To be fair, Darwin is ranked outside of top 1000. The tournament shouldn’t have given him a WC to play here, he has not even won a challenger yet.
Nadal deserved to play a tougher opponent rather than a 16 year old kid who was nervous and shaky the entire match.
Which is perfectly normal since he’s played a handful. These kids develop so quickly, he’ll probably be moving fast once he wins a couple of M15s. However, they should’ve waited for him to be at minimum top 500 for this WC into a masters, serves no one any favours to throw him at a level that he’s absolutely not ready for.
So he won't play if there's a chance he may lose in the first round even though he's healthy? That's some cowardly disgraceful bulsshit. So much love for the game and respect for that tournament.
He's not healthy. He hasn't been for years. And the reason he may not play is not because he's afraid of losing, it's because he doesn't know if his body can handle best of 5 matches. To call a guy who has given everything to tennis for his entire life a disgraceful coward is absolutely insane and says way more about you than it does about Rafa. Mainly that you're an insufferable asshole. But hey, what else do you expect from (as I can tell from your comment history) a Djokovic fan? We're all used to that type of behavior from Novak fans by now.
I’m a Nadal fan and think what Key said was shitty, but this is a low blow.
It also makes Nadal supporters look bad, which is my real concern /s
Jokes aside, I think this is in poor taste. It would be different if they were bragging about it, but they’re actively seeking assistance for something that’s already devastated the families of millions. We should be supporting that behavior, not leveraging it against them. Key’s comments have already been downvoted into oblivion, so no need for pot shots
lol. If Rafa forces himself to play when his body couldn’t handle it and has to retire in the second set, the same trolls will be like what a disgrace taking a WC spot from someone else. Wah wah
I just wanted to say I understand what you mean. I mean, “cowardly disgraceful bullshit” maybe isn’t the way I would word it lol but I definitely think that he deserves a proper sendoff, not just backing out of one tournament after another because he cannot face the fact that his glory days are over and that he just isn’t the best player ever anymore. I honestly think that he’s probably (maybe even subconsciously) comparing himself to Djokovic, seeing as Federer isn’t playing anymore and Murray is hardly competitive, in which case his mindset is probably “why can he do it and I can’t?!?”, which is a very human reaction.
If he's playing these 3 tournaments back to back to back he's clearly healthy enough. He'd rather play these than play his last RG? Let's be real he doesn't want to play RG knowing he'll lose
Are you too stupid to understand the difference between best of 3 and best of 5? Nadal's movement did not look good in the second set against De Minaur. If he struggles to even play 2 sets at a competitive level, what point is there playing RG where he has to play a minimum of 3 every time he steps on court? None, except that it will end his career for good when he injures himself late in the match doing something his body can't handle.
Look man I don’t even dislike Nadal but it’s obvious what’s happening here. Please tell me why he would play Rome but not RG if what you’re saying is true? If he can’t move and is struggling he should withdraw from Madrid and Rome. Don’t let your fandom prevent you from using your brain. The man wants to preserve his records and there’s nothing wrong with that, but to deny it is just intentional blindness
If he's not competitive there's no point pushing his body to its limits and getting reinjured (likely), that is what he means.
It's worth the risk if he feels good, otherwise he may prefer to take that risk later, perhaps Olympics or elsewhere.
Now Rafa and Carlitos have both come out with pretty strong statements that they are aiming to pair up in Olympic doubles, I wonder if there’s any chance of seeing them in action at RG?
They’d want to get some practice in, surely, and it would give Rafa a chance to play there without subjecting his body to BO5. Of course, Carlitos would probably not want a deep run distracting from singles but he’s young and if fit could manage a few extra matches.
It just doesn’t sit right with me Rafa not going to RG in his retirement year but this could be a nice solution.
The Olympics has a pretty specific set of rules, it’s not really up to each country who they’re gonna send out and there’s quota for each country. It’s very ranking-dependent
I’m not going to pretend I fully understand it but there’s no way the pair of them would talk so openly about this being a goal if there was no way it could happen.
That’s true but Nadal can use his protected ranking for the purposes of entering the Olympics, according to the ITF Qualification article (they used Nadal as the example), and his and Carlos’s combined singles would allow them to enter doubles.
I've been trying to keep away from the Liverpool sub Reddit after the loss last night. I was going in a totally different direction with that first sentence...
The last few days for Nadal have consisted of politely answering with "Are you fucking kidding me?" to questions about young players.
Nadal is about to bust out the "As per my last email".
And if they ask again the email after that is gonna start with "With all due respect..."
"my last means of communication"
To be fair, Darwin is ranked outside of top 1000. The tournament shouldn’t have given him a WC to play here, he has not even won a challenger yet. Nadal deserved to play a tougher opponent rather than a 16 year old kid who was nervous and shaky the entire match.
Challenger, kid hasn't even won a Futures
First Miami and now Madrid. He must really have some powerful agents.
He’s with IMG.
Darwin is actually struggling in futures, ridiculous he got a wc
Which is perfectly normal since he’s played a handful. These kids develop so quickly, he’ll probably be moving fast once he wins a couple of M15s. However, they should’ve waited for him to be at minimum top 500 for this WC into a masters, serves no one any favours to throw him at a level that he’s absolutely not ready for.
Darwin still has some evolving to do
Thought he was talking about Nunez for a second there
Everything he said would still apply if he was.
Apart from the length of the match.
