Rafael Nadal Wrist Injury

Today, Rafa and his team announced that they would be withdrawing from the masters tournaments ahead of the US Open. Last year Rafa won the Rogers Cup and Western and Southern Open, but this year he will not be able to defend those points. The news is both shocking and intensely disappointing for Rafa and his fans.

Rafa hurt his right wrist while practicing in Manacor, apparently on Tuesday. However, fans watching Rafa's practice sessions observe that he has only been practicing forehands this week, indicating the issue may have been caused a few days before. His right wrist is used for his two handed backhand and his ball toss, even though he plays left handed. 

Rafa's team issued a statement today.

"Unfortunately I injured my right wrist yesterday during practice and after the tests I have undergone today in Spain, including an MRI, and checking with my doctors, I will have to stay out of competition for at least 2-3 weeks. I am sorry and wish the best to the tournament and thank all of the fans for their support," said Nadal. "I'm extremely disappointed that I am unable to defend my titles and compete in Toronto and Cincinnati this year. I was looking forward to coming and playing again after my great results last year." 

Rafa travelled to Barcelona today to see his doctor, to take some scans and find out exactly what was wrong. He will wear a cast for 2-3 weeks.

He issued this statement regarding what was wrong with his right wrist: “a small disinsertion of the posterior ulnar pod” I'm no doctor, so I'm not sure what that means, but It's not good. 

However, 2-3 weeks sounds positive. Rafa told his fans on Facebook later today that he expects to compete at the US Open, so whatever the issue is, it doesn't sound serious. However, we have to stay wary as issues can develop over time, sometimes in a negative way. 

Rafa's team issued this prognosis:  “Depending on the evolution of the injury that will be carefully followed by the doctors, including M.R.I. tests, it will be decided then the return to competition, initially scheduled for the U.S. Open.”

So it seems that the team is expecting a relatively quick recovery, but are of course being cautious. You only have to look back at the knee injury, where the first cure was thought to be a few weeks of rest… that turned into 7 months. 

This injury does not bode well for the US Open. With 3 and a half weeks to go, can Rafa play without pain and to the standard he needs for a title defence? What he can do never fails to amaze me, so it's not completely out of the question just yet. Look at 2013, setbacks make him stronger, and I have no doubt that this will be the same. It's just a question of how long the recovery process will take.

Rafa fans need to stay positive about the injury, Rafa and his team will only return to tournaments once he is ready. I trust them to make the correct decision. 

When more information is released on how the injury has developed, a further decision regarding the US Open will most likely be made.


For instant updates, follow me on twitter: @rafanadaladdict

Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic: A Statistical Comparison

(This article was written on the 28th July 2014. All statistics are as of this time.)

Both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are hugely successful stars of the ATP tour. Both have achieved incredible feats during their career and I hope, will continue to do so. Djokovic is current number 1 (July'14) but that top spot has been flicking between the two players since 2010. I find their rivalry fascinating as they're both the two top players at the moment, but if you dig a little deeper you'll see there are a lot of major differences in their achievements. Luckily you don't have to do the rifling through record books and ranking histories, because I've done it for you! Enjoy!

Let's start where it all began. Rafa turned pro in 2001, Djokovic in 2003. The players are exactly 10 months and 12 days apart, but even if they were the same age, Rafa would still have turned pro at least 1 year earlier.

First ATP title.

Rafa: Orange Prokom Open, August, 2004
Novak: Dutch Open, after Wimbledon in 2006.

First Slam

Rafa: Roland Garros 2005
Novak: Australian Open 2008

Rafa has won 14 slams to date, including 9 French Open titles. Rafa Nadal is the only player in history to win at least one grand slam title every year for 10 years.

Novak has won 7 slams to date. He is the only Serbian player to win a Grand Slam title.

The Rankings

Rafa first turned number 1 in 2008, beating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon Final before a Rogers Cup Title. He was only 21 years old.

