One gets tired of constantly playing with pain
Photo by Beth Wilson
“Uno se cansa de jugar constantemente con dolor” by Juan José Mateo as translated by Inés.
“One gets tired of constantly playing with pain”
Toni Nadal analyzes the situation of his nephew Rafael, who premieres on Monday a treatment for Hoffa’s syndrome while he expects to play the Davis
On Monday, Rafael Nadal will fly to Barcelona to meet with Dr. Cotorro, his personal doctor and from the Federation of tennis. “He has to do a new treatment,” It says by phone Toni Nadal, his uncle and coach, explaining why the world number three has stopped practicing with the racket. “It was best go [to the doctor] without forcing the issue. He goes to Barcelona with Cotorro, and after we will start all over again. Now there is no hurry already “. The theme is the hoffitis that Nadal is suffering, a painful inflammation in the left knee. The lack of emergency is due to the tennis player has already pulled out the Olympics and the tournaments of Toronto, Cincinnati and the U.S. Open, which will leave a minimum of 78 days without competing. The treatment, so far based on physiotherapy, physical therapy, and thermotherapy Iontophoresis, will be determined in Barcelona under the supervision of Cotorro, who did not want to give futher details That is for the pain. What about the spirit, the will, that inner fire that leads Nadal to victory ? How is that being treated after the disappointment of not being able to be the flag bearer of Spain in the Olympics?
“I talk to Rafael about two things right now ,” Toni reasons. “First of all, that with all that he has already won , he can be satisfied, because we have had far fewer problems than they were predicting in 2005 [some doctors told him he could not be able to compete at the highest level because of the injured foot]. Then, that you have to take the rough with the smooth, “, continues his coach. “He feels he is dropping in the ranking, that means that he sees everything much more complicated afterwards to climb back up again, that he doubts. I tell him: ‘Look at Del Potro, he was injured for a year, came back and is still playing almost the same level. Look at Carlos Moya, he came back, . We drop a bit in the ranking, next year we will be a little bit tighter but after so much time at the top , you must be calm ‘. That is my message. Accept the adversities. Take the rough with the smooth.”
The Argentine Del Potro suffered a wrist injury, descended to inferno of being the world number 485, and then he has managed to get back into the top ten. Moyá, the friend, the adviser, the number one who trained with that dark haired teenager, dropped to the number 59 and then returned to a place in the top four.
This is what Nadal listens, the winner of 11 Major, the 2008 Olympic champion, the clay court ogre, when he decides to put the brakes and not go to the U.S. Open, which begins 27(of August). Doctors tell him that the tendons of his knees are much better than three years ago, when he began treatment with plasma rich growth factors. He replies them that Hoffa’s syndrome, that troublesome left knee pain, which sometimes makes even walking uncomfortable, has not disappeared despite the days of rest and treatment after his second round lost at Wimbledon, his last tournament.
“It was going well, but we saw that there was still some discomfort,” says Toni about the final attempt to get to New York. “One gets tired of constantly playing with pain. You know that, in the end, it’s just papering over the cracks; is the short road [a shorter career]. That’s why we decided not to play until he is one hundred percent, “he argues. “The problem has improved, but discomfort persist. Going to the U.S. Open, if he had not had problems in the first match, he would have had in the second. Better stop. In theory, this, once is healed , this is it.There is no reason to think that it it will happens again. More complicated was the tendon issue, and that’s much better “, he ended.
Nadal dreams about of playing the Davis Cup semifinals, that will face U.S. to Spain in Gijon from 14 to 16 September. He has almost a month to get himself ready. First the pain has to disappear. Then he has to get a a certain minimum level of fitness in the practice. Finally, would be the competition: If Alex Corretja, the Spanish captain, counts on him, the thinking in the the Mallorcan’s team is probably, at the moment, that the ideal thing would be for him to play the doubles, and not the single’s match on the opening day.
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Does anyone have any updates on his trip to the doctor on Monday?
I second this question. Any update?
I miss Rafa tennis. I want him to be 100% ready to compete again (and for a long time), but would it be too much to ask for him to play in Shanghai in October, so I’d finally see him play? :( Please?
i can’t imagine rafa dropping to 485 in the world like delpo??? that’s just unbearable to watch!
he will be fine! rafa can be number 851 in the world and still number one in our hearts! so don’t you worry about ranking rafa, that’s just a number!
