Comments on: BORIS BECKER: NADAL IS DEMORALIZED, FEDERER IS NO BORE

By: Becker habla de Federer y Nadal - Geo Tenis

Becker habla de Federer y Nadal - Geo Tenis — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:31:09 +0000

[...] A continuación, y vía gototennis.com, compartimos la nota. [...]

By: The Binocular

The Binocular — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:48:22 +0000

Still has a few more grand slams in him. Check out whether he should retire

By: alista

alista — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:44:29 +0000

I’m not paying any attention to gloom and doom predictions about how Rafa has been mentally damaged. He doesn’t feel unbeatable anymore? I sincerely doubt he ever did. Every tennis player knows you can’t win every match. Is there any player more mentally strong than Nadal (ok maybe Serena)? I don’t think so. As long as his body doesn’t break down, Nadal will be out there fighting for his next major title. Becker is just wrong here, I think. Wrong, wrong, wrong

By: Denise

Denise — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:13:02 +0000

I am sure that Rafa is fine both physically and mentally. He is only 23 years old. The media ALWAYS glamorize and romanticize. You know “overcoming adversity”, “beating the odds”, the “conquering hero” “dethroning the king”.

By: Denise

Denise — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:07:53 +0000

I am sure that Nadal is fine. The media ALWAYS glamorize and romanticize sports like the “conquering hero” and “having tremendous fortitude” and “overcoming the odds”. You know, a COMEBACK.

By: patzin

patzin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:30:05 +0000

I agree. The media tend to exaggerate “conditions” either Rafa or Roger. I believe Rafa to have a strong mental attitude, and with renewed physical health, he will be strong. He does not have competition for last 2 months which is a disadvantage. However with his spirit, he will do his best, whatever that produces. That is all anyone can do. He never said he was invincible – more media hype.

By: Vivienne

Vivienne — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:28:23 +0000

It seems to me that Nadal has pretty consistently shown enormous mental strength, so Becker’s statements about his “injuries” being entirely mental seem curious.

While I do not think Federer is necessarily a “bore,” his personal characteristics and abilities such as being mulitlingual and “cultured” do not resonate with a large body of newer tennis fans from many different places/ages. I have missed the kind of energy and variety Nadal brings to the game – I do hope he remains healthy and able to play for many years to come.

By: judy

judy — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:41:35 +0000

having federer and nadal playing at their best at the same time will always benefit the game of tennis, so it would be good to see that happen in the coming weeks leading to the us open. it’s unfortunate that nadal is dealing with physical, mental and emotional challenges, but that’s life, you never know what’s going to happen. often the difficult times are when you grow and learn the most about yourself and what you’re capable of.

nadal is unbelievably strong, so no doubt he will come back and be a tough competitor again. after all, federer recently said that if he could have certain attributes from the best players, he’d take nadal’s forehand and his mental toughness! i think counting nadal out is almost like counting fed out. look at what fed accomplished in just a few months- from smashing the racquet and being frustrated with his game in miami, glad the hardcourt season was over to winning the FO and getting to 15! anything can happen, but you’ve got to give the edge to fed at the moment against anyone- his confidence is huge!

ff, thanks for giving us another excuse to watch that great interview again!

By: FeddyBear

FeddyBear — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:40:09 +0000

i couldn’t agree more.

i think Nadal, although i don’t like his tennis style, is probably one of the mentally strongest athletes the wourld has ever seen, and i’m pretty sure he’ll be back on track by the end of the summer. if his knees are better i would say he has a good shot of making it to the US final.

i really hope to see Fed-Nadal final cos i think Fed has to improve his poor record against Rafa and also it could be the perfect ending to a dream grand-slam season…

By: Stush

Stush — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:07:00 +0000

I think Becker was just trying to be sensational by saying that about Rafa as these old pros can be want to do. On the US coverage of Wimbledon they were talking about Nadal being crushed by his parents splitting up, so the reality of his situation could be the perfect storm of physical and mental. To me he never looked quite like his devastating clay self at any point during the clay season (despite all the wins — they weren’t that convincing), and there was speculation about his parents going all the way back to the AO where his mother wasn’t present but his father was, and then after his comments about “personal” problems after his loss in Miami. Anyway I think he’ll play himself back into form but I wouldn’t bet on him making the US Open final.

By: dootsiez

dootsiez — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:59:16 +0000

remember after the Wimbledon final last year, or after the Australian Open this year, when former players started saying that maybe Roger should retire, or that he would never win another slam? Remember?

Now a similar thing is happening to Rafa (though to a lesser extent since Rafa’s younger). You lose a few matches you could’ve won and suddenly people start to doubt you.

Ah Boris …

By: fedfan

fedfan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:38:34 +0000

I think Rafa has done it before – he missed parts of the 2006 season due to an injury – and came back strong. he will do it again. I hate how the media (and Becker is part of that scene now) always exaggerate and dramatize everything that happens. Everything gets so blown out of porportion – Roger was the perfect example for over a year, now they are doing it to Nadal. They put the players on a pedestal and exaggerate their dominance (“unbeatable”, “best ever”, etc.) only to pounce on any losses and failures, so that the story of a comeback can be sold as even more sensational.

By: MamaCoco

MamaCoco — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:21:45 +0000

I agree

By: MamaCoco

MamaCoco — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:20:52 +0000

I agree that I think Rafa is tougher mentally. Injuries and be debilitating. It is not like he didn’t want to play Wimbledon, it seemed like he really did want to play but he had to listen to his advisors.

By: Mara

Mara — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:51:38 +0000

I think that Rafa’s far tougher mentally than Becker’s giving him credit for! But we’ll have to wait for Montreal to see how his time off from tennis, while he recovered from his injuries (physical and/or mental) has helped or not helped him.