Nadal shows doping at the top of tennis

Tribe wrote:

Djokovuc now up 5-4 in the third set. Did he pop some roids at the end of set 2?

I dont think you realise what a beat-down 0-6,2-6,5-7 is of a player of Djokovic's class. He was like a runner being lapped. Couldn't get a set. Not even close.

Djokovic has 17 grand slams. He is one of the greatest players of all time - and an incredibly tough competitor. In recent years he has owned Nadal (and Federer). There's no comparison with runners like Ingebrigtsen or Lewandowski.

Nadal has 13 French titles and his record at the French is 100 wins and 2 losses. Why is it such a mind blow that he could beat Djokovic in straight sets?

This has been Nadal at the FO for the past 15 years, almost unbeatable.

However give them all wooden rackets and Federer would win every time.

Armstronglivs wrote:

The 34 year old Spaniard is destroying the world No.1 Djokovic in the final of the French Open. 6-0 in the first set. No player at this stage of their career can be physically so dominant and over a player of Djokovic's calibre.

You're really shocked that Nadal, who has won the French Open 12 times before this, just crushed Djokovic at the French Open? Where he has a record of something like 90+ wins and 2 losses? And on a clay court, where his career record is like 90%+ wins in something close to 500 games?

Armstronglivs wrote:

Tribe wrote:

Djokovuc now up 5-4 in the third set. Did he pop some roids at the end of set 2?

I dont think you realise what a beat-down 0-6,2-6,5-7 is of a player of Djokovic's class. He was like a runner being lapped. Couldn't get a set. Not even close.

Nadal has been beaten like twice in his career on this court. Sure, if he was crushing Djokovic this badly anywhere else, it might be worth being suspicious, but Nadal dominating at the French Open? You're concerned by THAT?

Seyta wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

The 34 year old Spaniard is destroying the world No.1 Djokovic in the final of the French Open. 6-0 in the first set. No player at this stage of their career can be physically so dominant and over a player of Djokovic's calibre.

You're really shocked that Nadal, who has won the French Open 12 times before this, just crushed Djokovic at the French Open? Where he has a record of something like 90+ wins and 2 losses? And on a clay court, where his career record is like 90%+ wins in something close to 500 games?

I dont find it credible that any player can dominate on the most gruelling surface for so long. Borg was amazing - yet has only 6 French titles to Nadal's 13 - and he was done by 26. Nadal has almost as many French titles as Sampras accumulated on all surfaces. It is ridiculous. But what does it for me is to see him, as an aging player of 34, absolutely pulling away from one of the greatest players of all time - making him look second-rate and completely out of his league. Yet Djokovic has owned him in recent years - which is why he is no.1. I wouldn't bet Djokovic is clean either - which makes what Nadal is doing out there even more unbelievable.

It's possible he is taking something, but unlikely. He comes from a family of sports people. Plus this tennis era is weak.

Cheptegi is more suspicious as physically it's infinitely more difficult to do those WRs than playing tennis.

AHSXC wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

I dont think you realise what a beat-down 0-6,2-6,5-7 is of a player of Djokovic's class. He was like a runner being lapped. Couldn't get a set. Not even close.

Nadal has been beaten like twice in his career on this court. Sure, if he was crushing Djokovic this badly anywhere else, it might be worth being suspicious, but Nadal dominating at the French Open? You're concerned by THAT?

But that is the point. Clay is the most physical game; to dominate as Nadal does- and has for so long- requires that he is overwhelmingly physically superior to every other player - even at 34. Faster, stronger and more tireless - and not by a fine margin but in another league, like a heavyweight boxer against middleweights. That he is nowhere near as successful on other faster surfaces shows that he is not the best player; his dominance on clay is essentially due to his physicality. No one else can play the way he does. It demands too much. When the gap to his peers - who are themselves great athletes - is that vast it's absolutely a red-flag.

kkkkk5 wrote:

It's possible he is taking something, but unlikely. He comes from a family of sports people. Plus this tennis era is weak.

