Nadal lost to Novak Djokovic in last year's record-setting Australian Open final. The players battled for five hours, 53 minutes before Djokovic won the fifth set, 7-5. The Spaniard hasn't played a competitive match since his second-round loss to Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon. In an ideal world, the new comments by Nadal would end any speculation that his chronic knee injury could force him to leave the game. These unsubstantiated rumors (or uninformed speculation) have popped up before when Nadal has been hurt. Let's get it straight: Nadal isn't going to retire any time soon unless he's physically unable to play. If there was a history of top-ranked players abruptly walking away near their peaks because of chronic injuries, then we could have a rational discussion. But that's the exception, not the rule. Nadal walking off into a Majorcan sunset would be the shocker. I can never understand why it's whispered about like it's a realistic possibility. It's like waking up and wondering whether this is the day a UFO is going to fly over the White House.