Scans for Nadal after Australian Open retirement

I've always admired Nadal for his hard work, endurance and sportsmanship however was disappointed by his moaning after the match he withdrew from because of injury. Prior to leaving that match (and getting the injury) he was full of praise for the Australian Open (well run, great fans blah-blah-blah) then suddenly when things go pear-shaped he's full of criticism. Players know when they come here that it's going to be hot - potentially very hot for at least a couple of days - and what sort of courts they will be playing on. Nadal plays a punishing type of tennis that must be very hard on his body and has increasingly had some serious injuries to overcome. Once players are into their thirties (and they are playing longer now than ever before) it stands to reason that their injury rate will be higher and more serious. At the moment Murray, Djokovic, Nadal, Wawrinka and the great Federer are all suffering injuries which can't be blamed on the Australian Open (courts and heat) - Federer seems to be the only one of the big four who has gotten over his (for the moment at least). Professional sport takes its toll, something younger people gloss over and think will never happen to them. I always feel mildly alarmed when I read about young men and women having knee surgery, shoulder surgery, hip surgery, spinal surgery all as a result of their sport. These are things that are normally in the province of people as they age, not in healthy young adults. The rewards of professional sport, both financially and personally, can be great but there is a downside. I shall be interested to see how Nadal goes for the rest of the season. I suspect he may have punished his body beyond the stage of permanent recovery.

I didn't say that Plexi was not harsh on the body. I said that it was easier on the body than Rebound Ace and that was one of the reasons Tennis Australia changed in 2008. Chris Clarey, one of the best tennis journalists around wrote (in the NYT in 2008) after interviewing Craig Tiley and players that "the consensus is that Plexicushion will be less punishing than Rebound Ace, which many players blamed for ankle injuries and hip soreness even though a study by the men's and women's tours failed to find an incontrovertible link". I didn't say that grass courts can't be maintained in Australia. I said that it would be a challenge to maintain them - and it would be. When the Australian Open was played exclusively at Kooyong (early 70s until 1987, prior to 70s it rotated around the states) the standard of the courts in week 2 was always an issue. Whenever there is a dry Wimbledon players complain about the bumpiness of the courts in week 2 - it would be doubly so in Melbourne in January. And there is absolutely no chance of TA and the Victorian Government putting grass courts at Melbourne Park and converting the AO back to grass. I know what Nadal's injury is because his camp announced it earlier today - "the MRI showed a grade 1 injury of his illiopsoas on his right leg" (ie a torn anterior hip muscle). That isn't an impact injury, it is a tear. Nadal did not blame the hard court for last night's injury - he actually said in his conference that he felt it when running for a drop shot. He did complain about hard courts in general, probably because he was angry and frustrated last night and also, as I said in my comment above, that he has suffered injuries (to his knees in particular) in the pas that have been attributed to sustained playing on hard courts. Your comment that "There is no variation in tactics or strategy" in relation to clay court play is simply nonsense. Playing at high level on clay courts involves mainly baseline rallies, but tactics play a huge part in how you move your opponent around the court and how you create an opening to hit a winner, which is harder than on most hard courts because the court speed is slower. And a good clay court player will have the drop shot as a weapon to use regularly - you just have to watch a clay court match to know that. I suggest that you go and check the statistics - of any match in this year's AO - to see that hard court tennis also mainly involves baseline rallies. Example Chung v Djokovic - 266 points in match, but only 16 won by volleys or overheads. Nearly all points apart from aces and unreturned serves were won (or lost) after baseline rallies - winners, forced errors and unforced errors. Most players these days play from the baseline (excepting Misha Zverev and a few others). Most players rarely serve/volley and most only come to the net when they are clearly in control of the point, usually after a baseline rally. Even Federer wins most of his points from the baseline. When he won his 4th round match there were 189 points in the match and less than 20 won at the net. So I not saying that hard courts don't cause injuries, they clearly do, but Nadal's injury last night wasn't caused by the court and he did not blame the court for last night's injury. You may want TA to revert to grass for the AO, but there is no chance of that. Tennis in general needs, in my opinion, more variety of play, but clay court tennis isn't the problem, tennis racquet technology allowing powerful players to hit unbelievably hard from the back of the court (any surface) is.

You can make clay play faster or slower depending on a number of factors such as the clay used, but at the end of the day clay is and will be a slow surface with high upkeep costs. It is also very, very difficult to keep them damp enough in the hot Australian sun, and there is the added factor that it benefits baseline grinders rather than more aggressive players. Think about the Spanish and Argentine players that are around, very few of them have big serves or aggressive games. Aussie players often have good volleying skills, aggressive games and big serves precisely because they play on hard courts for much of the year. Use different hard courts or move to grass (both are fine options). Clay in Australia is not a good idea. Thankfully TA aren't even entertaining the thought of ever changing to them from what I've heard.

