The Inevitable Questions After Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon Withdrawal

The hearts pounding, the breathing becoming heavy, the tension mounting, the tremulous excitement and then the scene of lying down with arms outspread on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon—the sanctimonious moment for any tennis player.

Yes, this was one of the most priceless sports moments of 2008 when the Spanish World No. 2 victor Rafael Nadal rose with moist eyes in a mix of sheer ecstasy, relief and disbelief to shake hands with five-time champion Swiss No.1 Roger Federer after the two maestros had orchestrated a match with grace, poise, sublime and stupendous tennis that remains etched in our minds forever.

The archrivals had contested the third straight Wimbledon final but tennis reached its pinnacle in the 2008 final which left everyone stunned and dumbfounded to fathom the reality.

Cut to 2009 and one can sense the vacancy, the vast emptiness—the irreparable loss for the entire tennisdom as Rafael Nadal, the defending champion pulled out and Wimbledon was left reeling under the shockwave even before it got under way.

A situation too bizarre to think of, if one recollects Rafa’s recent few months when he was ruling the roost.

The Spanish matador had managed to snap Federer’s humongous 237-week stay atop the rankings in August last year, won the Olympic gold and turned Roger into a sobbing wreck in the Melbourne Park final after his energy-sapping, thrilling semifinal.

Titles at Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Rome followed as every opponent failed to penetrate into a rampant Rafa’s staggering run. It all took the mighty Federer to bring this juggernaut to a screeching halt and then the audacious Soderling to expose the weakness, leaving a gaping hole.

And as a courageos and stoic Rafa announced the painful decision which he described as "the hardest decision of my life," one had to applaud the bravery that he had shown in spite of the tremendous adversity.

Rafael Nadal had fallen a victim to insertion tendinitis in his kneecap and in spite of being in terrible pain for the past few months because of it, he had never ceased to play.

And therein arises the few inevitable questions.

Had there really been a grave judgmental error committed by his camp where they might have eased the pressure earlier to let him focus more on Slams like the French Open and the Wimbledon?

Could they then have prevented this situation, which deprived every tennis aficionado of perhaps another memorable moment?

Or did Rafa fall victim to the step-motherly attitude of the ATP, where players are prone to be treated more as merchandise?

Time and again, Rafa had exuded the incredible mental stamina that he possesses which was revealed especially in his edging past Roger at Melbourne. There has been no dearth of grit, determination, never-say-never attitude as Rafa travelled all the way to London and took part in exhibition matches to make a desperate, last-ditch attempt to try to defend the title that had made him almost immortal last year.

But in this merciless tennis world, physically how long will Rafa, who brutally wears down his opponents, be able to shake off the demon called tendinitis, that can flare up any moment, where patellar debridement surgery is perhaps the last option?