Federer, Nadal and Ljubicic: The Love Triangle

First topic message reminder :

Or should it be Federer, Ljubicic and Nadal: The love triangle?

Ivan Ljubicic has recently retired from the ATP tour. He stood for but failed in his bid to be elected as president of the ATP board. In this emotional outburst he explains how he doesn't think Rafa did anything to prevent him being elected (!?). But then he lets slip what his real worries are. He is Rogers best friend not Rafa. Rafa may have tried with his wicked ways to win Rogers heart but it wont work.

Ljubicic vs Rafael Nadal: Rafael continues to hinder me. Maybe it´s jealousy of my relationship with Roger Federer...

"I know that Nadal has not done anything against me to prevent me to play that role. He has never spoken to me directly. He has since resigned from the Council but is continuing to send out his favorites and does so with even more power. I do not know what I did wrong. Perhaps it is because in 2006 I said I wanted Federer to be the winner at Roland Garros. If this is the source of much evil, I do not regret something that I said I'm proud indeed. Or maybe he is annoyed that I have a great friendship with Roger."

When it was put to Ljubicic that Rafa has a good relationship with Roger too. Ljubicic had this to say

"They all tell stories. They meet a lot, but certainly would never have dinner together, not as friends."

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Ljubicic-vs-Rafael-Nadal-Rafael-continues-to-hinder-me-Maybe-its-jealousy-of-my-relationship-with-Roger-Federer-articolo4935.html

I can understand Ljubicic's anxiety. Now that he's retired his chances of having dinner with Roger must have diminished. Roger is a popular guy and Rafa can be quite charming. They could end up having dinner together... maybe at the Olympics? What should they tell Ivan?

Oh... Now I understand your random articles lol
Delete both of them


Back in topic... Basically Ljubicic doesn't like Nadal and is whining because he didn't get some position.
I dont see why he is talking about the Fedal friendship, it's none of his business.

Edit: Julius

Outraged that my incredibly detailed, colourful, some might say wistful article about Gerulaitis was deleted!

I feel like a rose crushed under the jackboots of tyranny...

Sending a urine sample in post JHM - are you taking the p*ss?

Reckoner - its around £2.80-3.00 up here by and large. Still pricey when you can buy 3 gallons of lager down Tesco's these days for the same price...no wonder more and more pubs are shutting down.
Tranny...lol

JM - did you see pics of Nadal recently on holiday after the loss to Rosol? And only about 2-3 weeks after his clay season ended? Did he look like Mr Universe? No. Does he ever look like Mr Universe? No. Just how did he lose so much muscle so quickly?

Answer: because he didnt have THAT much to begin with! Nadal's musculature is always over-egged (pardon the pun) by his detractors as a straw-man to say he needs help to get that large...except he's not that large! Comparing him to Ben Johnson is completely ridiculous. If you look at him next to Federer, Rog is the much broader shouldered guy, Nadal just isnt that big. Sure he's fit, lean and has some muscle but not how you guys make out. He's no different to Verdasco and a few others.

Besides which, gaining muscle is quite easily done via protein shakes, high chicken/eggs intake, etc...and working like a trojan in the gym. You can gain 2-3 lbs a week quite easily if you follow the right diet and workout plan - and obviously if you working from an extremely fit and lean base to start with where the exercise isnt wasted on metabolising fat but can go straight to building muscle density/tone/strength.

Nadal on enhancing drugs?? Dont make me laugh!! How can Rafa's occasional sudden increase in muscle size in the space of a few months be explained? Quite easily actually.

I go to the gym for an hour every day, usually for cardio work and circuits... But every now and then we have a period of 4 weeks on nothing but heavy weights. I did this in march and combined it with protein shakes and pro-arginine (a perfectly legal supplement that widens your veins and improves blood flow).

In that 4 week period I put on 3 kilos (6.6lbs) of muscle. That's just from an hour a day with a protein shakes. Think what a full time sportsman could achieve with more gym time and more protein?!

There is no mystery attached to sudden muscle growth. If you work hard enough it is easily achieved. I find it hilarious that people question Nadal for something every ordinary joe could do fairly easily. It shows a lack of knowledge on muscle growth and what can be achieved by a bit of hard work.

To get back to the OP - I think Ljubicic's comments illustrate that there has been a real power struggle between Federer and Nadal. Federer looked to have won the first battle with Nadal resigning from the Players' Council when he failed to get consensus for a 2 year ranking system and significant cuts to the tour, but the pro Nadal camp have a boost, seemingly, with the appointment of di Palermo over Ljubicic to European Players' representative on the main board of ATP.