More Questions Than Answers from the Rafael Nadal Camp

Ok, when was the last time Rafael Nadal made excuses in a press conference? I know: after his loss to Juan Martin del Potro in Miami five months ago. He played one of the worst matches I have seen him playing and seemed strangely disinvested on court. He said there was a reason for his poor play. ‘A personal one’. And what did we learn three months later? He had been playing with sore knees for a while and his parents were officially separating. For once it was ok for Rafa to be human. To not be the tireless wining machine and feel vulnerable. And irritable. There were traces of the same behaviour yesterday after his escape from the continuous onslaught of Nicholas Almagro. Nadal’s serve was off. His movement around the court was questionable. His tank was clearly running at no more than 75 percent. The reason became very clear when a trainer treated his abdomen muscles for a full five minutes in the third set. There were rumours of yet another injury.   And w...