Novak first turned number 1 in 2011, at Wimbledon (which he later won). 2011 was Novak's dream season, 3 grand slam titles, 5 masters and his first claim of number 1.

Rafa: 142 weeks at no.1  (so far)
Novak: 102 weeks at no.1  (so far)

Masters 1000

One of the most important tournaments of the year are the Masters 1000. There are 9 masters per year (2014).

Rafa has won 27 masters, runner up to 13 of them.
Novak has won 19 masters, runner up to 10.

When both Rafa and Novak participate in Masters events, either one of them had won every tournament during 2012, 2013 and most of 2014. Exception- Wawrinka Monte Carlo 2014.
This shows just how dominant the two players are.

Olympics

2008 Beijing Olympics
Rafa- Gold
Novak- Bronze

Davis Cup

Rafa: Win (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011)
Novak: Win (2010)

World Tour Finals

Rafa: Final (2010, 2013)
Novak: Win (2008, 2012, 2013)

Win/Loss Career Record

Rafa: 702-137
Novak- 580-136

ATP Titles

Rafa: 64
Novak- 45

Winning Streak

Rafa: 81 on clay. From April 2005 to May 2007. Ended by Roger Federer.
Novak: 43. December 2010 to May 2011.

Winning Percentage

Rafa has a winning percentage against every active player in the top 30.

Rafa leads Novak 23-19
Rafa has a winning percentage over Novak- 54.76%


What I find fascinating about these facts, is that Nadal achieved so much at a young age. In 2006 Novak won his first ATP title, Rafa won his second slam title. In the overall question of 'greatest of all time', you can see that Rafa is safely ahead of Novak in that debate in terms of statistics.

I've really enjoyed researching these statistics, and I hope you've found this post interesting. It's great to dig a little deeper, and explore the depths of ATP tennis. If you have any requests of who you would like me to compare, let me know!


@rafanadaladdict


Thank you SO much for the support so far, I'm loving writing blog posts for you guys!

2014: From Heartbreak to History

Whenever I look back at the year so far, I think about how hard it's been for Rafa fans. 

The Australian Open final was so incredibly tough. It was heartbreaking to watch someone you love so much be in pain. He broke down, and I did with him. We had a few weeks in the dark, not knowing what was exactly wrong with his back and not knowing when Rafa would be able to play to a normal standard again. Injuries are always tough for Rafa, and his fans too. The last injury was his knee, when he was off for 7 months. Those months were the toughest ever for us, and I'm always terrified of having experience something like that again. 

Then came Rio, a relief because it showed us he was capable of playing (and winning) although it wasn't pain free. Indian Wells was tough, one of Rafa's earliest exits this year. Miami was a good tournament, although we lost in the final. 

Then came the clay season, and it was a disaster. Quarterfinal exits in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Madrid was positive as he came away with a title, but it wasn't a true win, as Nishikori had retired 3-0 in the third set. Rome was another positive tournament, improvements were there even though Novak won the title. After all of this doubt, it turned out to lead to something incredible... a 9th French open title. The moment when he won was like no other, and I doubt I'll ever be that proud of him again. Seeing Rafa so emotional was a moment I'll never forget. 

Wimbledon was hugely successful for us, he reached the 4th round, big improvements from the last couple of years. Wimbledon showed us that he is in a better physical condition this year than others. The success is only increasing, what will the hard courts bring…? 

@rafanadaladdict

What's Next For Rafa?

With another season of tennis coming to an end, it's time for the US Hard court swing. Rafa won all (yes, all,) titles in the US last year. He will defend 4000 points in Toronto, Cincinnati and the US Open. Rafa's got his work cut out, but after a long rest at home with family and friends he'll be as ready as ever.

Novak Djokovic winning Wimbledon results in him regaining the number 1 spot, but its still very close, there's only 460 points between Novak and Rafa. Being number 2 doesn't bother Rafa, and it shouldn't bother us either. Last year, Rafa only gained the number 1 at the ATP world tour finals, so he won 10 tournaments as number 2. Rafa once said 'Number 1 doesn't always win.' and thats exactly right, it doesn't change anything. It gives Rafa a goal, the aim to be back on top. This'll make him work harder.

