McEnroe calls Nadal a liar
No doubt in my mind at all that McEnroe is right - I think Nadal has done this before, and will continue to do it. He isn’t the only one. What are you going to do?
American Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe says he doesn’t believe injury is behind Rafael Nadal’s decision to withdraw from the Spain team for next week’s quarter-final clash.
World number two Nadal asked to be left out of the Spain team for the April 6-8 tie tie in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, claiming he did not want to aggrevate an injured foot.
However, McEnroe said he had mixed feelings about Nadal’s decision, especially as he is continuing to play in this week’s Miami Masters tournament.
“As a captain, part of you is happy because they’re without their best player,” he said. “But when I put on my hat as a commentator, for the good of the sport, you’d like to see him play.”
McEnroe added that he believes Nadal pulled out because he wants a break before starting the clay-court season.
“Obviously, he’s not hurt,” McEnroe said. “It doesn’t fit into his schedule. You can sit there and knock Nadal and knock [Roger] Federer all you want, but you’re putting these guys in a position where they have to make difficult decisions.
“Then again, our guys have always committed. They make the time in their schedule to do it. They’ve played on clay in Russia and Belgium the last two years the week after the U.S. Open.
“You have to give credit to Andy Roddick. He’s missed one match in the seven years I’ve been captain, and he was legitimately injured.”
Eurosport