CAMELOT FANTASIES

The US Open, last major of the season, starts August 25th.

Sad news just came in ahead of the tournament.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal is out due to his wrist. Just not enough time to rehabilitate it. Commiserations to his fans.
Del Potro withdrew earlier.  He is still not ready.

Main draw:




Respectfully,
masterclass

The US Open, last major of the season, starts August 25th.

Sad news just came in ahead of the tournament.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal is out due to his wrist. Just not enough time to rehabilitate it. Commiserations to his fans.
Del Potro withdrew earlier.  He is still not ready.

Main draw is this Thursday August 21, and will be posted here when available.

Respectfully,
masterclass

I just found out that Rafa withdrew a few nights ago. I saw it on ABC News. I really wasn't expecting it, but there wasn't enough time, so it is what it is. Looking forward to his return.

I had forgotten about del Potro. He's been gone so long. What a shame someone so talented can't catch a break. He's like the Tommy Haas of this generation. He and Rafa can't catch a break.

Men's main draw about to begin.  Here is one feed for it:

http://live.drakulastream.eu/static/popups/23466105600440.html

Respectfully,
masterclass

Well Lady TT, the old adage of the bigger they are, the harder they fall might be true in Juan's case.  But it is a shame.

And Rafa just puts so much effort into everything, it's not surprising either.  I might be wrong, but it doesn't surprise me that his right wrist (only used in the two handed backhand) got hurt.  From seeing his practices in the past, he doesn't seem to practice a lot with the backhand, even runs around it in practice.  So I think being underused, it is more prone to sudden stress when he does use it, and tries to apply a lot of power. 

Well, that's my own theory. General Hercules might have a different opinion.   I guess it could have just been a freak injury, if he fell or something, but that was not my understanding of what happened.  Eh, guess it doesn't matter now. But the physical trainers try to look for reasons and solutions to avoid these things in the future.

Now I just heard his doctors don't know how long he will be out, which seems a bit strange.  Because when he first announced it, doctors were hopeful that it would be ok in 2-3 weeks, and he was practicing and looked almost ready to play in the US Open, except for that splint.  But I guess when he took it off and tried to use it, it was not good enough. Oh well, next scheduled match is Shanghai in October. If he can't be ready for that, then there is a certainly much more serious problem.

Respectfully,
masterclass

I never heard how it happened either, which I think is strange. But as it pertains to health issues I have a totally different take. Sometimes in life things just happen. I don't think that there's always a reason why certain things happen. I look at my own life in these situations.

I have always been healthy. Even when I get sick the doctors marvel at how healthy I am, yet, I have been hit with major illness after major illness for the past two years. They come out of the blue and the doctors cannot say why these things are happening. They are freak occurrences and that's all there is to it. There is no history of it in my genetics, nothing.

Once they get cleared up, which doesn't take a lot of time, my health numbers are so good that it's as if the illnesses never occurred. I have little to no pain and no matter how difficult the situation I never even have to take pain medicine.

I look at my friends, some of whom are overweight, live off of fried foods, don't exercise, etc. and they seem to be healthier than me. That's why I don't put much stock into how or why someone gets injured. Some people do, and some people don't. It's the luck of the draw.

It's like Eubie Blake said when asked about his longevity. "If I'da known I was going to live so long I would've taken better care of myself and stopped drinking and smoking."

I remember reading that years ago and laughing my head off, little did I know how true his words were.

So I don't subscribe to the Rafa punishes body more than others, or del Potro, or Haas. Sometimes injuries just happen. It's simply our lot in life.

Hola Lady TT, General Hercules, thanks for the key matches. See any upsets there?

Thought this was interesting:



Respectfully,
masterclass

youzhny becomes the first seed to fall.

upsets in those key matches for today were difficult to call general masterclass.

nick continues to improve so i guess this was a possibility and sure enough it happened.

Hola Lady TT, General Hercules, thanks for the key matches. See any upsets there?

Thought this was interesting:



Respectfully,
masterclass

Interesting, only Stan won by running the least, but that stat would've changed had Rafa not been injured.

At the USO Rafa ran 2nd most, but won the tournament.
At the FO Rafa ran the most and won.
And Novak ran 2nd most and won.

Conclusion: Run the 2nd most, but not the least unless you have an injured player.

Thanks for the scores!