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Did anyone watch this match? It's the most bizarre match I've ever seen. Both players played awesome in the first set, and Wawrinka derved to win this IMO. But when the injury issues started, it seemed to affect both players...Wawrinka even more than Nadal as he seemed to lose all focus

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I didn't watch the match, but it happened to me once (that I can remember). The opponent had an injury during the match and he played his pain so dramatically he put the pressure on me. I lost focus because of his attitude. His behaviour and strokes were unpredictable. I won the game 3-1, but it was a close call. He sat down in a corner after the game with his face facing the wall: just like a little child that was punished. What a drama queen!

I watched the match and Nadal was in genuine pain and wasn't "playing" on it. It was the umpire who upset Wawrinka as he wouldn't tell him the reason Nadal had to go for treatment during the match. Nadal was off court for about 7 minutes. He then received massage at every end change and played through the back spasm pain he was in. It was a pretty gutsy effort, and I've never been much of a Nadal fan. Wawrinka let his focus slip because he thought he could just walk over Nadal now that he almost couldn't move. Wawrinka tried to just play easier shots and serves that Nadal couldn't reach, but in doing so lost the drive that was winning it for him earlier. I don't think Wawrinka did this due to feeling sorry for Nadal though. Nadal battled on and won a set due to Wawrinka's attitude. Eventually though Wawrinka got himself together and took the match in the 4th set. If he'd lost it, it would have been his own fault and a brilliant effort on Nadal's part.

As for whether it happens in TT...of course it does, it happens in many sports. All sorts of things cause us to lose focus in a match. An opponent injured can sure be a cause. Often we either feel sorry for the opponent or we relax because they don't appear up to it and we let our guard down. Its dangerous as this can be the encouragement and injured opponent needs to drive them on. One of the commentators of the Nadal v Wawrinka match coined it just right when he said "Wawrinka now needs to be ruthless and put Nadal away". That's the attitude you need to adopt when an opponent is injured, so yo don't lose your focus.

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I was quite surprised when, coming across a game involving Wawrinka on TV, the commentators were pronouncing his name "Wa-rinka". I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be pronounced the German manner - "Va-vrinka".

Iskandar