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US Open - 2014


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Starts in a week, so about time a thread was opened. First bit of big news and it is huge news, Nadal is not playing. The tournament will suck without him, hate him, but he is needed to make it interesting. If Novak is still in his honeymood period, maybe #18 is on the cards for Fed after all. If Novak gets his **** together, he should win, but he looks a different man since marriage. But if Novak isn't in form, really who is there to stop Fed? As usual my customary promo for a major sporting event. PUQzzefZ_fE

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Nadal is missing 2nd US open in the last 3 years. Overall 4th major in his prime. That's not considering the in-tournament injuries which are too many to name. Jeez the guy can't catch a break! It is amazing that he has still managed to win 14 slams despite that.

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Nadal is missing 2nd US open in the last 3 years. Overall 4th major in his prime. That's not considering the in-tournament injuries which are too many to name. Jeez the guy can't catch a break! It is amazing that he has still managed to win 14 slams despite that.
It comes with the territory though. He put so much into winning those 14 slams that his body has become injury prone. Cause and effect. For Nadal to have stayed injury free he would have had to put less in his matches (and lead up which is where I believe this wrist injury happened) and if he had put less in his matches it is highly unlikely that he'd have had 14 slams; so I'd say it is BECAUSE rather than DESPITE.
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It comes with the territory though. He put so much into winning those 14 slams that his body has become injury prone. Cause and effect. For Nadal to have stayed injury free he would have had to put less in his matches (and lead up which is where I believe this wrist injury happened) and if he had put less in his matches it is highly unlikely that he'd have had 14 slams; so I'd say it is BECAUSE rather than DESPITE.
That is the most BS argument, generally haters come up with. His knee injuries started at a time when he was just 16-17 years old and it has been there as ever since. Wrist injury on the right hand has nothing to do with his playing style. Many tennis players have wrist injuries. Del Potro does not play a taxing game. Talking about taxing game, Djokovic's game is as taxing as Nadal the way slides and retrieves every single point. But he does not get injured so much. There are many players who have a tendency to get injured, regardless of the playing style. Del Potro, Nishikori etc probably spend more time being injured than Nadal. Nadal has always been prone to injury. He missed slams as early as 2004 when he was just 17. So yes it is DESPITE not BECAUSE. He has reached 20 finals of the 39 slams he has participated, no other player has such record.
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It is not BS at all and I am surprised you seem to insinuate I am some hater. To suggest that his playing style and injuries have no connection is a BS argument used generally by the fanboys. I'm not sure how it is a slight on him too. It isn't like he is being sidelined because of genital warts or something totally unrelated. That he had knee issues even when he was younger detracts from your point and does not add to it. The most logical conclusion is that the issues he had when he was younger are exacerbated by his style of play and training methods. His heavy duty game and his training - and none of the players you mentioned train as hard as Nadal - no doubt take a toll on the body. There is only so much a body can take. Moreover, a player without a taxing game can get injured. That is neither here nor there. A heavy duty game/training method isn't the only cause of injury but arguably the single biggest factor(aside from improper training form, incorrect diet etc of course which I don't think are applicable to top level athletes with trainers to look after them all the time). Not sure what his record has to do with anything - he is a great player and his record reflects that. He is great enough without us having to make out that he could have somehow won even more slams without factoring the reason for him winning those slams and also to somehow suggest he mostly loses because of "in tournament injuries". Even if not explicitly mentioned here I've come across such stuff from Nadal fans both on this board and elsewhere and quite frankly, that argument is bollocks.

