re: Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the London Olympics

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I'm not saying he is out of shape. I'm saying something is wrong and his body needs time. With the way he plays it's not shocking that he couldn't play in an extra "major".

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Olympics is only best of 3 sets... So it's not a major.

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It's a lot harder to win this then it is a 1000 level tournament that maybe one other top 5 player is at.

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What? Every top 5 player plays pretty much all of the 1000 level tourneys unless injured.

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On fresh grass in a best of 3 format? Meh. Nadal has struggled in the early rounds of Wimbledon before and in the Wimbledon warm up tourneys. He usually really hits his stride the second week once the grass is worn down and plays more like clay

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I was about to co-sign you, but then you overstated.

Nadal hits his stride in the second week because playing inside the baseline and hitting the ball flat isn't his normal M.O.

The Wimby court gets worn down by the end of the tournament, but it plays nothing remotely close to clay and you know this. I'm not picking on you, but this is in the pantheon for the most ridiculous illogical line of reasoning I've ever heard.

Two points:
1) where does the court get worn down? are balls bouncing there? Perhaps a visual illustration will help.



2) the slowing down effect you speak of would have occurred in all eras. You agree? In other words, the actual slowing down of the Wimby courts in 2001 or 2002 was a switch to a different, sturdier type of grass. And so the wearing away of the grass that occurs towards the end of the tournament would have had a greater slowing down effect prior to 2001 than it does now. You still following?

Well then why didn't we see serve and volleyers begin to struggle in the second week? The courts got worn out much more 30 years ago than they do today, because it wasn't just happening at the baseline, it was happening all over the court.

I would be happy if you would take the initiative and try to rebut what I'm saying. Please pretty please find me some evidence that the Wimby courts of the second week are something other than just negligibly slower than the first week.

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He has a severe case of vaginal cramps

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Are you seriously questioning Nadal's toughness?

I'm a Nadal fan, and the reason I'm a Nadal fan is because the first time I ever saw him play I was just completely in awe of the way he played the game. I'd never seen anything like it. But I'd also never seen anybody put so much stress on their lower body with the way they play. I predicted he wouldn't make it past 27. I still think there is a possibility that his leg will snap in half all gruesome-like a la Joe Theismann in the middle of a point. I'm not ruling it out.

Anyway, the guy has tendinitis in both knees. He is like the smoking hot girl that finds herself single and childless at age 32 in that he is working within the parameters of a very finite time window. All that 32 year old girl wants to do is jump back on the cock carousel and keep riding forever. But she can't. That would be time wasted. She has to get down to business -- focusing on the stable ones that look like they might want to settle down. Nadal has only so many slide-stops left in those knees. He'll always be working against the tendinitis, but in the majors it is worth the effort. Not so much for the Olympics. He already won it once. And it isn't as important as a major.

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Probably a more likely explanation, although the court may slow some. IDK, I've never even set foot on a grass court. I've seen the argument presented numerous times on other forums and was parroting, honestly.

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I'm not giving you a hard time; it' become like conventional wisdom. But a lot of times conventional wisdom turns out to be wrong.

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Regardless, I don't think that a healthy Nadal would be an overwhelming favorite in a best of 3 on grass against everyone other than Novak. I could honestly see a fluke winner here, or any of the top 4 losing early to a guy like Raonic

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I also don't think Nadal would have won it. Like I said before, Nadal needs his reps on grass before he gets truly comfortable. He didn't get them during Wimbledon, and he isn't going to get them in 3 set matches.

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dude calm down. i hate nadal. but i wouldn't question his toughness. it was a comment on him being scared of Fed and Djoker after falling out of Wimbledon so early. but it was a joke.

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I wasn't actually pissed. I was happy somebody gave me an excuse to talk about my fav player.

But, mostly, I just really really wanted to work the term "cock carousel" into a thread. How'd I do?

I think this further increases the legendary status of the cyborg known as Roger Federer. He has stayed consistently healthy throughout his entire career.

Looking like Nadal may miss the Toronto Masters as well. That leaves the Cincy tournament as his only US Open warmup, and the courts for the Cincy event are super fast hard courts. Rafa rarely does well there, even when healthy.

LINK

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He's probably working this into a way to "reveal" he was hurt during his short trip to Wimbledon.

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He was going to be carrying the Spanish flag at the opening ceremonies. I seriously doubt this injury is made up. That was a big deal to him.