CAMELOT FANTASIES

Ha ha ha, tanned like Nadal.

Glad you enjoyed your vacation.

For some of the reason's you say. 

1. He had not been that strong against the very top players because of getting beaten early in his career and often, and of course their "aura".  This produces a lack of confidence.  He was in a sense beaten before walking on the court.   However, once he got very close to Djokovic last year, his confidence improved, especially against him.  He needs a similar match or matches against Nadal and Federer to lift his confidence for them.  He might be ready to do that with Nadal now off his recent huge victory vs. Nole.  But confidence, though very important, is not the only factor.

2., Stan's movement side to side was not so great in years past which is very essential against the best.  He was basically just too slow and lacked stamina.  With most of the tour's courts playing medium or slower, it was difficult for him to stay with the best movers with stamina. His footwork is generally pretty good, but he occasionally goes off balance.  Even though his side to side movement has improved a lot with his more recent fitness improvements, it still is below the likes of Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, and Federer on one of his good days.  But there are not many that move as well all match long as those players other than maybe Ferrer. 

3. Stan has the same problem as other one handed backhands against left-handed Nadal.  It's very difficult to put much on the ball when it is bouncing shoulder height or higher.  I think you would have to be quite tall to be able to deal with it with a single hander.

I think those are the 3 main reasons.  There may be others like Rafa forcing Stan into making errors with his good defense..

If you look at the most recent head to head between them, Stan has been making inroads, playing a very tight match in their last meeting at the World Tour Finals losing in two tight tiebreakers.  He has been failing better, as his Beckett tattoo says.  Now, I think he has all the tools, is moving better, and so forth.  He just needs the belief vs. Nadal.  His win over Djokovic should help, but Rafa is still a beast when he is playing well.  Belief against one player doesn't necessarily translate to belief against every player.  It's easy to get down on yourself when believe you are playing well but still being beaten because the guy on the other side refuses to give in, gets fortunate, or is just better on the day.   Sometimes, once you break through against someone, you can turn the rivalry around.  Sometimes no.

Let's see what happens tomorrow. 
Stan had two days off vs. Rafa's one.  That should give him a bit of an advantage, but we know how good Rafa is at recovering.
I'd like to see a good, competitive match (not 3 sets), so I'm going to predict (and hope) that Stan takes the first set in his career from Rafa this match.  If it comes early, all the better.  He might gain tremendous confidence.  But Rafa has to be overflowing with motivation.  He is so close to tying Sampras and winning his second career slam, he must be salivating.  It might create more pressure, or not.  We will have to see what happens. 

I think the key to the match for Stan will be how well Stan can hit his backhand down the line to Rafa's backhand and keep Nadal pinned there, until the ad court is wide open for an inside-out angled winner.  Roger couldn't execute it this time.  Stan can't stay back too far, because I think Rafa will drop shot him.  Stan has been mixing pace well, sometimes pushing slower deep balls, and then really exploding shots when he gets in a good position on the court.  It's a bit risky against someone like Nadal to push too often and too slow.  If the ball comes up a little short, Rafa will punish it.  Stan's serve really helped him out of tight spots (love-30) against Djokovic and Berdych.   He'll need to serve well today to keep Rafa on his heels and guessing.

For Rafa, he needs to continue to keep his shots deep and his backhand cross court working and keep Stan off balance when he comes to net.  He needs to return well against Stan's big serve and hope Stan isn't putting a lot of first serves in.  It's critical he does something with Stan's second serve.  He just can't push it across to the service line.  Rafa needs to serve at least as well as yesterday, maybe a bit better.
And of course, he needs to keep his errors down and force Wawrinka to go for too much and make the errors.

Much as I would love Spartan Stan to get his first Grand Slam win ever, I still have to go with Nadal, probably in 4, but I wouldn't be shocked with any result.