Cheptegi is more suspicious as physically it's infinitely more difficult to do those WRs than playing tennis.

This tennis era has 3 of the best male players in the history of the sport. They have 57 grand slam titles between them.

GoodIntentions;-) wrote:

Nadal has 13 French titles and his record at the French is 100 wins and 2 losses. Why is it such a mind blow that he could beat Djokovic in straight sets?

Nadal has often been beaten by Djokovic on clay. He also lost to someone you've never heard of at Rome last month in straight sets. On clay. But he invariably peaks for the French - even when it is played in October and not June. Like Armstrong in the TDF.

Djokovic beat him at the French a few years ago and in recent years has owned him. Many consider the Serb to be the greatest player ever. Being beaten by Nadal is one thing but a thrashing at this stage of their careers is absolutely against the run of play and smacks of something else between the lines.

kkkkk5 wrote:

It's possible he is taking something, but unlikely. He comes from a family of sports people. Plus this tennis era is weak.

Cheptegi is more suspicious as physically it's infinitely more difficult to do those WRs than playing tennis.

Actually, the Cheptegei analogy is quite useful; that's what Nadal did to Djokovic, who, if he was Bekele, made him look like a hack.

Not sure if this result is proof of anything or not, but Nadal has long been the subject of doping discussion. There was once even a skit on a French satire show where he pulls into a gas station, it has no more gas, so he urinates into the gas tank and he has so many chemicals in his system that the car is able to run on it.

Professional sports are no different than anything else. Beyond performance enhancement they are used to elongate athletic careers. In the NBA for example there clearly is an HGH issue that no one wants to talk about. I'm sure it exists all over.

astro wrote:

Not sure if this result is proof of anything or not, but Nadal has long been the subject of doping discussion. There was once even a skit on a French satire show where he pulls into a gas station, it has no more gas, so he urinates into the gas tank and he has so many chemicals in his system that the car is able to run on it.

Professional sports are no different than anything else. Beyond performance enhancement they are used to elongate athletic careers. In the NBA for example there clearly is an HGH issue that no one wants to talk about. I'm sure it exists all over.

You're on to it.

And Nadal has 20. Nadal is also 100-2 at RG. Please stop embarrassing yourself.

Armstronglivs wrote:

kkkkk5 wrote:

It's possible he is taking something, but unlikely. He comes from a family of sports people. Plus this tennis era is weak.

Cheptegi is more suspicious as physically it's infinitely more difficult to do those WRs than playing tennis.

This tennis era has 3 of the best male players in the history of the sport. They have 57 grand slam titles between them.

The fact that the Big 3 can dominate for so long tells me, above all else, that the sport is in a rut and lacks competition. In the history of tennis this has been a young lions game (less so for the women, but still the case), where are the young lions?

Nadal has faced doping accusations since he was a teenager, and it doesn't seem unlikely. Tennis has a doping and match fixing problem and the ATP protects anyone who is even close to the top of the sport.

That being said, he's hardly an outlier in tennis in recent years as far as players extending their primes into their mid 30s (and beyond). He has always been one of the fittest players on tour, and that continues, but he's not physically dominant in that respect. There are many players at or above his level in court coverage and defense. He has declined physically, and it's reflected by Djokovic and Federer dominating him on all non-clay surfaces for the past 3 seasons. But, his dominance on clay is based on his intensity and mental game, which is perhaps the greatest in the history of all sports, and most of all his forehand, which is the ultimate weapon on the surface and especially at RG. Today's result was more lopsided than expected, but not shocking or unbelievable to anyone who follows the sport.

Operacion Peurto, enough said.

Masking Agent wrote:

Operacion Peurto, enough said.

Yep.

Nadal was one of the reasons why all the people named in Operacion Puerto was blocked, besides the cyclists. (along with the fact that Real Madrid and Barcelona were both implicated too).

He was a client of Fuentes, although we've been led to believe it was nothing to do with doping. He needed his help with a gynaecology issue that he was struggling with.