At Last, No?

I have been sensing it for the last two years...
Yet, all the physical comebacks Nadal was able to produce almost on tap time after time have etched such fear into my subconsciousness, it was almost unthinkable he will ever loosen the grip!  

Well...the time has come to come out from the sofa and announce: Rafael Nadal is finished!

The verdict right out if Bull's mouth:

"If you hit the ball a bit shorter, the opponent has more space. If you hit the ball with a little bit of less confidence, then there is not as much topspin like used to be. If you hit shorter, you will run slower. Is not you run slower, but the opponent take the ball earlier so it looks like you are slower, no? Is easy to understand, easy to explain, difficult to change, but I going to do it."

The only question now left is: who is going to retire first:

Federer or Nadal?





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An excellent article from P. Bodo:

"...Given the year Rafael Nadal has had, his great rival and friend Roger Federer did him an enormous favor in the second half of 2015. Toting a gleaming new SABR as the centerpiece of his re-tooled offense, Federer stole all the headlines. This was a great gift from the 17-time Grand Slam singles champion, because the headlines Nadal would have generated in and around the U.S. Open would have been ugly. Dispiriting. Soul-crushing.

It was a remarkably quiet if anxiety-laden U.S. Open for Nadal, his relative anonymity aided by the fact that he was ousted in the third round. Once, his nemesis was Novak Djokovic. Now it is Fabio Fognini. How far the mighty hath fallen..."



http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/09/bull-gored/56413/#.VgJePGK9KSM

Comment of the century from an Nadal fan on tennis.com
The depth of ignorance and blindness is astounding.

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Sam77 2 hours ago
There is a huge elephant in the room with regards to Nadal's poor results this year. It's not the cumulative injury problems he suffered in 2014 which meant that he had to miss huge chunks from his schedule. Although notably Bodo has also chosen to make no mention of them. It is the effect of a rule that is being specifically used to target and affect him.



In tennis there has long been a rule that play must be continuous and penalties for players who deliberately disrupt play. It was there to stop the antics of players such as McEnroe and Connors who used to deliberately hold up play to gain an advantage. Other players still do such things but the rule is seldom used to penalize players using such deliberate gamesmanship to put off their opponents. A player with a regular service routine would never have been considered disruptive or to be holding up play. Instead the rule is being used almost exclusively to disrupt one player and it's working.

Nadal's success and his ability to beat up every player using his raquet skills didn't go down well with everyone. Instead of being celebrated for his greatness the talk was often of how he could be stopped. Not with tennis skills or tactics which says much about Nadal's talent and his behavior both on court and off court has always been exemplary. Commentators who made no secret that they favored his rival could hardly contain their annoyance about everything about him. Often frothing at the mouth about him placing his water bottles neatly, jumping up and down at the coin toss, waiting for his opponent to get up first, pulling up his socks, touching his headband and adjusting his clothing before serving. The idea was put about that if Nadal who was remarkably composed and focused between points could be disrupted then it would affect his play. Knock his water bottles over perhaps? But then someone came up with a better idea and the seed was sown. The rule about continuous play that included a guideline time could be tampered with and the guideline fixed as a limit. It could be used to throw Nadal off.



Federer became particularly vocal about changing the way this rule was used and prior to the change both he and Nadal were serving on the players council. Nadal then retired from the players council saying that he felt powerless and also made a comment about Federer "always coming up smelling of roses".   Whilst Nadal was absent from the tour at the end of 2012 the rule was tightened up and Umpires told they must enforce it at all times. There was much glee from commentators at the time about how the rule would impact on Nadal's game. Hardly surprising since the rule was changed to impact on Nadal's game.



Anyone with a stop watch can see that if all players had to keep to the strict 20/25 seconds between points then the rule would soon be proved unworkable but that was never the intention. The way it has been used this year to give Nadal time violations at crucial points that have often proved game changing is nothing short of scandalous. The records of Nadal's time violations this year exist and they should be documented. A player that was once known for his mental strength and composure is now known for the opposite.    Being targeted repeatedly on crucial points and the effects will be cumulative affecting play on even untargeted crucial points.

That's what I think anyway.

Is that HE?