event. At the US open he wasn't injured till the forth set of the final was he? Thats the only time it visably affected him then, so again it can't have been that bad, thats the point im making.

In terms of the football comment I appretiate they are different sports, what i mean is in football I've seen really bad injuries where players can barely if at all walk, Nadals foot injury you couldn't tell, he won a tiebreaker, had a little treatment then completed the match and got to the final, can you really say his injury was that bad if he could do that?

I appretiate you guys like Nadal and are sticking up for him, but surely you can see I have some reasoning behind my points?

Injured footballers don't play, they put subs in.

rbennett, and what is wrong with saying Fedfans do this and Rafans do that, are we not fans of one and the other? Just because you do not want to be associated with your favourite's fans (for obvious reasons) does not mean we all should be ambivalent about ours. I am a Rafan and proud of it, and I am damn proud of my fellow Rafans too!

Typical Fedfan, instead of countering my arguments in a calm and reasoned fashion you attempt to shut me down with personal put-downs, shame. Yes, THAT is typical Fedfan behaviour.

So now we are down to injury relativism are we? Are you a doctor, you can tell the seriousness of Rafa's injury or lack therefore just by looking at him? Utter nonsense. So, if a player gets injured during match (a) and is incapacitated as a result of it, loses the match, receives treatment and is back on the court in 2 week's time we should not say he was injured during match (a) because the injury was not serious, why? because the injury only lasted 2 weeks!! Holy mackerel...........

If this is what you call reasoning, rbennett, then I can understand why you get hot under the collar when people counter your argumements...............

Because claiming Fed fans do this and Rafa fans do that is simply not true, the only difference is who they are a fan of, anything they say or do is more to do with who they are, not who they like.
Where did I 'try to shut you down with personal put-downs?'. Im looking yet I can't find any examples, suprising. I also don't see where I was getting hot under the collar either, you see what you want to see.
No im not a doctor, Im just commenting on the seriousness of Nadal's injury based on what i see, how else am I supposed to judge it? If you have any other ideas, please tell me. And Your example doesn't work as I was saying he finished the match then reached the final, if he had to retire then came back in two weeks I'd say yeah thats probably a pretty serious injury. Holy mackerel indeed.

Please don't twist my example. I will repeat:
"So, if a player gets injured during match (a) and is incapacitated as a result of it, loses the match, receives treatment and is back on the court in 2 week's time we should not say he was injured during match (a) because the injury was not serious, why? because the injury only lasted 2 weeks!!"

There is no mention of retirement in my example, you are the one sneaking that in to save your argument.

Like I said in my earlier post: let's not discriminate and accuse other players of being not-so-injured, making excuses or whatever. As cheryl so often says, give the players the benefit of the doubt, if they say they are injured, take them at their word.

The seriousness of an injury is not a function of time or the amount of time spent on the sidelines. And Please give Rafa a break on this score................

According to Nole, his back issue at the USO didn't just happen in the final. Apparently he carried some back issue during the USO and the problem was aggravated during the final. If not I won't say that it's a valiant effort from him. Note that in the fourth set of the final, both Rafa and Nole were gassed, after their efforts in the third set. Not forgetting Nole also had his shoulder issue too since Cincy.

Injury or no injury, it's obvious that Rafa and Nole are the two best players this year. Honestly, I believe that had they not met so often and 'destroy' each other physically, both would do better at the tournaments at the tail end of the season. Nole usually did well at Basel( finalist at least and winner once) and WTF (semifinalist twice and winnner once).

rbennett,

No, I do not think your football analogy is a reasonable argument at all. The mere fact that your insist that it is, shows that you are not reading and acknowledging what has already been said here by nadline, to the effect that there is absolutly no comparison to any injury situation that occurs in football, because a substitute can be brought in to play and the team still has a chance of winning. However, in a tennis match, the player is on his own. If you are injured to the point where you can no longer compete effectively, then you must either retire or be forced to lose the match. There is no analogy between the two sports.

Also, as to your point that you can only go by what you see to determine the seriousness of a player's injury, that is again wrong. In Rafa's case when he obviously injured his foot and it severely impaired his movement when he had break point against Delpo, anyone with eyes could see that his movement to the forehand side was compromised and hampered. Even after treatment, Rafa came back for the tb and promptly lost the first three points. On the tennis channel, they showed slow motion closeups of Rafa's movements on court after the injury and treatment. At that point he was clearly favoring that foot and dragging it and putting his force on the front part of the foot.

However, if you really wanted to know what happened, then you could have followed the information released by Dr. Cotorro , who released the results of Rafa's MRI after he went to the hospital. They explained it in detail and we know that they had to somehow numb the foot in order for him to compete. All of this information was made public. So please don't try to make the argument that you had no way of knowing anything about the seriousness of the injury. Rafa was even spotted while vacationing after Wimbledon with his foot in some kind of cast. Don't you read?

The only reason you didn't know the extent of his foot injury is because you didn't want to know.

Sorry this is a bit off-topic, but important nonetheless. Am curious to hear Cheryl and Ricky's take on this:

http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/7335321/tennis-why-orang e-bowl-switched-clay

rbennett,

Rafa was only able to play on after his injury at Wimby because they injected Novocaine into his foot. This totally numbs the specified area and you cannot feel anything - no pain, no nothing. I cannot remember where I found this information but it would explain the immediate effect. We all know the effect Novocaine has because it is used widely in medicine and dentristy and it works extremely quickly thank goodness.

