All the top players, most notably Federer and Nadal, are back in action this week at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. This is part of the US Open Series that leads up to the US Open. Federer’s coming off a hot streak, winning Madrid, the French Open, and Wimbledon; regaining no.1 ranking; and having twin girls. Nadal’s coming back from his knee injury.
Nadal’s telling everyone who will listen that he doesn’t expect to win and that it’ll be difficult. He’s lowering expectations and basically saying he’s not sure if he’s 100% but not so long ago he insisted he wouldn’t come back unless he was 100% ready to go. So he’s saying all this stuff about how he’s probably not going to win, but he’s entered into doubles at Montreal! Why would you want to put so much strain on yourself after coming back from such a serious injury? I don’t know, it’s stupid if you ask me. Maybe that’s why Uncle Toni (his coach) isn’t in Montreal.
People were questioning why he played so many clay court tournaments leading up to the French Open. And in hindsight, it was even dumber since he was already having knee problems. Now it’s the same thing, why would you want to risk further injury? Knee tendinitis is supposedly hard to overcome and can recur often. And knee problems have always plagued Nadal (the guy is only 23!). All you can really do is rest or have surgery.
Pure Speculation
Nadal says retaining his ranking doesn’t matter and he’s just focused on being healthy and playing good tennis. I think that’s a lie. I think Uncle Toni isn’t there because he didn’t want Nadal to play. Uncle Toni is his coach and mentor – why the heck wouldn’t he be there? Nadal won Montreal last year and there’s a chance Murray could overtake the no.2 ranking if he goes deep and Nadal loses early.
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