Photo: TennisExpress.com, courtesy of Nike

Photo via controlpublicidad.com

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ARTICLES:

• Rafael Nadal pulls out of Buenos Aires citing lack of preparations (CNN.com)

“We are four days away from the tournament and without training and given what happened in Australia, it is impossible for me to prepare adequately for a competition as important as the one in Buenos Aires.”

• Nadal confirma su participación en Abierto de Río (mediotiempo.com)

“Luiz Carvalho, director del torneo, habló con Carlos Costa, agente de Rafael Nadal y continúa confirmado para el Rio Open”, indicó en un correo electrónico Diana Gabanyi, de la oficina de prensa del torneo.

• In win-obsessed world, Nadal offered education in defeat (The Straits Times)

“…That Nadal fought on against Stanislas Wawrinka was an answering to the coding of his DNA. Expected you might think, yet fellow athletes, who understand effort better than us, swooned. Joel Selwood, an Australian Rules football captain, from a physically brutal sport, tweeted: “Would love #Nadal as a team-mate!”…”

• Where do they go from here? (Tennis.com)

“…What I had thought was going to be an inevitable march to 17 or more Grand Slams now looks like a long, perilous struggle again.”

• A falta de Nadal, el ATP de Buenos Aires tendrá otro top 10 (Diario Sanrafael)

La ausencia de Nadal, quien no se recuperó de una lesión en la espalda sufrida en el último Abierto de Australia, llevó a los organizadores a buscar variantes para reemplazar a aquel tenista español, que era la principal atracción del certamen.

• Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray Takes Backseat to Roger Federer vs. Stanislas Wawrinka in 2014 (Andrew Prochnow, via Yahoo)

The big question hiding like an elephant in the corner is whether Murray’s recent success will translate over to his rather uncompetitive rivalry with Nadal.

• Fab four’s domination is not over despite Wawrinka’s win Down Under, says Lendl (dailymail.co.uk)

“…Andy Murray’s head coach believes people will need to see how the first two Masters level events of the season, next month at Indian Wells and Miami, go before making firm judgements about the threat to the quartet’s domination.”

• ATP Trend? Injury plague stars from Nadal to Del Potro (Tennis View Magazine)

If this injury trend continues, it could lead to changes in the ATP pecking order.  A quick glance at the rankings shows there has already been a subtle shift that could indicate a breakup of the dominance of the Big Four.

VIDEOS:

• Message from Rafa regarding withdrawing from Buenos Aires (Rafa Nadal Official Youtube)

PHOTOS:

• Rafael Nadal’s Nike Spring 2014 outfit