As expected, Rafael Nadal has arrived in Montreal for the Rogers Cup, an event that he won last year.  The Montreal Gazette reports that Rafa looked quite rusty during his practice but I’m not too worried at all.  Yes, I realize he’s still recovering from his knee injury but I think that he’s been really smart about it and even skipped Wimbledon to give himself time to heal.

I hate when people get all jittery during a player’s first day back at a major event following an injury – it puts too much pressure on them.  Rafa could have been jet-lagged …read more

It looks like Rafael Nadal will return to competing very soon.  His publicist says that the former No. 1 will begin practicing next week and is expecting to play in the hard-court tournament at Montreal which starts on August 10, 2009.
I’m happy that he’s been trying to take it slow and is giving his body time to heal.  Nothing is worse than rushing a comeback and then getting reinjured and having to be sidelined for even longer.
It was really disappointing when he had to pull out of Wimbledon last month (a decision that caused his ranking to slide to the …read more

The organizers for the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal next month (August 8-16) are hoping that two of the sport’s biggest stars will be able to play in the event.  I suspect they would draw a slightly smaller crowd if they were both absent but that’s just speculation.  Montrealers love summer festivals and events so they could end up with a great turn out either way.
They have good reason to wonder if Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will make the trek to the Canadian city.  Nadal had to bow out of Wimbledon this year due to a knee …read more