Topic: Clay & Nadal

[sid]

There's not much been said about Nadal of late,but he's comming back soon.With luck i should find some satellite feeds of him playing.How do the members on tennis 4 you think he will play.
1/where would Nadal be ranked @ end of the year?
2/how many times will he lift a 
3/will he win RG?

[Freak3yman84]

1. 6th
2. 3
3. No

[Djokovic Champion]

There's not much been said about Nadal of late,but he's comming back soon.With luck i should find some satellite feeds of him playing.How do the members on tennis 4 you think he will play.
1/where would Nadal be ranked @ end of the year?
2/how many times will he lift a 
3/will he win RG?

1. 4th
2. 3
3. No

Nadal is a fantastic player in the clay, but i think Djokovic can beat Nadal in the clay, because Djokovic is better than Federer on clay, and he can beat Nadal.

[Alex]

I just hope Nadal will be back before the clay season but don't know any more ....it's just so confusing to know what's happening with him atm

[Djokovic Champion]

I just hope Nadal will be back before the clay season but don't know any more ....it's just so confusing to know what's happening with him atm

Nadal will play in Brazil. It will be his 1º tournament in clay.

[Rafa816]

Hmm, it's tough to tell. Last time he came back from injury, once he hit the clay swing, he went on a tear that also led to his first US Open. I think he'll climb back up to 2. Djoker doesn't have as many points to defend this year, so I doubt he'll lose many points. So I can't see him getting back up to 1. Hmm...

1) 2nd
2) I'm guessing we're talking slams and masters only, since the others are a toss up as to which ones/how many he'll play...I'll say 5...2 slams and 4 masters.
3) Yes. Healthy, he is unbeatable at Roland Garros. He's got a perfect 49-0 at Roland Garros when he's healthy.

[Litotes]

Very hard to tell. But one call always guess.

1) 4th
2) 3
3) No. But I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

[Babblelot]

I just hope Nadal will be back before the clay season but don't know any more ....it's just so confusing to know what's happening with him atm

Nadal will play in Brazil. It will be his 1º tournament in clay.

I guess that makes 2 of us who aren't happy about this decision 

[Clay Death]

french open is off limits.
i think he will get it going by the time he makes the final at RG.
nobody stands a chance against him at a RG final. nobody.
 
to hell with the rankings as far as he is concerned right now. its all about health and getting it going for RG.

[Rafa816]

I can't believe this many people doubt him at Roland Garros. He's Rafael freaking Nadal, the King of Clay. And he has ample court time before RG to get back into the swing of things.

[swish]

I can't believe this many people doubt him at Roland Garros. He's Rafael freaking Nadal, the King of Clay. And he has ample court time before RG to get back into the swing of things.

No one really knows what's going on with him.
Pulling out of AO a month ahead with stomach flu?? 
He could still try like a man!!!! 
 
 
 
 

[Babblelot]

 

Hey, RG better give him a top 2 seed or there's a chance Almagro sneaks into the final. 

[Filippo Volandri]

Nadal is the favorite for RG until proven otherwise.


I think he'll finish 4th in the rankings, and finish with at least 5 tournament victories. I don't see Ferrer defending all of his points, and I think Rafa will continue dominating on clay. Rafa defends nothing in Wimbledon or US Open so he will gain points there. I don't expect to see Rafa going deep off clay in tournaments consistently but he should still be good for quarterfinal appearances at the USO, at least. Grass, he's still the 3rd best grass player until proven otherwise, behind Federer and Djokovic (who beat him in Wimbledon '11). A SF or even F appearance there is very possible. It all depends on how hard he goes off clay, or if he goes the clay specialist route completely. It will be interesting to see his schedule post-USO and where he plays. I think he'll probably skip Montreal and play Cincinnati only. I don't think he'll ever be ranked #1 again, but that's not important.

[Alex]

Nadal is the favorite for RG until proven otherwise.


I think he'll finish 4th in the rankings, and finish with at least 5 tournament victories. I don't see Ferrer defending all of his points, and I think Rafa will continue dominating on clay. Rafa defends nothing in Wimbledon or US Open so he will gain points there. I don't expect to see Rafa going deep off clay in tournaments consistently but he should still be good for quarterfinal appearances at the USO, at least. Grass, he's still the 3rd best grass player until proven otherwise, behind Federer and Djokovic (who beat him in Wimbledon '11). A SF or even F appearance there is very possible. It all depends on how hard he goes off clay, or if he goes the clay specialist route completely. It will be interesting to see his schedule post-USO and where he plays. I think he'll probably skip Montreal and play Cincinnati only. I don't think he'll ever be ranked #1 again, but that's not important.

Welcome to the board. It's really refreshing to a Volandri fan on this board. Most of guys here support Fed or Rafa  . Pipo is a character.  I like him too.

back on topic. My problem is that Rafa keeps cancelling tournaments, one after another and this 'break' is just too long. I do agree with other posters that his ranking is not that relevant, neither it's his priority. He is the king of clay, no doubt but I really don't want to see unfit Rafa bumping into Nole in QF of RG. Is he even training? well, I guess we can only speculate about his current fitness and health.

[Clay Death]

this year is going to be difficult for him. it should all be about peaking at exactly the right moment for RG.
 
that is all that matters. all other events on other surfaces are irrelevant at this time. he is going to get killed on hard courts which works to his advantage. it will save his knees and it will open up his eyes and his nearly dead brains to the fact that either he wins something on clay or nothing at all.
 
either he gets to play and compete or he sits on the sidelines and watch. its his choice.

[Litotes]

this year is going to be difficult for him. it should all be about peaking at exactly the right moment for RG.
 
that is all that matters. all other events on other surfaces are irrelevant at this time. he is going to get killed on hard courts which works to his advantage. it will save his knees and it will open up his eyes and his nearly dead brains to the fact that either he wins something on clay or nothing at all.
 
either he gets to play and compete or he sits on the sidelines and watch. its his choice.

Do you think he will play IW and/or Miami? I haven't seen definite plans further ahead of the SA-swing.

[Orange Wombat]

I think he himself will consider it an upset to win Roland Garros. To me, Djokovic is the solid favorite.

[Brick Top]

he is still biggest contender for RG

[Clay Death]

this year is going to be difficult for him. it should all be about peaking at exactly the right moment for RG.
 
that is all that matters. all other events on other surfaces are irrelevant at this time. he is going to get killed on hard courts which works to his advantage. it will save his knees and it will open up his eyes and his nearly dead brains to the fact that either he wins something on clay or nothing at all.
 
either he gets to play and compete or he sits on the sidelines and watch. its his choice.

Do you think he will play IW and/or Miami? I haven't seen definite plans further ahead of the SA-swing.

i read somwhere that he is playing both of those events.

he is crazy if he plays miami.

[pawan89]

To state the obvious, we can't say anything until we have seen him play. Assuming he's back to, say, even 75% level of what he was in 2012 before he pulled the plug on the year, he'll win RG, and probably be a favourite over Murray and Federer in any grand slam. He might be slightly more susceptible to upsets by Tsonga/Berdych/Del-Potro but like I said, 75% Rafa is still top 4 everywhere and still number 1 on clay, and has the edge on Federer and Murray in all grand slams.

Rankings aside, I can easily see him being the second best player this year.