It's been a good year so far, the obvious highlight being Roland Garros. So far Rafa's picked up 4 titles, can he get some more before the season ends?

Wimbledon Men's Final 2014- OVERVIEW

Wow, that was incredible. The best mens Wimbledon final since 2008. A match full of incredible moments, and that 4th set comeback from the legend that is Roger Federer. PeRFection.

Both players were incredible, Novak fighting and Roger hanging on.

After just under 4 hours, Novak won the championship 6-7 6-4 7-6 5-7 6-4. A scoreline to remember.

Roger won the first set tiebreak, fighting to the end, serving beautifully. The next two sets were won by Novak, he was really firing up, which gave him a lot of ability to produce some breathtaking passing shots. Then, in my opinion, one of the best sets of tennis I've ever seen, the 4th set happened. Novak seemed invincible, gaining championship point. I thought it was all over, but no. On the other side of the next was Roger Federer. Roger won 4 straight games and took the set 7-5.

The whole of centre court was backing the 7 time champion, and when the first 5 set Wimbledon final since 2009 became a reality, the atmosphere was incredible. The 5th set was very close. Roger held at 4-4, saving 3 break points. Novak then won his service game and broke to gain his 7th grand slam title. He then proceeded to eat the grass, which was a little worrying.

An incredible match, which I'm not likely to forget. Novak Djokovic will now overtake Rafa as number 1 so will enter the US hard court swing as the top seed. The rankings are very close however, with only 460 points between them. This is good news for Rafa fans however, as there is still only 3 slams to 'catch up' on to equal Federer's slam record. Rafa performs equally as good, if not better, as the number 2 seed, so all in all, I'm fine with the situation.

No more grass for another year, now its time for the hard courts. Bring it on. 

2014- The Season So Far

With just an hour to go until the Wimbledon Final, let's look back on the 2014 season so far…

January

We started off the season in Australia.The first title of the year was won by Lleyton Hewitt, in his home country in the city of Brisbane. The title in Doha was won by Rafa, who had a great start to the season. Wawrinka won in Chennai, Del Potro in Sydney, and Isner in Auckland. Then came the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open. I loved this tournament (well, the first 13 days). There were some great matches, including that thriller where Stan took out Novak. The final was Rafa vs Stan. Most people expected Rafa to come through, although the worst happened. The infamous back injury occurred while Rafa was warming up, and he continued to feel pain throughout, getting massages from trainers. He carried on because he didn't want to disappoint fans or Stan himself, but it was heartbreaking to watch. By far the toughest moment to watch as a Rafa fan myself, who knows how this year would have turned out if the injury didn't occur?

February

After a busy first month, February featured ATP 250 and 500 tournaments. Notable wins included Berdych's title in Rotterdam, Dimitrov's in Acapulco, Federer in Dubai, and Rafa in Rio.

March

Next we had the first of the masters 1000. Indian Wells and Miami, both won by Novak Djokovic. We were back on hard courts, much to Novak fan's delight. It was a busy month, but I felt both tournament lacked a little bit of excitement.

April

Bring on the clay! The 3rd masters of the year was Monte Carlo, won by Wawrinka in a final of the Swiss. Barcelona was won by Nishikori, who played an excellent tournament.

May

This month was where it really picked up for Rafa fans. His back was finally starting to look in better form, although still disrupting the serve. He picked up a title in Madrid and reached the final in Rome, where Djokovic got the title. This month was by far the most stressful, as doubts were raised once again. Could Rafa win Roland Garros again? Or was Djokovic the favourite after the title in Rome? Of course, there was no need to have doubts, as Rafa won his 9th Roland Garros title after a 4 set final with Djokovic.

June

Wimbledon warm ups saw Federer win again in Halle, and Dimitrov at Queens.

