Andy Murray is not following the advice of his medical team and is knowingly risking a serious back injury by playing in Paris.
Since Monte Carlo (and technically on and off for 18 months) Murray has been having problems with his back that have been getting worse and worse over the last few weeks.
Stupidly instead of resting before Roland Garros he played another tournament after Rome. Read more
It happened in the exact same spot that Juan Monaco went down a few days earlier.
Julien Benneteau was pushing Andy Murray, locking heads with the Scot at 5-5 in the first set. He slid into the corner to retrieve a ball when he hit a bad patch in the court and twisted his ankle horribly. As he lost his balance and fell (screaming in pain) he put his right hand out to break the fall. Instead he damaged his wrist and you can almost see his elbow breaking – the mechanics of which will likely leave him with ligament damage. Read more
There is something about the Indian Wells-Miami hard court swing that seems to consistently destroy Rafa Nadal’s troubled knees. Today Rafa announced that he would not continue with the tournament by withdrawing from his semifinal match against Andy Murray.
There are two ways you can look at this latest set back:
1) It’s about self preservation.
Nadal’s been having trouble with his knees since the Australian Open (and years before that). His right knee locked up and he could barely move it when he stood up from a chair.
He stood up from a chair.
He wasn’t sprinting, twisting or changing directions he was just standing up after sitting down. To say this is unusual is an understatement. Since then, despite six weeks of training and rehab, Rafa hasn’t been right. Read more
As Nadal fans everywhere mourn the loss of the Australian Open final and struggle to manage their disbelief at a seventh consecutive loss to Djokovic with extreme fatigue on a Monday morning there are two important points to take away:
1) He almost won
2) The crippling depth of the Djokovic return can only be combated by more effective serving from Nadal Read more
Posted in Andy Murray, Australian Open, Injury, Physio Perspective, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, US Open, Wimbledon
Serena Williams has hit the practice courts in Melbourne showing positive signs that she will be ready for the Australian Open despite a nasty ankle roll last week at the Brisbane International. Serena had Kinesio Tape up her calf in a cut that is traditionally used to help move fluid and bruising away from a site of injury, in this case the ankle.
The taping in this pattern can remove the swelling and bruising significantly faster than any other products as it improves circulation and lymphatic drainage. Read more
Posted in Australian Open, Brisbane, Injury, Kinesio Tape, Media, Physio Perspective, Roger Federer, Serena Williams
Tournament favourites and top seeds Tomas Berdych and Petra Kvitova for the Czech Republic have won the diamond encrusted balls at the Hopman Cup in Perth defeating the French team of Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet 2-0.
Unbeaten world number two Petra Kvitova seemed unhindered by and back niggles she had had the previous day when she had clutched at her left lower back before losing the thoracic rotation in her shots. Petra had struggled with her serve, appearing to be dragged down by her poor posture on the right thorax for a good portion of the third set against Caroline Wozniacki. Read more
A statement on Rafael Nadal’s website has confirmed the nature of the injury he sustained in his quarterfinal match against David Ferrer at the Australian Open. Nadal will take ten days off to recover from the injury and at this point intends for Spain in the Davis Cup in March. Read more
The
rumour mill is working overtime again today and it is focusing on world number one Rafael Nadal, saying that after the Spaniard underwent medical tests in Melbourne that he has been diagnosed with a 2cm tear in his left hamstring and that he intends to take only two weeks off. While none of these statements have been confirmed by Nadal’s team, and his participation in Spain’s Davis Cup tie with Belgium has not been locked in either, I am amazed that he’s even thinking about returning after two weeks off. Read more
Posted in Injury, Physio Perspective, Rafael Maymo, Rafael Nadal
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Fernando Verdasco survived three match points against Janko Tipsarevic before he was able to book a place in the third round of the Australian Open.
In the fourth set the Serbian had three chances to close the match out as Verdasco seemed to fluctuate with his form in the match. Despite Tipsarevic’s at times inspired and brilliant play, the Spaniard came out on top, winning 2-6 4-6 6-4 7-6, 6-0.
From the opening game of the match, Tipsarevic’s game plan was flawless. He confidently set up camp right on the baseline, refusing to relinquish any ground to his more powerful opponent and looked on as he made Verdasco run mercilessly.
Janko ran Fernando around the court in the opening set, breaking the Spaniard, who has struggled lately, twice to take a 5-1 lead. The Serbian underdog continued with the momentum and took the second set, saying later “I was playing really good in the beginning, aggressive, staying close to the line, but then when he started hitting, instead of trying to stay on the line I went back and even when I was winning games I did all the running.”
Verdasco’s forehand started to really penetrate, particularly at 3-2 when he started to really push the Serbian around the court and from there Verdasco seemed to slowly start taking control of the baseline.
