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Did Nadal Use Fake Injury To Psyche Out Fritz?
62 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
By Scoop Malinowski
Everybody knew Rafael Nadal was going to have his hands full with Taylor Fritz, who cruised through the Wimbledon draw to the quarterfinals without losing a set.
And when Nadal is in trouble on the court in the second week of a Grand Slam, he will do anything to win including using the smokescreen of a sudden new injury.
That’s just what happened today. Nadal lost the first set to Fritz 6-3 and then he promoted to the gallery and world watching that he had an abdominal injury. Nadal used a seven minute medical timeout and then won the second set 7-5.
It’s an interesting choice of injury for Nadal to use because Novak Djokovic also claimed to have an ab injury vs Fritz at the Australian Open a couple of years ago. Djokovic ended up beating Fritz in five sets and won the title that year.
So today, Nadal coincidentally has, or pretended to have, an ab injury and guess what? Nadal ended up winning today in five sets, 36 75 36 75 76.
Nadal, like Djokovic, was not hampered visibly by any ab injury and for the duration of the match pounded forehands, backhands and serves – I can’t recall one double fault in the fifth set – and moved well for a 36 year old with a crippled foot or formerly crippled foot just a couple of weeks ago as Nadal was promoting the narrative his career may be at the very end and he may never play another match. For a supposedly hurt guy to also be snarling on court after big points, like Nadal did, is additional evidence the injury was a hoax. I did not see Nadal wince in pain once in the fifth set. But I saw him snarl a few times.
So Fritz succumbed again to a superstar claiming injury, as so many zero Slam winners have in the past – Mayotte vs Becker at Wimbledon, Corretja vs Sampras at US Open, Halep vs Wozniacki at AO…
Nadal did not appear injured today in the fifth set, he looked more like a fading superstar all time legend who at 36, still believes and hopes and aspires to win more Grand Slams but he knows physically he is not improving so he needs to use Jedi mind tricks to help his cause.
It’s unfortunate for Fritz because he should be in his first Grand Slam semifinal. But it was a lesson learned today that he needs to become more ruthless and vicious and unafraid to slay a dragon like Nadal. He can’t let opponent’s injuries or faked injuries affect his intensity and performance by a fraction. Because this sport is all about fractional edges and inches.
Nadal advances to the semi where he will meet Nick Kyrgios, winner in three sets today vs Cristian Garin.
Nike · Rafael Nadal · Taylor Fritz · Wimbledon
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« Previous 1 2Scoop Malinowski · July 17, 2022 at 10:42 am
It would be a disaster PR wise for US Open to do nothing to try to help Djokovic play. Also if Federer and Nadal stay silent it will expose them as backstabbers. John McEnroe is carrying the load so far, you would think more would have the guts to do the right thing.
Cyndy · July 17, 2022 at 12:15 pm
Right now itās hugely and solely McEnroe that is genuinely supportive of Djokovicā¦ I do wish more from the tennis circle would come together and really speak up in favour of their fellow tennis playerā¦.I mean really do thatā¦, its just that this horrible incident started at the AusOpen and the North American swing organisers are following suit. I feel we are wasting a great talent and one who is a professional tennis player who has reached the pinnacle of this sport and are thus denied from watching a masterful performanceā¦ still fingers crossed ..
Scoop Malinowski · July 17, 2022 at 5:37 pm
It happens in boxing too, some of the greatest talents are cheated out of the big fights because the establishment doesn’t want their more popular money maker franchise to lose an outsider. Novak 2022 could have been the greatest player performance season of all time, even better than 2021 Novak. Now because of corruption we will never know.
Cyndy · July 17, 2022 at 8:50 pm
Very terrible and very sad. Hope that he will rise back presently from being No.7 (unthinkable)ā¦ most are gloatingā¦. Any other player would have crumbled or slid into the shadowsā¦. Like the rest there is still passion for the gameā¦.
Scoop Malinowski · July 17, 2022 at 8:58 pm
This terrible injustice will work in Novak’s favor though, he is the ultimate victim but he never complains about it, he just keeps fighting and working and trying. Very heroic and inspiring figure, more so than Fed and Rafa ever were.
I saw Rafa crumble totally in the 2014 AO F v Stan, after losing first set he faked a ten minute injury time out off court, when he returned, the laver arena booed him. He could not play after this humiliation rejection by the AO crowd. He tried to play pretending he was hurt but they didn’t believe the con. Stan’s AO triumph was ruined in a way by Rafa. But it illustrates how fragile Rafa can be, even though he was wrong and caught faking in this case, yet Djokovic has endured much worse, though for actions and bravery not deserving of any suffering.
Cyndy · July 20, 2022 at 9:49 pm
At this stage of the pandemic and we are well into the three year mark., it is preposterous not to allow Djokovic to play at tournaments as a professional. There are many āunvaccinatedā individuals as well in the population and itās not as if they are going around contaminating everyoneā¦ i just hope the USTA will allow him to play this yearās tournament. It seems like we are at some far flung age where the mighty stipulations are āthou shalt not enterā ā¦. Oh goodnessā¦ they should wake up!
Scoop Malinowski · July 21, 2022 at 7:25 am
Cyndy, at this point it’s clear it is about controlling the herds of sheeple. If the puppetmasters really cared about public health they would ban cigarettes and alcohol which cause far more illness and death than this media flu. Many dark forces are conspiring to destroy Djokovic.
Cyndy · July 21, 2022 at 10:05 am
Truly terrible and very sad Scoop Malinowskiā¦I actually thought that the US would exempt him so to speak firstly as a professional in the sport and secondly he just won Wimbledon and he is still number 1 technically speakingā¦.the vultures are encircling with a hyena-minded moveā¦. The tennis wannabe youngsters are sure gonna miss out to have the opportunity to watch one of the greats in the sport playing and to learn good tennis tactics and skills sets et alā¦… All because of the folly of a few of the people.
Scoop Malinowski · July 21, 2022 at 10:28 am
Cyndy they run the risk of ruining the sport’s integrity and honor forever. Boxing hasn’t been the same since the boxing establishment installed a phony fixed fraud pretender and self confessed coward (floyd mayweather) as the face of the sport. To cheat and deny the greatest tennis player of all time from being able to reach his full athletic potential may be the greatest injustice and embarrassing shame in sports history. Hoping these dark forces come to their senses asap… ‘How can he not be there?’ – Novak Djokovic should be allowed to play at the US Open, says John McEnroe. āHow can he not be there? He has just won Wimbledon, he is a great champion and he should be in the US Open.”
Cyndy · July 23, 2022 at 12:43 pm
Scoop Malinowski, I read that Tennys Sandgren is also fighting hard that Djokovic does get the opportunity to play the USOpenā¦. We do know that McEnroe doesnāt mince and twist his words and says it like it is ā¦ so will still keep fingers crossed!X
Scoop Malinowski · July 23, 2022 at 2:42 pm
Cyndy, BJK, Laver, Connors, and his new teammates Nadal and Federer should also be lobbying for Novak to play Cincy and US Open too.
Cyndy · July 23, 2022 at 6:32 pm
Scoop Malinowskiā¦. Yes, logically and in all honesty they should be speaking up for him together with McEnroeā¦..