So here we are again, after an interesting season so far we're at another Wimbledon final. This year we've seen a lot of injuries so far, Del Potro's been absent, Rafa's had his back injury, Novak's had a wrist injury and Nishikori seems to need a trainer on court almost permanently. It's been interesting. Let's see what the hard court season brings.

Wimbledon Women's Final 2014- Overview

Today was the day of the first of the Wimbledon finals, the women's.

We saw newcomer Eugenie Bouchard and former champion Petra Kvitova play for the Wimbledon Title.

I had high expectations for both players, but I don't think many people expected it to be the one way final that it was.

Petra Kvitova wins her second title 6-3 6-0.

Seeing that scoreline doesn't tell you what happened out there on centre court. Bouchard played as well as she possibly could, there was nothing wrong with the way she played. Kvitova was just too good, she didn't give Genie opportunities to get into the match. Her serves and returns were both so strong, to result in Genie winning just 3 games out of 15.

Petra was simply breathtaking, she was calm and confident, and got the win up in just 55 minutes. Bouchard will have plenty more opportunities to be in Petra's shoes, she is only 20 years old, and has only played 6 grand slams. She was not overwhelmed by the occasion, she was overwhelmed by her opponent.

It was a quick display of tennis, and I'm sure the men's final tomorrow will prove to be more entertaining. Did you enjoy the match? Was that the result you expected?

Wimbledon Final- Through a Rafa Fan's Eyes

The men's Wimbledon final will be a tough match to watch for Rafa fans. Regardless of who wins, Rafa will be put in a negative position. There's a lot at stake for not just Novak and Roger, but for Rafa too. His current standings will be decided by someone other than himself, that's not something we're used to.

If Djokovic wins, he will become number 1, forcing Rafa to be second best once again. They will still be very close in the rankings, which means Rafa could get back on top if he excels during the US hard court season. However, during the new hard court season Rafa will have to defend a lot of points. Last year he won in Cincinnati, Montreal and New York. To be in with a chance of keeping the number 1 ranking at the end of the year, Rafa will have to hold onto as many points as he can get. If Novak wins, it's going to be just that little bit harder to regain the top spot.

If Federer wins, his grand slam titles will rise to 18, 4 more than Rafa. Roger's Wimbledon titles will rise to 8, just one short of Rafa's 9 Roland Garros titles. This would make it harder for Rafa to equal (or beat) his grand slam record. However, Rafa is only 28, and has many more opportunities to do that. If Rafa wins at least 1 grand slam title a year (which is likely, regarding the French Open) he will equal Federer's record by the age of 32 (Roger's age).

There are a lot of statistics involved, and it's not ideal either way, but one of them has to win. As a Rafa fan, It's hard to decide which option we would prefer, so it's lucky we don't have to. Roger and Novak will do that for us.

If you could choose, who would you like to win Wimbledon 2014?

2014 Wimbledon Men's Final- PREVIEW

Sunday is the day of another Wimbledon final, perhaps the most anticipated match of the year. This year it's Djokovic vs Federer.

I'm very excited, as I'm sure the match will be very tight, and there doesn't seem to be a clear favourite in my eyes.

Novak Djokovic- His Route to the final

Novak's run at Wimbledon so far has featured some pretty dramatic matches. His first match was a straight sets victory over Golubev. Next was Stepanek. I really enjoyed this match, it was a four setter in the end but could have easily gone to 5. Radek's volleys and Novak's returns crafted some exciting points. Gilles Simon was overcome next, and then it was Tsonga. I expected a lot more from the Frenchman but in the end, Djokovic was just too strong. The quarterfinals matchup was against Cilic, another great match. Marin stood his ground well and forced the match to go to 5 sets, impressive. Next was a semi final against Dimitrov, a highly anticipated battle of the young gun vs the experience. As predicted an upset didn't occur, and in 4 sets, the number 1 seed reached another Wimbledon final.