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It is not BS at all and I am surprised you seem to insinuate I am some hater. To suggest that his playing style and injuries have no connection is a BS argument used generally by the fanboys. I'm not sure how it is a slight on him too. It isn't like he is being sidelined because of genital warts or something totally unrelated. That he had knee issues even when he was younger detracts from your point and does not add to it. The most logical conclusion is that the issues he had when he was younger exacerbate his injuries. His heavy duty game and his training - and none of the players you mentioned train as hard as Nadal - no doubt take a toll on the body. There is only so much a body can take. Moreover, a player without a taxing game can get injured. That is neither here nor there. A heavy duty game/training method isn't the only cause of injury but arguably the single biggest factor(aside from improper training form, incorrect diet etc of course which I don't think are applicable to top level athletes with trainers to look after them all the time). Not sure what his record has to do with anything - he is a great player and his record reflects that. He is great enough without us having to make out that he could have somehow won even more slams without factoring the reason for him winning those slams and also to somehow suggest he mostly loses because of "in tournament injuries". Even if not explicitly mentioned here I've come across such stuff from Nadal fans both on this board and elsewhere and quite frankly, that argument is bollocks.
Did not call you a hater but that is a favorite argument of haters.
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I'm not sure how it is a slight on him too. It isn't like he is being sidelined because of genital warts or something totally unrelated. That he had knee issues even when he was younger detracts from your point and does not add to it. The most logical conclusion is that the issues he had when he was younger are exacerbated by his style of play and training methods. His heavy duty game and his training - and none of the players you mentioned train as hard as Nadal - no doubt take a toll on the body. There is only so much a body can take. .
The point Nadal has had injuries all throughout his career. He was told he may not even play tennis when he was 16 years old. Don't tell me that was because of his playing style. If you play a long career with any style with such chronic conditions you are bound to get into more problems. That is what happened with him or with many other players. Why don't you use the same argument for Del Potro or Nishikori?
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The point Nadal has had injuries all throughout his career. He was told he may not even play tennis when he was 16 years old. Don't tell me that was because of his playing style.
No, but they are exacerbated by his playing style.
If you play a long career with any style with such chronic conditions you are bound to get into more problems.
Absolutely. With his playing style it is much more likely and much more taxing on the body though.
Why don't you use the same argument for Del Potro or Nishikori?
I find this absurd. Not every injury has to be because of playing style. If smoking is the biggest cause of cancer which I believe it is, then that doesn't mean everyone who has cancer is or was a smoker. That is elementary, surely?!
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No, but they are exacerbated by his playing style. Absolutely. With his playing style it is much more likely and much more taxing on the body though.
The point is you are singling out Nadal when there are other players like Djokovic who put as much effort. You should watch Djokovic's matches, no one retrieves as many balls as he does. So if he misses a few slams due to injury would you put that down to his playing style?
I find this absurd. Not every injury has to be because of playing style. If smoking is the biggest cause of cancer which I believe it is, then that doesn't mean everyone who has cancer is or was a smoker. That is elementary, surely?!
The problem is singling out Nadal. I still don't understand how Nadal's wrist injury is connected to his playing style but not Del Potro's. The other slams he has missed were due to a chronic knee tendonitis which even non athletes get. Professional athlete of any style would struggle with such problem. It predates his major playing years. Some people get more injured than others, look at how many injuries Tiger Woods has had. He has a very similar knee problem and struggled through out his career. Was it because of his playing style too?
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I have watched enough of Djokovic's matches mate. Out of the current lot I suppose he is the only one who comes close to Nadal in terms of playing style. However, Nadal has more years of grind than Djokovic and I would be surprised if Djokovic carries on without injury for too long. If he misses slams I would definitely say his playing style is a factor (albeit still being less taxing than Nadal's) Look, you are going off on a tangent here. Whether non athletes have such problems or not is immaterial and irrelevant. I am not disputing that his injuries predate his playing years but I'm only saying his playing style worsens it or puts him at greater risk of injury. Liken it to the son of a chain smoker who is born with a lung problem but one who exacerbates it by smoking heavily. You clearly think there is no correlation at all between his playing style and injuries, I feel otherwise. I am quite baffled frankly that you don't agree his playing style puts him at great risk of injury but to each their own I suppose.