Fernando may have had the momentum going into the fourth set but Tipsarevic wasn’t going away without a fight. Tipsarevic managed to get a 5-3 lead but dropped serve and Verdasco leveled the set at 5-5 but a series of errors saw Janko break back. Fernando then saved a second match point with a blinding forehand passing shot.
An inspired Verdasco pushed forward into the tiebreak, producing some deadly accuracy, overwhelming his opponent. Tipsarevic struggled against Verdasco’s power as seemed to struggle with his game before he fell away completely.
After the match Tipsarevic said he was suffering from cramps, a condition that can occur due to lack of condition, lack of fitness or dehydration. “Losing in the fifth set I don’t want the people to get the wrong impression, I didn’t tank, I didn’t lose on purpose, I didn’t mentally, you know, have a mental meltdown. It was just that I was feeling completely dead and tired physically.”
Tipsarevic obviously felt the need to defend his performance after Verdasco was asked in his press conference if he felt his opponent was really trying in the fifth set.
Q. Two sets to love down, what was your strategy?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, just he was playing really good and aggressive, so I just tried to be a little bit more aggressive with my serve, with my forehand. Also trying to get the timing at the return to try to put a little bit more put him a little bit more in trouble with his serve.
Well, you know, keep fighting all the time, because I was really close to lose today. I think that just my mentality was the key, one of the biggest key today to come back.
Q. When he took the medical timeout did that give you added confidence?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, if I’m honest, not so much, because, you know, I really play I was really focus on myself and just coming back the fourth set two times that he had he served to close the match. And the tiebreak, you know, playing like really good for me gave me a lot confidence.
I saw him also a little bit tired, even I knew that he was tired a little bit in the end of the fourth set, even if he didn’t take that medical timeout. But of course when you saw that your opponent is taking a medical, then you try to push a little bit more to take a quick advantage in the beginning of the next set.
Q. Did you feel he was trying in the fifth set?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: He was trying?
Q. Was he?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I think that I don’t know. This is question I think that he must answer, not me, no? I think that he was tired; he got the medical right after the first game. After that, I didn’t see him moving really good. I don’t know if it was so much pain what he have or not. I think he’s the only one who knows that.
So I was trying to don’t push the brake, keep pushing the gas and going in the fifth set the same that I was playing the tiebreak in the fourth set.
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Venus Williams had a tough day today against Czech Sandra Zahlavova whom she eventually beat 6-7, 6-0, 6-4 despite struggling, and screaming across the finish line.
During the match Williams was clearly in pain and screamed as she stretched for some balls (well more than she normally does anyway).
After the match Venus said she had injured her psoas muscle which the media seemed to be confused by, asking her if she wasn’t going to say what was injured. When she confirmed for the third time she had strained her psoas muscle they finally moved on.
The psoas muscle is a hip flexor that sits on the front of your lumbar spine so you can feel it if you feel into someone’s stomach. It’s a muscle that frequently in over active or in spasm in severe or chronic back pain.
After losing the first set in a tiebreak, Venus left the court in her horrible dress that certainly showed a bit too much skin, and returned with a heavily strapped right thigh before pummeling her opponent 6-0 in the second.
Venus may have warned us she planned to show more skin but she lulled us into a false sense of security with her blue dress the other day. This dress was had a semi-woven style mid section with huge gap. The hem line left little to the imagination and when she bent over you seriously wondered if she had anything on underneath.
Q. It’s not the first time you’ve gotten hurt in matches and continued on. Can you compare this experience to some of the other ones?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think this is probably the most acute one that I’ve ever had.
Q. Even worse than when you played Kim and you had a stomach muscle tear?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I forgot about that. It’s been a long time ago so I don’t remember that pain anymore. But, yeah, that was quite a while ago. In recent time that I can remember pain, I think this was one of the toughest ones for sure.
But I just wanted to stay on the court and try to survive and see if I could feel better another day.
Q. Do you remember screaming out after you got injured? It was kind of hard to tell whether that was just a scream of pain or a combination of a grunt and…
VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I didn’t even run for the next ball, so you can take your guess. It was a bit of shock and just kind of involuntary.
Q. What does the injury do? How does it inhibit your play?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I’m not going to get into that, but obviously I wasn’t able to play at my exact level. Just had to try to play smarter and just be tough.
But, you know, I’m hoping by the next 48 hours it’ll calm down a lot.
Q. Is it in the abdomen or is it in the top of the leg? Whereabouts is that?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Psoas.
Q. I don’t have a medical degree.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Neither do I. It’s in the area around the groin like that, you know.
Posted in Injury, Media, Physio Perspective, Sandra Zahlavova, Venus Williams
