CAMELOT FANTASIES

que pasa Emma.

I am out on the road at the moment .


I will reply to your posts as soon as I get home.


dolgopolov is a gifted player. very impressive considering how short he is.

I saw Andy's match yesterday and I have a few things to say on that one too.

Personally I don't feel Andy would have won if that controversial point had gone in his favour. The fact that he let that bother him so much is very telling. But some Murray fans will never overcome their own biased feelings to see that. If Andy had any intention winning that match, his attitude would have been quite different. He was up a break in the 2nd, wasn't he? And he did get broken back, didn't he? So why so hung up on that point alone? And even Andy had won that point, where's the guarantee he still would have not gotten broken at that point? He was after all serving from behind to stay in the match. And also, had it gone to the TB, where's the guarantee he would have won that TB? Have you kept records of his TBs this season? And even if he had won the 1st set, say, where's the guarantee he would have won the match? If you did then you'd be seriously undermining the No. 1 hard court player's ability on his best surface. So let's not get ahead ourselves and blame the loss to Nole's apparent 'cheating' of the pointonly. That's not why Andy lost. And if he did lose it because of that then it's rather a shame and a pity than it is anything else.

Sampras would tell you that you basically have to adopt the idea of amnesia in order to win. Because **** happen during a match and things will not be extremely fair as much as you like to see it. The idea is to focus on the present and forget the past as quickly as possible as if nothing happened. You don't think about the future either because it's not here yet so you can't allow yourself to get ahead of yourself. You have to be here and concentrate on the point you will be playing right now. You can't let yourself get all hung over on a lost point. Only then you will be able to win if you stay focused on the current point. Rome wasn't built in a day after all. It had to be done one step at a time. One point at a time. As cliche as it sounds it's the ultimate truth so know the truth.

Now as to the point, Nole didn't cheat as he admitted himself to Andy right at that moment that he had gone over the net. The call then was ultimately for the Chair Umpire to take. What Nole could have done, he could have been supportive of Andy and could have approached the Umpire and could have told him the truth. But Nole was too tight at that point since the first set itself was tight as Andy was being the aggressor, so Nole didn't want to miss a golden opportunity. As much as Andy is not back in the game yet fully, you can never underestimate his ability especially the caliber of a  player he is. Yes, he's not on top of his game yet but it's only a matter of time now that he gets on top of things and yesterday's match was lingering with that possibility all along.  In that sense, yes Nole as gracious as he generally is, got a bit greedy and took the point away from Andy. Ideal would have been to play the point again as the ball didn't even reach over this side of the net but Nole got too cautious anyway.

I am not obviously seeing that as a huge deal - this lost point. I am more bothered with Lendl's coaching. What had he taught Andy all this time if not how to get over the bad calls, points etc. that seems to have damaged Andy far more than anything else since he gets so distracted. Sampras would have taught you that first along with how to serve. I am just not very convinced with Lendl's coaching since not only he did not stick to Andy's side when he needed him the most but also, he wasn't able to convert Andy's mind in the way it should have been converted. Andy, after all, took a very long time to come back and his mentality is still not there yet. I do think he's about 90% back and will be in full force come grass season, but things were to go to the right direction then the mentality should have been there first. Still nothing is lost in the big of schemes of course.

great post emma. I think you spell it out.

would have been nice to get the win but in the long run scheme of things, it was a good learning experience for andy. this will increase his resolve and his hunger more.

I am still predicting a Wimbledon title for him this year. now he will be far more focused going forward.

Andy is trying to get some traction going. he is making progress with each passing day.

Two more matches to go for all. I think Nishi is pretty much done at this point. He had a couple of very good back to back win. He will have to bring his best against Nole, who seems to be fresher of the two at this point. Andy didn't push him enough, didn't take it to 3rd set. So he is relatively fresh.

Berdych too is relatively fresh. Not sure though if he's going to give his all in his next match. Hasn't seen a win against Nadal since 2006 but still, there's always a first time.

nole is too strong for nishikori.

he is going to overpower him.  I think Nole is going to be difficult to deal with in the final. he looks strong, fit, and confident.

more than likely it will be Rafa vs Nole.

Rafa can do it but not without some help from Nole.

Nole has to be a little bit off for the occasion.

you know I have to go with my players so I say Rafa in an upset win over Nole in 3.

great post emma. I think you spell it out.

would have been nice to get the win but in the long run scheme of things, it was a good learning experience for andy. this will increase his resolve and his hunger more.

I am still predicting a Wimbledon title for him this year. now he will be far more focused going forward.

Andy is trying to get some traction going. he is making progress with each passing day.

To be honest, Andy's serves let him down once again especially in the 2nd set. But there's a lot to take from that match. He knows where his game is now and how he feels mentally. He after all played the best hard court player of the current era.

I took the time to watch all of Andy's matches this week and I can say that he's almost back. He still has ample time to make all the adjustments he needs before grass season and thereafter. He can even give clay a good chance and work on his confidence. There's nothing to lose on clay but everything to gain.

He'll be fine without Lendl. Just needs someone who will keep track of things. Also, Andy has a pretty good head above his shoulder. Just needs to learn to let go of certain things since they never work in his favour. I wish this was an ideal world but it isn't and that's the truth.

Hopefully this time, without Lendl, Andy will really mature up and will be the man of this own destiny.

I just checked facebook.

guess who sent me a message today? Javier.


he wanted to know if I was around somewhere. I cant believe he forgot about Camelot.

anyway I cant send him a reply because facebook has blocked me for 18 more days. they said I was sending out too many friend requests so they were going to block me for a while.

I am always trying to recruit for Camelot when I am at home late in the evenings.

Hi Anikh. I am very sad.


Andy had a shot at the first set but it was not meant to be. I think the story would have been different had he been able to snatch the first set.

nole is just a machine on hard courts. you have to play near perfect to gun him down.


I have a question: what the hell was Lendl doing in the stands if he doesn't have any time for Andy?

I saw that too. It seemed weird.

how is the weather in Toronto?

it is finally warming up here now. I think the winter is finally over and done with here.

take a look at this picture:






this is lake Michigan. I don't think I could survive that kind of winter. those cars will stay frozen for weeks.

We got something similar here too, no? Not so long ago? It was pretty half as half the city didn't have any power for weeks and cost us a fortune. I wasn't as affected since I am on the west side of the city and it's the east side that is still old and took bulk of the hit. I even posted some pictures. They all looked very pretty but in reality that ice storm was devastating for many. Mother nature can be cruel too!