Roger Federer- His Route to the final

Roger has been flawless his Wimbledon, losing only ONE service game. Straight sets wins against Lorenzi, Muller, Giraldo and Robredo got him to quarterfinal. The first 4 rounds for Roger were simply outstanding. They were quick and easy. (Hope not too easy?) Roger's first (and only) challenge was Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinal, who took a set of Roger, the only person to do so this championship so far, Roger advanced well however. His semifinal was against Raonic, who didn't do enough to even take a break off Roger. The match was one sided and quite boring to be honest. After two weeks of perfection, Roger is through to his 9th Wimbledon final.

Djokovic hasn't been playing his absolute best this tournament, but some challenges have trained him up well for the occasion. Roger has breezed through the rounds, although thats not always a good thing. Maybe Roger needed a few challenges and tricky situations to prepare him for the blockbuster final on Sunday?

What you can't take away from Roger is his Wimbledon record. 7 titles so far, his last one was in 2012. The last couple of years have been far from ideal for Federer but is this another chance to get back to the summit of mens tennis?

We know how consistent Djokovic is, and I'm sure he will bring that to the final this weekend. The combination of Roger's serve and Novak's return will be interesting to see, and they'll be sure to create some great rallies.

The match will be very tight, It's about 51-49 to Roger in my eyes though…!

Prediction- Roger Federer in 5 Sets

The New Generation

There's a lot of talk lately about the new generation of tennis stars. The big 4 have now been around a while, and even though they're not finished yet, a new line of potential stars are emerging. The likes of Dimitrov, Raonic and Dolgopolov have come onto the scene the past year or two and are giving us a LOT of entertainment.

This year's Wimbledon semi finals were Djokovic v Dimitrov and Federer v Raonic. 

The big guys came through and reached the final, but it wasn't without a struggle, especially when envolving Dimitrov. 

I have been incredibly impressed with Grigor Dimitrov. A 23 year old youngster from Bulgaria, challenging Novak Djokovic, the number 1 seed, at his first grand slam semi final. Pretty impressive. Dimitrov only got 1 set off Djokovic, but a 4th set tiebreak saw him come very close to taking another. Some impressive serves and backhand slices were whipped around the court, but Djokovic handled them well, as per usual. A shocking couple of service games told us more about Dimi's inexperience. One game featured 3 double faults IN A ROW. At the moment the difference between the top guys and the challengers is that, the likes of Nadal and Djokovic make mistakes occasionally, not all in one go. 

Dimitrov has a lot to learn, but he defiantly has incredible potential. A future number 1 for sure.

Milos Raonic has been a feature of the ATP tour for a while now, making his first grand slam semi final today against Federer. In true Roger style however, he crafted up a win in straight sets. 

Nick Kyrgios has impressed at this Wimbledon too. He beat Nadal in round 4 in 4 sets and Richard Gasquet. His HUGE serve is his biggest weapon, but perhaps his only weapon. If it was taken away I wonder how those matches would have turned out?

Alexandr Dolgopolov has had some notable matches recently too. He beat Nadal in Indian Wells 2014. With his quick and agile footwork, he can defiantly produce some pretty amazing shots. One to watch.

Ernests Gulbis, number 10 seed emerging onto the scene. He beat Roger Federer in a thrilling French Open match this year, storming up the rankings. 

On the women's side, Eugenie Bouchard has seriously impressed me this year. She's reached semi finals in the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. Yesterday, she set up a 2014 Wimbledon Final with Petra Kvitova. Genie is only 20 years old, and is a new, impressive, fresh faced star of the future, already at a ranking of 13. 

Another WTA that has made a big impact is Simona Halep. Only 22 years old and already number 3 in the rankings. She made it to the Roland Garros final this year, to be runner up to Sharapova. 

The new era of tennis is certainly very exciting, and I can't wait to see how the next few years turn out. However, not so fast kids. Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray are not finished yet. With a total of 39 grand slam titles between them, there's no denying the current generation of tennis is one of the best ever. 

Let's see how the next few years pan out, i'm excited.

Grace.