Going to need a strong umpire on Sunday to clamp down on Nadalās blatant cheating. How many time violations has he had now over the course of this tournament?
Nadal is clean as a whistle. So clean that he asked the tennis federation to publish all his drugs tests and blood reports in the public domain due to all the slanderous nonsense said about him.
Has Federer ever offered the same? There should be a lot more questions asked about Federer from a doping perspective than Nadal.
Blatant cheating?
Tell all about the endemic doping culture in Swiss sport - the Swiss answer to Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Is that why Andy Murray went to Spain to train as a tennis player?
Nadal is clean, he has nothing to hide.
Any comment on the courts being sped up in order to benefit Federer this year at the Australian Open?
Sir Andrew went to Spain for the weather, not the readily available performance enhancing drugs programme. The constant rain and cold in Scotland isnāt conducive to training to be an elite tennis player.
Nadal is a strange strange individual with a lot of questions hanging over him.
Court conditions are the same for all players. Federer is a lowly 17th seed pushing 36 years of age. Playing at night favours a baseline slogger like Nadal over the more skilled Federer. Balls move a lot slower at night time than they do during the day.
Thatās quite an assumption.
Your take on it seems to be that everyone in tennis is on drugs except Nadal. Now thatās an extraordinary assumption.
I didnāt say that, I said I find it odd that people question Nadal when there are much more dubious players out there like Federer and Murray for example.
sweep sweep
Amazing out of all the Mediterranean, hot climate countries available to train in, Murray chose the country that Geoff reckons has an endemic doping culture and dodgy docs.
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Yup
odd he couldnt train indoors either
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Maybe its the numerous long periods of absence that have characterised his career, invariably followed by a particularly humiliating defeat which is then typically followed by a return some 5-6 months later with a bulked up frame, endless reservoirs of stamina and tip top form.
Nadal has the same frame heās had for about 10 years now.
I think youāre trying to paint an inaccurate picture to embellish your fantasies.
Nadalās career chart is characterised by Grand Slams where he played badly and was eliminated early invariably followed by long period of absence, followed by a re-emergence 5-6 months later in top form.
Championship 2005, lost to Round 2 to Gilles Muller, lost in Round 3 at Flushing Meadows a few weeks later to wild card James Blake - didnāt play in the next Grand Slam some four months later in Australia and re-emerged a few months after that to win the 2006 French Open.
Fourth round defeat to Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open, didnāt play the next Grand Slam which was the Championship.
Second round defeat at the 2012 Championship to journeyman Lukas Rosol, disappeared for months, didnāt play US Open 2012, Australian Open 2013, re-emerged for the clay court season and outlasted the then all conquering Novak Djokovic in a French Open semi final that lasted over four and a half hours.
Fourth round defeat at the 2014 Championship to wildcard Nick Kyrgios, another 5-6 month absence, skipping US Open 2014, re-emerging in Australia.
Various humiliating defeats in 2016 to the likes of Fernando Verdasco, first round in Australia, Lucas Pouille, fourth round in US - another 5-6 month absence and now back to top form in Melbourne.
He was injured those times, mate. Hence why he had to take time out.
If Nadal had the suspect injury free record Federer had he would be sitting on about 25 grand slams by now.
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Federer is a warrior. Heās played through the pain barrier for years with a bad back and bad knee. If Nadal has as much as a cold, the OCD kicks into overdrive, heās trotting out the excuses and ducking out of tournaments and out of sight for months on end.
If Federer is such a warrior then why does he wilt against Nadal?
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Nadalās outlasting Federer in a 5 set 2009 Australian final is one of the most incredible physical feats Iāve witnessed in any sport - just 48 hours on from outlasting Fernando Verdasco in a 5 hour 14 minute semi final, particularly when Federer had a day extra from his semi final.
Yesterdayās effort in 4 hours 56 minutes to outlast an opponent five years his junior wasnāt far behind it, in the physical superman stakes. No doubt Nadal will be fresh as a daisy tomorrow morning.
Federer is unassisted by performance enhancing drugs, and fit and all as he is, has succumbed to tiredness and fatigue, particularly in his veteran years. As I had outlined earlier, in Federerās veteran years, a 5 set win has very often exacted a heavy physical toll and has been followed by up a surprise defeat, 2013 French - beat Gilles Simon in 5 in Round 4, lost next round to Tsonga. 2014 US Open - beat Monfils in 5 in the quarter final, lost in the semi final to Cilic. 2016 Championship - beat Cilic in 5 in the quarter final, lost in the semi final to Raonic.
You moan about Nadal getting away with time violations and then say itās remarkable how he lasts 5 set games over 5 hours long.
You are a contradiction, Geoff.