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I have watched enough of Djokovic's matches mate. Out of the current lot I suppose he is the only one who comes close to Nadal in terms of playing style. However, Nadal has more years of grind than Djokovic and I would be surprised if Djokovic carries on without injury for too long. If he misses slams I would definitely say his playing style is a factor (albeit still being less taxing than Nadal's) Look, you are going off on a tangent here. Whether non athletes have such problems or not is immaterial and irrelevant. I am not disputing that his injuries predate his playing years but I'm only saying his playing style worsens it or puts him at greater risk of injury. Liken it to the son of a chain smoker who is born with a lung problem but one who exacerbates it by smoking heavily. .
1. You again failed correlate the present wrist injury to playing style and how Del Potro's injury is not related to playing style. 2. I am not going off on a tangent. These are valid questions. His playing style may put him at a higher risk. But that may not be true necessarily. As I have showed even a golfer can struggle with similar injuries, so tennis player of any style probably would. Nadal is not the only player who has missed slams due to injury. There are others who have missed more. Azarenka has been on and off the whole year now. My issue is singling out Nadal for his playing style as if he was destined to get injured and one can't attribute it to say just luck.
You clearly think there is no correlation at all between his playing style and injuries, I feel otherwise. I am quite baffled frankly that you don't agree his playing style puts him at great risk of injury but to each their own I suppose.
No I think there could be a correlation between playing style and injuries. Sachin's tennis elbow was probably caused by his heavy bat. The thing is you would not hear people saying that he was bound to have it because he used a heavy bat so his poor form in that period was expected and one can't say that he scored so many runs DESPITE that. Likewise if someone like Federer had a career threatening injury right from the beginning you can't say for sure that he would not have struggled with it because of his playing style. Federer may look smooth but he also runs as much as the next guy and chronic knee problems would probably flare up time to time for anybody doing so much running.
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1. You again failed correlate the present wrist injury to playing style and how Del Potro's injury is not related to playing style. 2. I am not going off on a tangent. These are valid questions. His playing style may put him at a higher risk. But that may not be true necessarily. As I have showed even a golfer can struggle with similar injuries, so tennis player of any style probably would. Nadal is not the only player who has missed slams due to injury. There are others who have missed more. Azarenka has been on and off the whole year now. My issue is singling out Nadal for his playing style as if he was destined to get injured and one can't attribute it to luck. No I think there could be a correlation between playing style and injuries. Sachin's tennis elbow was probably caused by his heavy bat. The thing is you would not hear people saying that he was bound to have it because he used a heavy bat. Likewise if someone like Federer struggled with a career threatening injury right from the beginning you can't say for sure that he would not have struggled with it because of his playing style. Federer may look smooth but he also runs as much as the next guy and chronic knee problems would probably flare up time to time for anybody doing so much running.
Okay put it this way - anyone with a game like Nadal's puts their body at (much) higher risk (of getting injured) than your average joe. Others may get such injuries and similar injuries without anywhere near as physical games. Others can get injured, no one is saying they can't. There are a number of reasons for injury, physical style of play being one (and perhaps the biggest) of them. If Federer had chronic knee issue then he would definitely have trouble with it from time to time but less trouble than someone like Nadal would..and that is the whole point! Sachin's heavy bat may have well been one of the prime causes of his tennis elbow injury (that and 14-15 years of competitive cricket at the highest level!). A player with a lighter bat is less likely to be affected by tennis elbow perhaps(all other things being equal) but that doesn't mean no-one using a lighter bat will have tennis elbow issues!
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Okay put it this way - anyone with a game like Nadal's puts their body at (much) higher risk (of getting injured) than your average joe. Others may get such injuries and similar injuries without anywhere near as physical games. Others can get injured, no one is saying they can't. There are a number of reasons for injury, physical style of play being one (and perhaps the biggest) of them. If Federer had chronic knee issue then he would definitely have trouble with it from time to time but less trouble than someone like Nadal would..and that is the whole point! Sachin's heavy bat may have well been one of the prime causes of his tennis elbow injury (that and 14-15 years of competitive cricket at the highest level!). A player with a lighter bat is less likely to be affected by tennis elbow perhaps(all other things being equal) but that doesn't mean no-one using a lighter bat will have tennis elbow issues!
1. For the nth time, what has playing style got to do with the present wrist injury? 2. "If Federer had chronic knee issue then he would definitely have trouble with it from time to time but less trouble than someone like Nadal would..and that is the whole point!" That is a pure conjecture, not a definitive argument. No one knows how ones body would react to it. Some people might get injured after running 100 miles, some might go on for 500 with similar injuries. That is why your initial objection of using the word "DESPITE" is based on your own hypothesis and not facts. The fact is that Nadal has been able to withstand injury breaks, come back and win slams. So it is indeed amazing that he has won 14 slams despite struggling with so many injuries and breaks in his prime and playing against top players like Novak and Federer almost ALL the time. I still don't see why you would object to that.
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