CAMELOT FANTASIES

Dear fellow posters and readers,

Let's wish heartfelt commiserations to one of the great players of our time, Mr. Rafael Nadal, who was obviously seriously compromised even before the tournament had begun due to a prolonged period of inactivity and corresponding lack of consistent form, but still had the courage to play in this major event even though he humbly proclaimed beforehand that he wasn't good enough to win.  He gave it his best, and the amount of matches he played should help him shake off more of the rust as he finally gets off the hard courts and begins his clay campaign in South America.  Rafael will need to continue to work on his fitness and his return of serve foremost, and consistency and confidence should come with more match play and wins.

Let's also wish a hearty congratulations to Mr. Tomas Berdych, who in a considerable number of meetings with Rafael has been up against the fence so long, the splinter scars must be permanently etched on a certain portion of his anatomy seen only by his fiance. Yet Tomas finally managed to overcome his long ignominy to not only prevail in this match, but to completely subdue his obviously impotent tormenter for a long part of the match, and when the inevitable final challenge arose from the mighty warrior, was able to surmount his doubts and complete his victory with a flourish.       He has a reasonable chance to make a final in this Australian Open with his solid play, new team and confidence.

Best of luck and health to both players as they recover from this match and continue their journey throughout the year. 

Respectfully,
masterclass

great post general

I saw the match. rafa is just a shadow of his former self now.



I have been telling people for over 2 years now that his decision to drop some work on the fitness front and to drop the time and the duration of his on court practice time was going to cost him in a big way and it has.


he gave up too much ground on the fitness front which is why he is almost always injured now.

and his obsession with hard courts has cost him his ground game.

berdych won 90% of the points off the ground.

imagine that. Rafa is the greatest baseliner ever lived and yet could only win about 10% of the points in rallies.


he had no backhand to speak off and he had no return of serve.


his movement was horrible and he had very little mustard on the balls he did get back.

just a tremendous drop in physicality.

he just does not get it: it is his fitness and his physicality---coupled with his will and his hunger--that took him to the next level in our sport.

we always knew he was a great athlete and he had that topspin which was going to do major damage on the tour.


it is what it is. I think he has too many other interests which could have waited 2-3 years.

he lost some of his drive and some of his hunger. now we have to wait and see if he is willing to do anything about it and get back to the levels he is capable of.


time has almost run out on him.