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BACK IN TRAINING

The former world no. 1 Rafael Nadal has started practicing after recovering from a severe knee injury. Nadal has been out of the game since the last five months. He hasn’t participated in any tournament after being knocked out of the Wimbledon Championship from the second round. Nadal is likely to make his comeback by playing in Mubadala World Tennis Championship which is going to start from 27th of December at Abu Dhabi. Nadal has got a bye in the first round, so, he will start his campaign on 28th of December by playing in one of the semi final matches.

After having practice for almost one and half hour, Nadal told the reporters, “I hadn’t even picked up a tennis racket since the last few months. So, it was good to have a bit of practice today. I wasn’t hitting the ball that well in the practice session which is obvious after such a long layoff. I think the more I practice, the better I will start hitting the ball.”

When asked if he has got 100% fit now, Nadal replied, “Yes, I have regained complete fitness and it’s really a delightful feeling. The last couple of months have been pretty frustrating. I wanted to make a comeback as soon as possible, but, the doctors advised me not to get eager and wait for a few weeks more. Now, I have got a green signal from the medical team and that’s why I have started practicing.”

When asked which tournament he has been most disappointed to miss, Nadal said, “Missing the London Olympics was the most disappointing for me. I wanted to win Gold medal for my country, but, I couldn’t participate because of the injury. I was really gutted that day.”

ALMAGRO LOSES TO HAAS

Rafael Nadal’s countryman, Nicolas Almagro, has been defeated by Tommy Haas of Germany in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012. Haas won the match by 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Haas didn’t start the match well and he was on the verge of being knocked out of the competition at one point of time. But, in the tie breaker of the second set, Almagro didn’t capitalize on the opportunities and lost the plot.

After winning the match, Haas said, “When the second set went into the tie breaker, I got a bit nervous. But, fortunately, I won that tie breaker and managed to take the match to the third set.”

“I still can’t believe that I have won the match. To make a comeback from that stage was very tough.”

In the opening set, both the players held their service in the first four games and the scores were levelled at 2-2. But, in the fifth game, Haas wasn’t able to hold his service. Almagro got a breakthrough and then, served out the next game to get ahead by 4-2.

Haas desperately needed a breakthrough to make a comeback in the set, but, the German player didn’t manage to do so. Almagro held his service in the 8th and the 10th game and sealed the first set by 6-4.

In the second set, the first twelve games went with the serve and the set went into the tie breaker. In the tie breaker, Haas got ahead by 4-1 and then, kept the lead till the end to win the tie breaker.

Haas carried on the momentum in the final set as well. He got five breakpoints in the third set and he capitalized on two of them to win the third set by 6-2.

In the second round, Haas will take on Tommy Robredo of Spain.

FERRER IN QUARTERS

Rafael Nadal’s countryman, David Ferrer, has made his way into the quarter finals of the US Open by defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the fourth round at the Flushing Meadows. Ferrer won the match in the straight sets by 7-5, 7-6(2), 6-4. It took Ferrer almost three hours to knock Gasquet out of the competition. This was the ninth match between these two players and Ferrer defeated Gasquet for the eighth time.

Ferrer, who is the second highest ranked Spanish player in the official rankings of WTA, started the match in an aggressive fashion by sneaking a breakthrough in the very first game. But, he lost the advantage immediately as Gasquet broke his service in the second game. Ferrer got ahead again by breaking Gasquet’s service in the fifth game, but, the Frenchman again managed to equalize the scores by getting a breakthrough in the seventh game and then serving out the eighth game. However, Ferrer got the third breakthrough in the 11th game and this time, he capitalized on it to win the first set by 7-5.

In the second set, Gasquet was off to a flier. He broke Ferrer’s service in the sixth game and got ahead by 5-2 in the set. But, the Spaniard got a breakthrough in the ninth game and then, held his service in the next game to level the scores. The next two games went with the serve and the set went into the tie breaker in which Ferrer held his nerves to seal the second set as well. In the third set, both the players held their service in the first nine games and the scorecard was saying 5-4 in the favour of Ferrer at the end of the ninth game. Ferrer got six breakpoints in the 10th game and he capitalized on one of them to win the third set by 6-4 and thus, wrap up the match. In the quarter final match, Ferrer will play against Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.

