LONDON - Tiger‘s still out, which is understandable. If he's unable to practice or play, there's nothing he can do except wait and heal as any athlete or sportsman. Only when he is well will he return.

There will be no talk of injuries. With Tiger, no matter his other faults, he competes, as we know from winning the 2008 U.S. Open on what in effect was one leg. There were winces. There no excuses.

The great ones never look for crutches, figurative ones even if in many situations, Tiger's comes to mind, they required actual ones.

As Venus Williams reminded us a couple of years ago after a defeat at Wimbledon when asked if she were hurt, "If you play you're not hurt; if you're hurt you don't play.''

Tiger's hurt. Rafael Nadal apparently was hurting in that Wimbledon final loss Sunday to Novak Djokovic. But there were no complaints.

To the contrary. When the day after the match the Times of London offered what it claimed was an exclusive, that Nadal had a hairline fracture in his left foot and would not compete again until August, there were denials. To the credit of Nadal and his entourage.

Claiming injury or illness, even if the claims are valid, diminishes the success of the opponent, for a start. Who needs the "I would have won if I weren't ailing,'' grumbling.

Which was exactly the response from David Haye, who you might not have noticed, lost to Wladimir Klitschko in a heavyweight championship unification fight Saturday night in Germany.

Haye, a Brit, the challenger and a big-talking one - or is that redundant? - blamed his defeat on a broken toe incurred in training. Even British boxing experts, a provincial group, say Haye either should have withdrawn from the fight or kept quiet about the injury.

"Never say anything right now in the way of 'I had a broken toe; that's why I couldn't compete.' ‘' Klitschko said correctly. "It's called a sore loser."

There's propriety demanded in competition. Nobody wins all the time.

The window closes. Nadal was saying as much after his defeat. "My game is not bothering him," was the succinct description of falling to Djokovic. Clean, clear, admirable.

Compare that to the actions of Justine Henin in the final of the 2006 Australian Open against Amelie Mauresmo.

Having lost the first set, 6-1, and trailing in the second, 2-0, Henin, replicating the concession of Roberto Duran, did everything but squeak "No Mas.'' She quit, moaning about an upset stomach.

The tennis cognoscenti were dismayed. Mauresmo, who had the second longest wait in the modern era for her first grand slam championship, 32 tournaments - Jana Novotna needed 45 - was denied the wonderful moment of victory, the thrill of leaping or tumbling in triumph.

Yes, she had the trophy, and a few months later, at Wimbledon, Mauresmo would have a second. Yet, even now, Henin's default remains unforgivable. Would Henin have stopped if she were ahead, not trailing?

Courage and dignity are an integral part of sport. How you played the game, as Grantland Rice told us decades ago in that historic poem. After a tough week at Wimbledon, when his domination came to a close, Rafael Nadal it can be asserted plays it very well.

He did something to that left foot while facing Juan Martin Del Potro in a fourth-round match the start of the second week. He underwent an MRI and then he returned to the courts. If someone was going to win Rafa's championship it wasn't going to be because he dropped out.

Losing often tells us more about a person than winning. Victory, we've been told, has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan. Not to the thinking of Nadal, whose very presence must have been rocked by Djokovic.

One day you're the best. The next day you're an also-ran.

"I lose,'' said Nadal of Djokovic, "because I am playing against the best player of the moment, the best player in the world (in the rankings) and I am second.

"My experience says this level is not forever. Even for me, when last year I was winning three grand slams, my level is not forever. Probably the level of Novak (in 2011) is not forever. I understand the sport. When one player is better than you only thing you can do is work, try to find solutions and wait a little bit for your time.''

Rafa's had his time. Tiger Woods has had his time. Venus Williams had her time. We watch and wonder if their time will come again. If it does, they'll celebrate. If it doesn't they'll always have respect, no less important than championships.