CAMELOT FANTASIES

Quote from: thetruth on July 17, 2014, 09:27:06 pm

As a Rafa fan I was over the moon with the FO win, but quickly plummeted back to earth with the Wimbledon loss. I still haven't reconciled the fact that he's now equal with Sampras, that seems surreal.

Yes, Nole needed that win bad. He's too good of a player to suffer those final jitters. He seemed to be fighting himself all match at the most inopportune times, but I'm glad he pulled it out.

Not too bad for Federer, he was so close, but things work out the way they're supposed to.

Andy's loss to Dmitrov was puzzling, especially considering his form. But, stuff happens. I hope he gets back on track because he's so nice to watch. His game fascinates me as you never know what he's going to do next. Still, he's a great player so I expect him to bounce back. Speaking of Andy, did you see the documentary they did on him? It was so awesome and really gave you a peek into his psyche and personality. I've always loved Andy's personality and am confused by those who think he doesn't exhibit it. For me, he produces it in spades, it's just understated, which is the way that I like. Anyway, it made me cry. I watched it three times in a row. It was the best documentary I've seen on a tennis player. Very well put together.

I was surprised to see Nadal go early, though not too early mind you, but still it was surprising since when all the speculations about an early loss involved both Rosol and Klizan but that didn't happen. It came quite unexpectedly against a player who was playing his first Wimbledon but of course, kyrgios was playing with no fear so that was always going to be a factor, especially at Wimbledon, where the surface favours the big and consistent server the most. I really think while grass rewards pure tennis skills, clay rewards tenacity and longevity. Hard remains somewhere in between and IMHO the most balanced surface of all. But then games like Soccer, Baseball, Cricket are all played on grass and it's really very smooth on the eye. I personally prefer grass of course and always regret there's  not enough grass events on the ATP tour..

Anyway, still, I didn't expect it this time around since Nadal didn't really dominate the clay season like he typically does and had an easier path to RG final, one would have thought he'd be able to, perhaps, make it a bit further at Wimbledon this time around. He did make the 4th round though and his early rounds weren't very easy so that should be taken into account. I feel it's the most difficult thing to do in tennis to win RG and Wimbledon back to back - mostly because of the time frame in between. It's too short. But this is also why I have so much respect for Borg who made it look so easy with his unorthodox style. But to Nadal's credit, he used to be very consistent until 2008 at Wimbledon. Of course Wimbledon is seeing a bit more competition than that these days with Nole, Murray, Del Potro, Dimitrov, Raonic etc. Not to mention, good old Federer is still going strong. I actually wanted to see a Nadal/Federer semi at Wimbledon and was eager to see if Federer was going to do something different and if he was finally going to take it to Nadal but that didn't happen, fortunately or unfortunately but the thought was intriguing. 

As to Andy, yep, you are right. Stuff does happen. Sampras did say it would be very difficult for Andy to defend his title here at Wimbledon. He had warned him way ahead. He mentioned the reason being is the fact that, it's now a completely different territory for Andy where he's no longer on the hunt of winning his first Wimbledon. But Andy is quite humble and he's given a lot of credit to Nadal for defending RG year after year after year. I did think Andy was far more into RG than Wimbledon for some reason though he seemed quite into it at Wimbledon in the first 4 rounds at first. Oh well.

Are you referring to the documentary called 'When Andy won Wimbledon'? Then yes, I've seen it. Like you I cried too. To be honest I can't watch it as many times because it makes me so emotional. There's one other documentary that made me just as emotional if not more was the one on Sampras and his retirement. One is very joyful (Andy's) and the other one was so say (Sampras'). Both leaves you crying.

I don't think people with very straight forward personality will ever get either Andy or Sampras as most of these very people find them boring. But hey, that's why we are here...to make a difference, innit.

First off, Emma. I haven't been around that much myself as I have been going some very freakish health problems. They came out of nowhere and without any warning signals. So for months I have been incapacitated to a large degree. It's a long story.

But as to my plummeting stage, it only lasts for a minute because everyone on the tour deserves their time in the sun. I feel it's selfish to want my fave to win everything and am puzzled by people who jealously guard their favorites and hate their rivals. It's just a sport after all.

I too was shocked by Rafa's early exit, but was glad he at least made it to the second week. I loved your post. You have such a nice way of analyzing things. For me the only thing I like about the grass is that it looks so pristine on the first few days, but I don't find the play that tantalizing. I prefer the sure-footedness of the clay, and hard court makes me think of the pounding that the athletes have to endure. Like you, I am sad that we didn't get the Rafa/Federer semi because it would have been interesting to see how that panned out, but we'll never know now.

As to Andy, it was also an inexplicable loss, so I chalk that up to another "it wasn't meant to be." I agree that Andy seemed to put more focus on the French, and that in itself was odd, but he will be none the worse for it. What this does, in Andy's case is put more fire in his belly. I don't think he'll be that pleased with his major results this year, even if it was a year of transitioning back on the tour.

And yes, it was When Andy won Wimbledon and it was so emotional that I realized that I wasn't getting the full effect. My mind kept wandering to that scene in the school and how terrified those children must have felt, especially after the fact. I watched it back to back and then deleted it, because I cried the second time too, and it was just too much.

But, it was a lovely documentary, wasn't it? So well written and it really showed you Andy's character and persona. That didn't surprise me, because that's how I saw Andy anyway. He was so funny talking about how he and Kim kept the paparazzi away, that sounded so Andy, didn't it? He is such a great person, I don't understand how people don't get him and Pete. They've always been like open books to me. I just relate to them. Always have.