Rafael Nadal insists that he will be fit and ready to defend his Wimbledon crown once the tournament starts at the end of this month. Nadal has been in Barcelona receiving treatment for tendinitus in his knee caps that has created doubt over whether or not he would be able to play in Wimbledon and defend his major honour.

Nadal has not been able to play any part in the warm up tournaments that are traditionally held in the lead up to the biggest tournament in tennis but it is likely that the battling pride of Nadal will eradicate any amount of pain that his body is likely to throw up. If he can find a way around the current injury then he will be walking out onto centre court for his first match.

Nadal said: “I have been playing with pain on my knees for some months and I simply can’t go on like this. The pain was limiting certain movements in my body, which affected me mentally as well. After the appropriate tests and treatment, we will travel to London next Tuesday.”

“I am going to give 200 per cent to be ready for the most important tournament in the world – the tournament that I always dream about. I will not go out and play, especially on the Centre Court, if I am not 100 per cent ready to play. I have two difficult weeks ahead of me, especially because I won’t be doing what I like doing most, to play tennis.”

Doubtless the news of Nadal’s injury problems will be met by his competitors with mass enthusiasm. For individuals such as Roger Federer, the absence of the world number 1 will make his conquest to become the most decorated player of all time a lot easier. Ask any other professional on the tennis circuit whether they would prefer it if Nadal is playing and it would be very difficult to find one who would say yes.

However, as we so often see whenever Nadal plays he does not really know when he is beaten or when he should take a back seat from an event. The occasion of the tournament being Wimbledon is likely to make him forget about any matches held there in the past or any amount of pain that his body is generating.

Unless Nadal is virtually crawling along the ground in pain by the time the tournament starts then he will be taking part. He is still relatively young but smart and shrewd enough to know the correct angle to take and the right decisions to make. It would be pointless for him to take part in the competition for the sake of just this. If he does not believe he is fit enough and able enough to win the tournament then he will not take part.

There is no point in risking a long term injury simply for the sake of taking part in a prestigious event. Not a single person would blame him if he put himself first.

Don’t you hate it when some know-it-all keeps coming up with the right predictions. I’ve written about Nadal’s problems for 4 months now, and the gut feeling I had that something was not right with him. Now unfortunately he has been forced to withdraw from the Paris event with a painful knee injury, and will undergo a series of tests to determine whether he should try to compete in the Shanghai Masters Cup next week. He lost the first set 6-1 to Davydenko, called for a trainer to massage his thigh but had to retire with what he described as a sharp acute pain in my knee. Just last week his coach and family mentor, known to the world as ‘Uncle Tony’, expressed his thoughts about the tough ATP schedule, the demands that are put on the number one player, and the stress of playing on hard surfaces. Just as I had been saying all along, Uncle Tony and I are on the same track, but neither of us will say ‘I told you so!”

For a player with so much natural talent, who has not won since winning the Gold medal back in the summer, it was obvious that something has been ailing him. I would not be a bit surprised if Rafael Nadal decides to take the advice of his Uncle and take a rest from hard court playing and come out firing on all cylinders when the clay court season begins. This would mean him missing out in Shanghai and in Australia.

At the tender age of 27, Roger Federer complained of a sore back problem, and he too retired from the Paris event. He was struggling against James Blake when he decided to be smart before aggravating the problem and retired. He said in a post game interview that the problem was not serious, and that he would be leaving on Monday for Shanghai. All of us back pain sufferers can commiserate with Roger, but don’t send him any favorite remedies or the phone number of the best chiropractor in the world.

David Nalbandian was certainly feeling no pain as he produced the best form he’s shown in a couple of years to halt Andy Murray’s win streak. Andy Murray who had won back to back Masters events and was hoping to go to Shanghai on an all time high, was handily beaten by Nalbandian. The Argentinian beat Murray in every aspect of the game, he served better, he came to net frequently where he won 80% of the points and his ground strokes had Murray scrambling from the opening service. With David playing so well coupled with the prospect of Nadal not being able to play in the Davis Cup final, it must place the home team of Argentine in the driver’s seat.

Jo Wilfried Tsonga kept his slim hope of making it to Shanghai with a win over Andy Roddick, and the only player of the three contending for the final two spots who has been mathematically eliminated is Giles Simon of France.

Before the Madrid Masters Tournament began, Rafa was quoted as saying that he wanted to win this one for his loyal Spanish fans. On paper he had an easy draw through to the final, no top 10 players to meet on the way. It should have been a piece of cake for him, but he lost in the semi final to French, up and coming star, Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-5, 6-7. Since he won in Toronto on August 17^th. in a one-sided final against Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2, and clinched the title of the Number 1 player in the world, his performance has been far from what is expected from the best player.

Rafael Nadal won a Gold medal in Beijing where the only top 10 player he beat was Djokovic in the semi final. Other than that victory he has been in a slump. Or is he just not a hard court player yet? Or is he hurt? Or both? I think it’s a combination of several factors, that have caught up to him. His record on hard courts in 2008 falls far short of the performance of the ‘best’ player. He reached 3 finals and won only one of them, losing to Youzhny in Chennai 0-6, 1-6, and Davydenko at the Sony Ericsson 4-6, 2-6. He made it to 5 semi finals and just one quarter final, losing to such players as, Tsonga, Seppi, Roddick, Djokovic(2), Murray and now Simon. Not a stellar performance by this Spanish Super Star!

There is no doubt that he is the best clay court player to ever play the game, his record is proof of his domination on this surface. Through shear determination he managed to win Wimbledon on the grass against Federer in one of the most memorable tennis matches ever seen. Playing on grass is very different from playing on clay, its faster and the bounce is unpredictable, but like clay, grass is easy on the body, particularly the feet and legs. Playing on hard courts is painful. The pounding the feet are subjected to in a 5 set, three hour match can cause serious permanent injury. Gentle sliding on clay, or the nimble foot work required on grass, are replaced by quick stopping and starting with no let up on hard courts. The toes are forever being crunched into the forward section of the shoes, the ankles are twisted and contorted into shapes they were not designed to undergo, and the lower back is strained, and can be sore to touch after just one long match. If you add all these factors to Rafa’s unorthodox style that puts so much strain onto his body even on clay, it becomes clear to me at least that his young and athletic body is suffering. He repeatedly hits the ball off his ‘wrong’ foot, he strikes the ball with so much muscle power with his wrists and arms, and he chases and slides with his legs extended to a point beyond their normal capability, that its just a matter of time before he breaks apart. It may work on clay, but it will not work for very long on the hard surface.