OUT OF THE RODGERS CUP

Former world no. 1 Rafael Nadal has announced that he would not be able to participate in the Rogers cup next month. Nadal, who is currently ranked at no. 3 in the official rankings of WTA, tweeted that he needs a few more days to recover from his injury completely.  He has still not regained complete fitness and he doesn’t want to make a comeback without getting 100% fit. So, he decided to keep himself out of this tournament.

According to Nadal, he has always enjoyed a lot while playing in the Rogers Cup and he is disappointed that he would not be able to take part this season. But, he doesn’t want to take any risk with his injury. Nadal has won the Rogers Cup two times before. He had won his first Rogers Cup in 2005 when he had defeated the former American tennis legend, Andre Agassi, in the final by 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Nadal won the Rogers Cup for the second time in 2008 when he had defeated the German player, Nicolas Kiefer, in the final by 6-3, 6-2. But, in the last season, he was not able to perform that well in the Rogers Cup and was knocked out of the second round by Ivan Dodig of Croatia.

Nadal has been struggling with his knee for quite a while now. He won the French Open in June, but, after that his performance has deteriorated. He was knocked out of the quarter final of Gerry Weber Open by Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. Later in the Wimbledon Championship, he was knocked out of the second round by Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic. He also kept himself out of the London Olympics this year due to his knee injury. However, Nadal has said that he knee is getting better day by day, but, he would make a comeback only when he would get 100% fit.

Will Nadal see Gold?

One of the biggest sporting shocks this year was witnessing the Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal lose the second round of Wimbledon at the hands of 100th seed Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. After winning his first game in straight sets easily against Bellucci, no one could have predicted the outcome of the second round game, especially Nadal who was blown away by Rosol’s performance.

The crowd watched in awe as Rosol tamed the beast. Although Nadal secured the first set, Rosol dominated taking the second and third set and eventually the fifth set to write him a place in the history books. Rosol, who played out of his skin, and upped his game to an unbelievable level, looked astounded with his achievement, but no one looked quite as confused or stunned with the match result than Nadal himself.

Having had a fairly successful year, obtaining singles titles Roland Garros, Rome, Barcelona and Monte Carlo and doubles title Indian Wells, Nadal’s premature departure from Wimbledon was especially surprising. Now ranked at number 3; his lowest ranking since 2006, he must make an impact at the forthcoming London 2012 Games to remain in the top 3. With the tennis returning to the All England Lawn club, Nadal needs to rebuild his confidence and game strategy in order to prevent a Wimbledon repeat performance.

The Olympic Men’s Single Tennis event commences on 28th July, less than two weeks away. Due to his early exit from Wimbledon Nadal has had additional time to get prepared and back on form ready to do his Country proud and battle for the Gold.

NADAL MISSES DAVIS CUP

World number two Rafael Nadal will be the most notable absentee from the Spanish Davis Cup team that will start its defense of the crown against Kazakhstan in the Spanish city of Oviedo, where new captain Alex Corretja will have to field a new look side.

Corretja, who was appointed as the captain of the Spanish side after their win in the Davis Cup final last December against Argentina will not have any of the players who helped Spain lift the crown last year at his disposal.

Whereas Nadal has decided to rest ahead of the Indian Wells ATP Championships in California in March, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco as well as Feliciano Lopez have all pulled out of the tie citing fitness issues and fatigue in an Olympic Games year.

In the absence of all these star names, Corretja will have to count on veteran star Juan Carlos Ferrero and world number eleven Nicolas Almagro, who did not feature for Spain in any of their Davis Cup ties last year to pull through the match against Kazakhstan. However, Corretja believes that the absence of Rafael Nadal and the other stars from the lineup will not affect the Spanish side much as their reserves also have the capabilities to pull through the tie quite easily.

Juan Carlos Ferrero has been a former champion at the French Open and was one of the players who started the Spanish Revolution in the world of tennis long before Nadal had made a name for himself in the circuit. However, Rafael Nadal will be at court side, taking time out from his practice sessions in Mallorca to support the side as they attempt to add a sixth Davis Cup crown to their cabinet, with all five of their titles won after the turn of the millennium.