Rafael Nadal: Speculation About Knee Injury More Concerning Than Stomach Virus

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: December 29, 2012

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It looks like fans' wait to see Rafael Nadal return to the tennis court just got a whole lot longer. The 26-year-old Spaniard officially withdrew from the Australian Open on Friday, citing the same stomach virus that kept him out Qatar of this week as the reason.

Here is Nadal's full statement, via the Associated Press (h/t ESPN):

My knee is much better and the rehabilitation process has gone well as predicted by the doctors. But this virus didn't allow me to practice this past week, and therefore I am sorry to announce that I will not play in Doha and the Australian Open.

Sure, that all sounds well and good on paper. However, there are some who feel it's Nadal's knee, not some stomach virus, that is truly keeping him out of 2013's first Grand Slam tournament.

That theory is championed (or at the very least buoyed) by a quote from Nicolas Almagro in a Friday media session. According to Yahoo! Sports' Shane Bacon, Almagro said that his countryman did not want to play in Melbourne due to the effect the grueling five-set matches could have on his knees. 

Well, of course it's a surprise, we were talking with him and he told me he’s not 100 percent right now and wants to wait a little bit. He doesn't want to play in Melbourne, it's five sets, his knee's not really good, he's not ready for that. Well, we are waiting for him, we need to wait until South America, in one month, maybe he will be ready.

All told, Almagro's insinuation makes a whole lot of sense. Though Qatar could have been a great tune-up for Nadal, the Australian Open does not start until Jan. 14. That's a little less than a three-week window in which Nadal could have recovered and gotten himself back into form for an opening-round match.

Obviously, if Nadal's knee is not 100 percent and he's not in major-championship shape, then he should sit out. There's no reason to risk further injury to play in a tournament...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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