@ Fionn Whatever that blue plastic is then. Even carpet would be better. By the way, ant bed on Australian courts is not as slow as the clay bed they use in Europe, where the ground is softer due to deeper top soils.

Michaelj, the Australian Open no longer uses rebound ace. Rebound ace were the old green courts that played slower and bounced faster. As I said, there are heaps and heaps of types of hard courts to use. The Australian Open will never use clay. It doesn't suit Australian players whatsoever and isn't appropriate to do so before the clay season.

Mark, most of the analysis I've seen (and I've got friends working in tennis analytics and in the industry) suggest that whatever the reason for changing from rebound to plexi, plexi isn't easy on the body. Plexicushion is a very hard surface. Given that they maintained a grass court in Melbourne for at leat 60 years, I am sure they're going to be able to do it now that the Aussie Open is worth many many millions of dollars. You're talking as if you're privy to Nadal's injury inside his camp. You're not. There is also the fact that Nadal actually blamed his injury on the surface. The fact is that anyone who has played on plexicushion for an extended length of time (have you?) knows that it is extremely hard on the body and causes a lot of injuries. It's extremely rare that I play on plexi for more than a day or two without suffering some form of injury. Whereas I can play on clay or grass for weeks on end and suffer no injury. Your last comment is just flat out wrong about there being as many baseline rallies on hard. Go check out the stats on the number of net approaches, length of rallies, number of winners, etc. Also, go check out the game style of the players successful on clay and tell me that there is as much variance as hard or grass. As for drop shots they are still uses extremely rarely on both surfaces. Have you based any of your comment on any actual facts? It seems not. Checklist - you're wrong about plexi not being harsh on the body - it is possible to maintain grass in Melbourne, the Aussie Open is now extremely profitable and can definitely afford to maintain grass courts (for decades they maintained them all across Australia, including places like Perth, where there was no profitable tournaments, and still do in country NSW and Vic, such as Albury, Wodonga, Mildura, where it is hotter than Melbourne and no profitable tournaments) - injuries are caused by playing on hard hard courts, and Nadal blamed his on that - there is far less diversity of playing styles on clay than hard or grass, with virtual every successful player being a baseline grinder who plays far behind the baseline.

Roland Garos clay is superior to rebound ace. Even ant-bed is better than rebound ace, if grass is not practicable.

The Australian Open changed its surface from Rebound Ace to Plexicushion in 2008 - 10 years ago. One of the reasons for the change was that Plexicushion is easier on the players' bodies than Rebound Ace. Grass costs far too much to maintain, and in the heat of a Melbourne summer maintaining a playable surface for a 2 week event would be a big challenge. There were good reasons why the change to hard court was made in 1988, not least that the Flinders (now Melbourne) Park complex could be used for concerts, basketball, netball etc with a hard court surface and that was not possible with grass courts. In any event they are not changing back to grass but they may change away from Plexicushion if a better option is found. Nadal's injury last night wasn't caused by the surface. Some of his other injuries over the years have been caused or exacerbated by the constant pounding of his legs on hard courts, but hard court tennis has been part of tennis since the 1970s and that also won't change. I don't think you have actually watched or played much clay court tennis if you think there is no variation in tactics or strategy involved. For one thing, you see far more drop shots on clay than on hard courts (the ball bounces too high on hard courts for anything but a great drop shot to be successful). There are lots of baseline rallies on clay but there are just as many on hard courts.

That's what I think is the best idea, Michaelj. The other thing I would do is go for more softer hard court surfaces. There are 100 ways to do a hard court and rebound ace is one of the hardest (and it plays similar to the US surface). Given the upkeep costs of grass the Aussie Open could transition to a super fast and spongier/softer hard court surface rather than the medium speed and very hard surface we have now. Nadal complains about hard courts every couple of months, but what irks me is that he doesn't want more grass or softer hard, what he wants is for more clay events. There are already too many clay events and it is way too over-emphasised relative to grass. I love playing on clay but it is an absolute nightmare when it comes to watching tennis—every player plays the same way, grinding with heavy topspin from 2-3m behind the baseline. There is no variation in tactics or strategy. Unfortunately for Nadal he is no longer 21—he is into the age that lots of players start retiring. He will have to start managing his schedule better if he wants to prolong his career, especially given his grinding style of play. Someone like Fed transitioned to a more aggressive game in order to extend his career. It has worked.

They could bring back grass courts to soften the surface. Few injuries occur at Wimbeldon.