Rafa’s back – at the Mubadala World Championship in Abu Dhabi, where he promptly lost to Andy Murray 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals. It was the first time Andy – who also knows a thing or two about coming back from an injury – beat a top-four player since he defeated Novak Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final. Andy won the exhibition tourney after Nole withdrew with a fever from the unofficial season opener. Nole had beaten Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-2 in the other semifnal.

Rafa – who’s on the comeback trail from an appendectomy after missing the U.S. Open with a wrist injury and suffering a back injury in last year’s Australian Open – is unfazed by the poor showing against Andy. And I don’t think at this point there’s any reason for concern. Entered in next week’s Qatar Open, Rafa is using these tournaments as tune-ups for the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 19.

Still, there is something troubling about the pattern that has emerged from Rafa’s intense style of play. He goes great guns through his favorite, clay-court season, then collapses at Wimbledon or US Open time. It’s a balancing act...

Lots of people work over the holidays – me, everyone in the retail, food and hospitality industries, emergency workers in any number of fields and tennis players. Tennis players never seem to stop, with locales like Abu Dhabi presumably taking the sting out of what must sometimes be a grind.

On Saturday, Dec. 28, Novak Djokovic won his third straight Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, once again defeating David Ferrer. Rafael Nadal settled for third place. That’s a 24-match win streak for Nole and while you can say all you want about Abu Dhabi being a mere exhibition tune-up for the Australian Open, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, the fact remains that Nole is looking good. Read more

Rafael Nadal – a man for all seasons?

Getting over the hump