Why unbearable? It will happen at some point and it will be bearable. I love Rafa, I miss Rafa playing tennis but I want him to be well and happy more than him playing in pain to keep us fans happy and his ranking high. He has given us so much since 2005 and with his foot problem, it is amazing what he has managed to achieve. Hopefully he will be back soon, playing as pain free as he can, and enjoying himself.
Rafa has 6840 ranking (race) points already this year. That’s plenty to keep him in the top 6 or so – probably in 4th – even if he doesn’t play another match this year. DelPo’s ranking plummeted because he was out for more than a year and then came back rather slowly.
Overall, this sounds pretty positive, correct? Is the issue with Hoffa’s syndrome seemingly more correctable and less problematic long-term than the tendonopathy?
Cas, Heath, your thoughts?
Oh, how i wish he would worry less about rankings and such. When he’s healthy, i don’t see how you pick against Rafa, in any tournament, on any surface. It’ll take a little while to get his timing back, and you hope he doesn’t aggravate something else in the process, but…doesn’t this sound like pretty good news, overall?
Yes, Joel – it does sound positive. The Hoffa’s fat pad problem is amenable to both conservative management and arthroscopic surgery – though from what I understand, Rafa is not in a hurry to consider the latter. As to his rankings, I’m not so sure he’s as bothered as this piece suggests he might be – or as bothered as some people here are.
I concur with Heath. I’m not nearly as concerned as I once was. I think Darren Cahill hit the nail on the head with his comments about Rafa’s team managing his ongoing condition over the years and the 2010 results of a 100% healthy Rafa.
im not bothered about his ranking dropping even if he does not play anymore this year. yes he has lost alot of points now but he will still be top 10 atleast. He wouldnt return until he is injury free, fit and at a level enough to compete to WIN, not just compete. Rafa stating he will play less on hard courts to prolong his career is a wise decision. Titles are more important than ranking,thats what you are remembered for ,not what ranking you were at the time.Del po was ranked 6 when he won the USO in 2009.
im thinking this looking at the wider picture: Rafa will be hard to beat on clay,he can gain in madrid as its returning to red dirt, then from wimbledon onwards he will gain alot of points quickly. He will gain points the minute he steps on court and if he only plays wimbledon and USO and wins its 4000 points.Roger and Novak will have lots of points to defend. Novak couldnt repeat 2011 this year, Roger wont repeat 2012 in 2013. Rafa will be back to no 1. You only need to look back to 2009 and see what happened in 2010.
Im feeling positive now. Rafa is not done.
I do not mind whichever ranking number appears beside his name. Rafa has won everything worth winning in tennis. Everything he wins from now on is a bonus.
He can gain a lot of points next year, that’s the true. But that’s the thing with success in tennis, though, a good year of wins is followed by the massive effort involved in trying to defend them the next.
I sure hope he will be playing pain-free next year, imagine how awesome he will be.
Indeed.
Sure, to be honest, I’d like Rafa to be #1, holder of all 4 Slam victories, and King Dominator of the Tennis World for All Time! — but I’ll settle for Rafa being happy and healthy and, if he can and wants to, playing tennis. That’s a big get, right there.
I am grateful for all he’s done and has, along the way, given to the fans of great tennis. I am thankful that he’s let us in on some of his life, observers that we are. Can anyone ask for more? Surely not.
Vamos, Rafa!
Couldn’t agree more!
also next year the players will lose their olympic points.
Today the news is out that Rafa will play an exho vs. DelPotro at MSG in NYC next March.
While this is great news for me in NYC, it makes me think of a few things.
1. First and foremost why the exho when he is trying to cut back – sure maybe he wants to make up to his NYC fans for missing the USO :)
2. It implies he is in North America for IW and Miami – which means he is playing the HC tourneys which I thought he would skip to cut back his games on that specific surface. Unless I am wrong and he is playing these on his way to or from S. American clay court tourneys.
We will have to wait and see how things shape up.
I wonder if this is similar to the Federer/Roddick match at MSG this year. I agree Rafa should be scaling back his hardcourt tournaments where ever possible. It is possible this was planned prior to him being sidelined but just being announced anyway. He has skipped exhibitions before.
Yes, it is the same exhibition as the one Fed/Roddick did at MSG this year.
Regardless of how long the wait is, we want Rafa back only when he is 100% healthy!
The court is not the same without Rafa around but priority is Rafa’s health.
OMG I just came back from holidays and I am trying to catch up with Rafa news…I haven’t read everything about Rafa’s condition yet so I do feel a bit concerned! I hope it is not the beginning of the end for Rafa, even if his ranking drops.