Nadal injury : Official Statement says he will be out for 4 weeks

Nadal has been advised a two week complete rest and at least a month away from the game after a medical assessment in Spain. The official statement informed that he will miss up to 4 weeks of tennis but the relief is that this is not the reoccurrence of his tendonitis problem that kept him out of Wimbledon last year.

It's not as bad as I had initially feared in my previous post but it will still keep him out of any competitive tennis for at least a month. I hope he is back to full fitness at the earliest though his long term career prospects would depend on how he handles his game and makes required adjustments.

"For me it is more important to play well again and to have the good feelings on the court that I had in Abu Dhabi, Doha and also at the Australian Open where I played at the highest level.", Nadal said.

Dr Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, who examined Nadal's injury, said the four-time French Open winner would have to rest for two weeks before he "steadily resumes his sporting activity".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8486448.stm

Nadal knee Injury scare deepens. Could keep him out much longer.

Rafael Nadal had to retire midway through the quarter finals against Murray but he had appeared upbeat about his recovery. He had said, "I am not worried, I just have a little tweak and I hope to have recovered in a week or even less,".

Recent update from Nadal camp suggests that Rafa is going to come out with an official statement later in the day. The whole business of making an official release about his injury suggests that it could be much worse that initially suspected. It might keep him out for far longer than the one week he had initially thought.

Will update as soon as the statement is out but if it turns out to be much severe it would be a huge loss to the tour. He could be out long enough to even miss French which possibly would make Roger Federer a top contender in Paris. Could it be all 4 for Roger this year. We will wait and see ...

Make sure to catch the Aussie Open finals between Roger and Murray this sunday.

Chinese challenge ends at Aus Open. Henin-Serena make it to a mouthwatering title match.

I was quite surprised to find two Chinese women in the semi finals of a slam but their challenge today was finally thwarted. Li Na showed a lot of grit and determination to take top seed Serena to two tie breakers but that was all she could manage. She failed to find the killer punch to deflate the American who now appears poised for yet another grand slam title. Serena blew a few match points in the second and it could have reminded her of Venus’s loss in the quarters. Li Na however failed to make any impact in the second set tie breaker which Serena took with relative ease at 7-1 to win the match 7-6, 7-6.

The other semi final was a mere formality as Henin completely demolished the other Chinese challenger - Zheng Jie. Zheng had a good tournament so far but she failed to find any rhythm in her game and any penetration in her strokes to worry Henin who played a perfect match. It was an easy passage to the finals for Henin today but it would be very different when she faces Serena for the title coming Saturday.

Quite surprisingly, this would be the first grand slam final clash between Serena – current no.1 and Henin- former no.1. The way Henin has comeback after a 20 month lay-off is quite stunning but she would now face her biggest test since making that comeback in Brisbane. If Henin wins it would possibly be the greatest comeback in the history of women’s tennis and I would root for her to go all the way. Serena would surely be the favorite but I would go for Henin to upset her and lift the crown. Women’s tennis is alive and kicking again…

Federer makes it 23 in a row at slam semis. Fights back to beat Davydenko.

Federer was down a set and a break in the second before he decided to switch on and what followed was a complete annihilation of Davydenko. Federer won a whopping 13 games in a row before Davydenko could hold again.

The start was quite unexpected as Davydenko broke Federer twice to take the first set 6-2. Federer was looking out of sorts as he was soon broken in the second and he looked set to lose it again down a break point. The serve was looking fragile and ground strokes were sailing long and wide as Davydenko was completely running Federer ragged till that moment in the second set when Federer decided to make amends. Amends he made, in-fact he completely ran over his opponent in the next 13 games to take the second and the third set- third at 6-0.

Fourth set was a classic and the quality of tennis produced by both men was scintillating. It was as good if not better than the first set from yesterday's Nadal-Murray quarter final clash. The set started like the third and Federer was soon a break up and Davy was staring down the barrel. The Russian however was not going to go down without a fight and he broke back after facing a match point at 4-5 with some spectacular ground strokes – 3 winners in a row - on Federer first serve. Soon it was deuce at 5-5 with Davydenko serving when the two men produced an epic of a game that finally sealed the match for the champion. He broke and then served 3 aces in the last game to win the set 7-5 and the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.

Federer turned it around from 2-6, 1-3 and a break point down with some epic tennis. While Davydenko was untouchable - for nearly one and a half sets- the champion showed his class in the end. It was an awesome display of tennis by both men with Federer displaying why he is the greatest man to have ever played this game.

For the record, Federer has now made 23 slam semis in a row and it could be the least decorated of his records at this time but history would make it one of his biggest and possibly the toughest to overcome in the years to come… what a player, what a champion, what a man …

Nadal - Murray set to clash in Quarter Finals tonight. Nadal camp picks Murray as the favorite.

It is the biggest draw of this year’s Australian Open so far and I wish it lives up to the billing. Nadal v Murray will happen today and it will be the biggest test for Nadal in his quest towards retaining the crown he won last year.

Nadal and Federer have been so dominant over the past few years and the way they are playing it won’t be a surprise if they make it to yet another final in Melbourne. The biggest threat to that ‘dream’ final stands in front of Nadal today and it’s none other than Andy Murray.

Murray has a good record against Nadal but still it is quite surprising for Nadal camp to consider Murray as the favorite not only for this match but also for the tournament. Uncle Tony and Nadal have put the pressure right on Murray by calling him the top contender this year and it could be a ploy to stress Murray out even before the match starts. Nadal camp believes that the surface in Melbourne is Murray’s best and therefore he would be a favorite.

I personally believe that Nadal has not quite touched his form from last years’ Australian Open and that is quite evident from the results since he won here last time. He was quite ordinary in years ending Masters where he was eliminated in the group stages. Nadal is trying to regain his top form and Murray would provide him with sternest of tests tonight. This quarter final clash could well have been a deserving final and therefore the winner of today would be tipped to go all the way this year.

I would pick Murray above Rafa for tonight only because Rafa is still not at his best and Murray has enough firepower to upset him. Whoever wins it would be a close match and the one to watch.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jan/25/andy-murray-rafael-nadal-australian-open1