On Friday, Rafael Nadal will face 25-year-old Filip Krajinovic for a spot in the Paris Masters semifinals.
Rafa has never played world No. 77 Krajinovic. The Serb beat Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. He is playing just his second tour-level event since winning back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles in Rome and Almaty, Kazakhstan. (via ATP)
Date: 3 November 2017
Match time: Rafa is second match on Center Court. Not before 3.30 PM local time / 10.30 AM EDT – New York, Montreal / 2.30 PM GMT – United Kingdom /3.30 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / Saturday, 1.30 AM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa is looking for his maiden title on the Bercy hard courts, which would take him clear of Novak Djokovic with a record 31st Masters triumph.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
I’m not surprised that Rafa has withdrawn from the tournament through injury. He’s played masses of tennis this year and, given his game style and the fact that he skipped Basel only recently because of the knee, the recurrence of this problem was always on the cards.
Reading into what Rafa said in his press conferences, I think he will do the sensible thing and skip the WTF. As he said, he needs to think long term and try to prolong his tennis career. There is no substitute for rest to heal a wounded body. We all want to see Rafa fresh both mentally and physically at the start of next year.
Rafa has announced that he is withdrawing from the Paris Masters. I think it is a wise decision but so sad that it had to happen.
I can imagine all the haters now saying he only played in Paris to get enough points to end the year as no. 1.
We know that is far from the truth. Rafa really wanted to win this tournament , one of the few that he has never won. Hopefully he will be fit for the WTF.
I think Moya may have had some influence in Rafa’s withdrawal as I recall reading that one of Moya’s conditions before becoming Rafa’s coach was that Rafa withdraw promptly when injured and not persist in continuing on and aggravating the condition.
Wise counsel. Rafa has often spent months away from tennis because of playing on when he should have stopped. He is not young anymore He needs to listen to his body and plan his schedule wisely.
Nevertheless my heart aches for him. He so wanted to do well here . He will feel he has let everyone down , but those who follow him through the good times and the bad will never feel that.
nadal has withdrew from paris due to injury. I am affraid the season has turned out to be too long for rafa. Maybe he should end the season and focus on 2018. In this form i dont see him winning the atp tour finals because he has no chance against federer
Rainier, I always like the sensible, balanced points you make. You obviously admire Rafa, as we all do, but can take an unpartisan view of his game and playing style.
I would really like to know your opinion of what Rafa should do now. Withdraw from Paris, if he wins against Krajinovic, or continue? Withdraw from the WT Finals?
And a lot of people say his good run this year is due to the absence of Djoker and Murray. I do not agree with this. What do you think?
Best regards.
Injury? That’s the same leg he violently whacked just above his knee TWICE during a match in Shanghai. Just imagine how strong Rafa is. I hope he has learned a lesson. Not because of how that action looked but because he physically attacked an especially vulnerable part of his body. Of course he’s not going to discuss it. He probably feels embarrassed or ashamed. Other players have the sense to demolish a racquet against the ground.
RAFA ROCKS 2017
Margo
I interpreted Rafa’s knee “whacking” in the penultimate match at Shanghai quite differently from you. I thought he was expressing frustration that, once again, his body was letting him down. I don’t think he’s daft enough to injure himself!
HI Leigh,
I did consider that as an explanation for the whacks and you could be right. However, were I in pain I surely wouldn’t be whacking where it hurts. Until I hear from Rafa or his team, I stand by my deduction. Whatever the cause of his pain, I just pray it is nothing serious.
RAFA ROCKED 2017– #16, 3X’s #10
Don’t let this Serb get to you too, Rafa. Have a great match. WIN WIN WIN
RAFA ROCKS
I was hoping for Rafa to win the Comeback Player of the Year Award, a player-vote award so it’s not up to fans. He is among the nominees though. I was surprised that DelPo is not a nominee.
RAFA ROCKED 2017 with #16
all the very best for your game today,hope your knee is feeling better vamos rafa love to you all.
Good luck and Vamos Rafa <3
Rafa plz withdraw and rest man . I don’t want to see you injured because I am already suffering due to personal reasons.
Hi Navdeep. Sorry to hear that. Hope all will be well with you soon. Stay strong. 🍀
Rafa I guess may be stubborn again. I looked at the photos of his team’s faces during the match again – they were so worried. It was clear to me before the end of the 2nd set something was not right about his movement and serve. He’s playing even worse than in the Shanghai final, where at least he still had the serve working.
Watching him still sliding violently into his BH, chasing every dropshot, “carefully constructing” too many points etc. was quite painful to me. It’s like he decided to abandon the thought about his knee and just play like he normally does, though of course it was still nowhere near his true level.
Too messy a match from both players, I have to admit. I hope Rafa won’t play on painkiller tomorrow. He can be extremely stubborn by his own admission. He might think since this happened many times in the past, he can get away with it again this time, playing through injury and painkiller and still getting through.
The difference is he’s much older now than he was since 2014 backwards. And for once if he could stay injury free for 2 consecutive years, a lot of things might happen…
“Watching him still sliding violently into his BH…” – I mean in the 3rd set.
Rafa good luck vamosssssssssssssssssssss Champ.all the way 🎾🎾🎾👍👍👍🇺🇸❤️
Rainier,you are the best.We just want Rafa to do what is in his best interest health wise.That is all that matters.So important to follow best medical advise.Health is everything.Only One Rafa.Vamos.
Play smart-stay healthy💪👏👍❤️
Not good sheduling for Rafa in the current circumstances. Only several hours to rest between all the press duty, recover treatment, knee check up, eat, sleep, practice, some press duty again…He still insists to play until the end and refuses to discuss his knee, as expected.
I don’t know what to expect for tomorrow. Krajinovic seems to be on a roll now and this is his favourite surface, depite winning all the finals he played this year on the Challenger tour, 5/5 all on clay. He plays like Agassi and has the unknown quality, so if Rafa still grinds too much with his already troubled knee, I have no doubt he will find himself in trouble.
All in all I just hope Rafa come out of this tourney safe and sound, win or lose.
Good luck, Rafa. Please listen to your body and try to finish the point quickly. Don’t grind and scramble too much any more with that knee.