Tag: Nadal

NADAL IS BACK!

Rafael Nadal has made it clear that he will participate in the Chilean Open which is going to be played next month. It will be Nadal’s comeback tournament. The Spanish superstar has been out of action since a long time because of the knee injury.

Although, Nadal recovered from knee injury towards the end of last year and had announced that he would participate in the Australian Open but, he couldn’t do that because of stomach illness.

But, yesterday, after his practice session, Nadal told the reporters that his fitness is fine and he is ready to make a comeback.

Nadal said, “I am very happy to inform you all that I am going to take part in the Chilean Open next month. I want to thank the organizers for inviting me to play in that tournament. They have told me that I have got a lot of fans in Chile, so, it will be good fun playing in that country. Hopefully, I will do well and will go all the way to win the tournament.”

“My fitness is very good at the moment. I have got rid of stomach illness and my knee is also fine. I am really happy with the way things have gone in the last one week. I have had some good practice sessions.”

“It’s really disappointing that I couldn’t take part in the Australian Open because of stomach illness. But, that’s life. Now, I don’t want to think about what happened in the last few months. There are quite a few tournaments coming up and I am looking forward to those tournaments.”

Nadal will slip down in world rankings after the Australian Open. When asked about that, Nadal said, “I have been out since quite a while. So, it was expected that my ranking would fall down. But, I am not upset about that. The rankings can change quickly. All I need to do is to perform consistently in a couple of tournaments and my ranking will go up again.”

NADAL WITHDRAWS

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn his name from the Mubadala Tennis Championship which is going to be played at Abu Dhabi because of stomach problem. Nadal has been out of action since a long time and his fans were eagerly waiting for his comeback. But, they have to wait a bit more. On the place of Nadal, his compatriot, Nicolas Almagro, will take part in this tournament.

Nadal has made it clear that he is not withdrawing his name because of the knee injury. His knee is absolutely fine, but, he has discovered a stomach problem all of a sudden and because of that, he will not be able to participate in this exhibition tournament at Abu Dhabi.

Talking to the reporters, Nadal said, “I have been waiting for this tournament for a while. I desperately wanted to play at Abu Dhabi. But, unfortunately, I will have to miss yet another tournament. This time, it’s not because of knee injury. I have got a stomach problem which has forced me to withdraw my name from this event.”

When asked if his knee is completely fit, Nadal said, “Yes, I have recovered from the knee injury completely. There is no need to worry about that. I have not felt pain in my knee since the last few weeks. I can jump and bend my knee without any trouble.”

When asked how frustrating it is to miss one tournament after other, Nadal said, “It’s just a terrible feeling. I just can’t tell you how disappointed I am at this point of time. I was really excited about playing in Abu Dhabi.”

On the other hand, Nicolas Almagro was ecstatic to be a part of this tournament. He said, “It’s a great tournament. I am very happy to be a part of it. There are some world class players participating in this event and I will have to play out of my skins if I have to beat them and win this tournament.”

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.”

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.