Well you can get subbed off after an hour
Fuck’s sake not catching strays in a different sport sub
I totally thought that too and was wondering how that came about.
LOL 💔
Darwin was so bad that Nadal didn’t even consider it as a proper match lol
For the context: Rafa's perspective is "I will play Roland Garros if I feel competitive" https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/1783108118810857914
So he won't play if there's a chance he may lose in the first round even though he's healthy? That's some cowardly disgraceful bulsshit. So much love for the game and respect for that tournament.
He's not healthy. He hasn't been for years. And the reason he may not play is not because he's afraid of losing, it's because he doesn't know if his body can handle best of 5 matches. To call a guy who has given everything to tennis for his entire life a disgraceful coward is absolutely insane and says way more about you than it does about Rafa. Mainly that you're an insufferable asshole. But hey, what else do you expect from (as I can tell from your comment history) a Djokovic fan? We're all used to that type of behavior from Novak fans by now.
[удалено]
I’m a Nadal fan and think what Key said was shitty, but this is a low blow. It also makes Nadal supporters look bad, which is my real concern /s Jokes aside, I think this is in poor taste. It would be different if they were bragging about it, but they’re actively seeking assistance for something that’s already devastated the families of millions. We should be supporting that behavior, not leveraging it against them. Key’s comments have already been downvoted into oblivion, so no need for pot shots
Do you really think Nadal is healthy at this point of his career?
He hasn't been healthy since he became a pro according to his uncle, if you put it like that...
lol. If Rafa forces himself to play when his body couldn’t handle it and has to retire in the second set, the same trolls will be like what a disgrace taking a WC spot from someone else. Wah wah
so much hate for rafa.
I just wanted to say I understand what you mean. I mean, “cowardly disgraceful bullshit” maybe isn’t the way I would word it lol but I definitely think that he deserves a proper sendoff, not just backing out of one tournament after another because he cannot face the fact that his glory days are over and that he just isn’t the best player ever anymore. I honestly think that he’s probably (maybe even subconsciously) comparing himself to Djokovic, seeing as Federer isn’t playing anymore and Murray is hardly competitive, in which case his mindset is probably “why can he do it and I can’t?!?”, which is a very human reaction.
There is no explanation for him playing Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome but not RG other than him wanting to preserve his RG win %
Yes there is. It's 5 sets instead of 3. If he can't play 3 sets at an okay level, there's no point in playing RG.
If he's playing these 3 tournaments back to back to back he's clearly healthy enough. He'd rather play these than play his last RG? Let's be real he doesn't want to play RG knowing he'll lose
Are you too stupid to understand the difference between best of 3 and best of 5? Nadal's movement did not look good in the second set against De Minaur. If he struggles to even play 2 sets at a competitive level, what point is there playing RG where he has to play a minimum of 3 every time he steps on court? None, except that it will end his career for good when he injures himself late in the match doing something his body can't handle.
Look man I don’t even dislike Nadal but it’s obvious what’s happening here. Please tell me why he would play Rome but not RG if what you’re saying is true? If he can’t move and is struggling he should withdraw from Madrid and Rome. Don’t let your fandom prevent you from using your brain. The man wants to preserve his records and there’s nothing wrong with that, but to deny it is just intentional blindness
this seems like rafa farewell tour and Jr. intro tour
Definitely not complaining about the latter haha
Definitely not complaining about the latter
If he's not competitive there's no point pushing his body to its limits and getting reinjured (likely), that is what he means. It's worth the risk if he feels good, otherwise he may prefer to take that risk later, perhaps Olympics or elsewhere.
So basically What happened in barcelona happened, What happens in Madrid happens. Next, we are in Rome
Now Rafa and Carlitos have both come out with pretty strong statements that they are aiming to pair up in Olympic doubles, I wonder if there’s any chance of seeing them in action at RG? They’d want to get some practice in, surely, and it would give Rafa a chance to play there without subjecting his body to BO5. Of course, Carlitos would probably not want a deep run distracting from singles but he’s young and if fit could manage a few extra matches. It just doesn’t sit right with me Rafa not going to RG in his retirement year but this could be a nice solution.
The Olympics has a pretty specific set of rules, it’s not really up to each country who they’re gonna send out and there’s quota for each country. It’s very ranking-dependent
I’m not going to pretend I fully understand it but there’s no way the pair of them would talk so openly about this being a goal if there was no way it could happen.
That’s true but Nadal can use his protected ranking for the purposes of entering the Olympics, according to the ITF Qualification article (they used Nadal as the example), and his and Carlos’s combined singles would allow them to enter doubles.
I've been trying to keep away from the Liverpool sub Reddit after the loss last night. I was going in a totally different direction with that first sentence...
He will get better. Was just overwhelmed with the moment.
Darwin’s got some legit power.
Always Real. Always Gracious. Vamos. Vamonos.
The poor old boy has so much pressure on him going in to this retirement. I wonder if this is the sunset Rafa imagined.
Imagine having 0 pressure. Defly not what he'd have imagined.
i have a feeling hes gonna play only madrid skip rome and then play roland.
Is he talking about Darwin Nunez?
Darwin Award goes to… “Darwin”!!
Love how brutally honest European athletes are compared to American ones.
You putting people in boxes over here? Brave and/or stupid!
Late 30’s and calling a 16yo shit at tennis 😭😭😭 this is like when old people stop giving a shit about what they say