By the way I am not in favour of Rafa playing with a numbed foot but that is only a decision he and his team can make. I also heard that he had an injection into his knee before the DC final. Does anyone know anything about that?

http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=15364&zon eid=25

Re article above: what is it about retired Australian former no. ones, are they required to spout nonsense every time just before the Australian Open? We had similar nonsense from the other one, whatshisname, last year.....

They are right about the limelight, once you've tasted it, hard to let go................

RITB - I have been expecting the USTA to make a move like this for a while. Jim Courier has been hounding the USTA for YEARS to get the kids back on clay. His argument is sound. Teach juniors how to move on dirt. Teach them patience, teach them point construction that is more than just "Big serve, big forehand". Have them train so that they can physically go toe-to-toe with the Europeans.

If it worked for Roger and Rafa, it's good enough for American juniors. It's just that they're a decade or so late to the party...but better late than never, I suppose.

Thanks Cheryl, for your take. Arguments for training on clay make sense, and as you say, begs the question as to what took them so long.

Who knows, the next "clay-court specialist" may very well come from the good ol' USA!!

RITB-You're right I did twist your example, it was a genuine mistake and I apologise. And Im not saying Nadal was lying, Im debating the seriousness of the injury, pain injection or not. And seriousness of the injury is definately related to time on the sidelines! The longer you spend on the sidelines, obviously the more serious the injury is.

Lucky-That makes Djokovics Us Open win even more impressive, although it was only noticable in the forth set, and yeah Nadal and Djokovic are easily the best players this year.

NNY-I wasn't comparing football or tennis or using analogies in any way, you're right there is no comparison, I was just saying I've seen some really bad injuries in football where the player is visibly limping or has to be stretchered off, thats all. And you're right, I didn't follow reports on Nadals foot or look out for the doctors reports, im not that bothered.
Schatz-Ah right I didn't know that! Again Im not denying that Nadal was injured Im just saying I don't believe he was that bad due to the fact the reached the final. I dunno about a knee injection for the Davis Cup maybe someone else does?

Yes It was reported that Rafa had injections on his knees. He had his knee band on during practices, something like what he had during his 2007-2009 before he had his PRP treatments. He mentioned that he'll monitor his knee's condition going forward. I hope after the AO, during his long break in Feb, he can go treat his knee, another PRP treatment maybe.

rbennet,

I am glad it makes more sense now. Don't mean to gang up on you but I do know that he has an abnormality in his foot and over the years he has suffered a lot of pain with it, so he does play through the pain this can give a lot of the time - read all about it in his latest book.

luckystar - thanks for that. I really hope that the knees don't flare up again like they did before. I did think that the PRP treatment had solved the problem - anyway let's hope it is not too bad and that they will be able to sort it out again before the tough clay court season begins.

rbennett
, 12/12/11 4:31 PM

Apology accepted. I do accept that the longer one stays on the sidelines due to injury, the more serious the injury can be inferred to be. However, we have to factor in effectiveness of treatment applied and a player's responsiveness to such treatment into the mix. Some players heal quicker than others for the same maladies, doesn't mean they are less ill than others. Others have a higher pain threshold and hence can play through all sorts of niggles, doesn't mean they are less injured etc, etc.......................

rbennett, this is from a Rafa fansite:

During the practice session today in Mallorca Rafa spoke to the press stating he is very happy he won Davis Cup & it has given him motivation for the next season. He says he is going to work hard to start the season well. He also states he is having some issue with his knee, that he needs an injection before the last match in Davis Cup & that he is going to checking it closely for a recovery. He will be doing a physical of the knee soon.

This is off topic, but there is nowhere else to post it:

Both Rafa and Roger hae a bye in the first round in Abu Dhabi but not the world No 1, Nole who plays Monfils in the first round.

Cheryl, maybe we could have an all and sundries thread, obviously not for attacking each other.

Nadline -- well, Abu Dhabi isn't a real tournament. That's why it is affectionately called "The Abu Dhabi cash-grab". I'd wager that exhos would do just about anything to secure Rog and Raf. Nole isn't quite there yet.

Nadline, I'd considered making a blog for general posts. I'm still considering it, but I'm concerned about the amount of time it would cost me to police it.

It's that time of the year again, Rafans, when we are reduced to trawling the net for all things Rafa...................well, here's some:

http://www.supersport.com/tennis/atp/news/111213/Nadal_determ ined_to_recover_mental_strength

Cheryl, what you need to do is say three strikes and you are out and stick to it.

Both Rafa and Roger hae a bye in the first round in Abu Dhabi but not the world No 1, Nole who plays Monfils in the first round.

nadline
, 12/12/11 7:58 PM

Fed and Rafa have byes in the first round because they both were finalists at the tourny last year, those are the Abu Dabhi rules!

^^^I see. In that case, since Rafa is the defending champion, he should just play in the final to defend his title like they used to do in the olden days.

^^^^better still, they should just hand him the trophy without striking a ball in anger!! I hope this time round he does not indulge in some silly photo ops with Fed and get sick.................I was quite suspicious of that carrying on last year, playing on a submerged tennis court palaver.............I bet you that was Fed's ploy, knowing that our Rafa has a sensitive constitution (have you seen the size of his scarves and how he winds them tightly round his neck?), all he better for him to catch a cold, weaken him so he won't make the Rafa Slam!

I for one saw through that plot.............................

nadline..whose part of draw in Nole in? Rafa or Fed?

RITB..cmon you being too mean to Fed..Im sure thats def not true..

hahaha RITB surely you're joking!?

Nole and Fed are in the top half with Monfils and the bottom half is Rafa, Tsonga and Ferrer.