That's how I see it Lady TT.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Quote from: Start da Game on January 25, 2014, 01:16:30 am

hola hercules and castle!

i am back from holiday, completely tanned and looking brown like nadal...... missed almost the entire AO but just in time for the final......

i was so sure wawrinka was going to pose problems for djokovic, i actually wanted to watch that match but couldn't......i saw the highlights today, wawrinka was superb.......too bad he is going to lose to nadal tomorrow but i will take the result as it will only tie rafa with the great pete and also one step closer to the all time tally.......

djokovic seriously needs to rethink his strategy against the likes of wawrinka, haas, dimitrov.......he is having problems picking which way the backhands are directed and hence losing half a second in the rally.......add to that his problems against slice......slice really takes away the zing off his backhand, neutralizes the rally completely and puts him on the defense.......

morning general shanks.

stan played the match of his life against nole. he hung in there and waited for his opportunities.


nole caved just a little bit in the very end under the relentless pressure.

this pressure came in 2 forms:

1. pressure of stan's game

2. pressure of defending the crown


he must have felt that his chances might slip away and sure enough they did.



stan learned a lot from his match against nole in 2013 right here. he came in with a solid plan and executed it to near perfection.

when you can't hit through djokovic, off foot him and open up the court.......that is what stan did......his off backhands were on fire and all through the match djokovic din't know which way they were going......stan backhand kept djokovic honest right through the match......it was a brilliant match from stan.......

For some of the reason's you say. 

1. He had not been that strong against the very top players because of getting beaten early in his career and often, and of course their "aura".  This produces a lack of confidence.  He was in a sense beaten before walking on the court.   However, once he got very close to Djokovic last year, his confidence improved, especially against him.  He needs a similar match or matches against Nadal and Federer to lift his confidence for them.  He might be ready to do that with Nadal now off his recent huge victory vs. Nole.  But confidence, though very important, is not the only factor.

2., Stan's movement side to side was not so great in years past which is very essential against the best.  He was basically just too slow and lacked stamina.  With most of the tour's courts playing medium or slower, it was difficult for him to stay with the best movers with stamina. His footwork is generally pretty good, but he occasionally goes off balance.  Even though his side to side movement has improved a lot with his more recent fitness improvements, it still is below the likes of Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, and Federer on one of his good days.  But there are not many that move as well all match long as those players other than maybe Ferrer. 

3. Stan has the same problem as other one handed backhands against left-handed Nadal.  It's very difficult to put much on the ball when it is bouncing shoulder height or higher.  I think you would have to be quite tall to be able to deal with it with a single hander.

I think those are the 3 main reasons.  There may be others like Rafa forcing Stan into making errors with his good defense..

If you look at the most recent head to head between them, Stan has been making inroads, playing a very tight match in their last meeting at the World Tour Finals losing in two tight tiebreakers.  He has been failing better, as his Beckett tattoo says.  Now, I think he has all the tools, is moving better, and so forth.  He just needs the belief vs. Nadal.  His win over Djokovic should help, but Rafa is still a beast when he is playing well.  Belief against one player doesn't necessarily translate to belief against every player.  It's easy to get down on yourself when believe you are playing well but still being beaten because the guy on the other side refuses to give in, gets fortunate, or is just better on the day.   Sometimes, once you break through against someone, you can turn the rivalry around.  Sometimes no.

Let's see what happens tomorrow. 
Stan had two days off vs. Rafa's one.  That should give him a bit of an advantage, but we know how good Rafa is at recovering.
I'd like to see a good, competitive match (not 3 sets), so I'm going to predict (and hope) that Stan takes the first set in his career from Rafa this match.  If it comes early, all the better.  He might gain tremendous confidence.  But Rafa has to be overflowing with motivation.  He is so close to tying Sampras and winning his second career slam, he must be salivating.  It might create more pressure, or not.  We will have to see what happens. 

I think the key to the match for Stan will be how well Stan can hit his backhand down the line to Rafa's backhand and keep Nadal pinned there, until the ad court is wide open for an inside-out angled winner.  Roger couldn't execute it this time.  Stan can't stay back too far, because I think Rafa will drop shot him.  Stan has been mixing pace well, sometimes pushing slower deep balls, and then really exploding shots when he gets in a good position on the court.  It's a bit risky against someone like Nadal to push too often and too slow.  If the ball comes up a little short, Rafa will punish it.  Stan's serve really helped him out of tight spots (love-30) against Djokovic and Berdych.   He'll need to serve well today to keep Rafa on his heels and guessing.

For Rafa, he needs to continue to keep his shots deep and his backhand cross court working and keep Stan off balance when he comes to net.  He needs to return well against Stan's big serve and hope Stan isn't putting a lot of first serves in.  It's critical he does something with Stan's second serve.  He just can't push it across to the service line.  Rafa needs to serve at least as well as yesterday, maybe a bit better.
And of course, he needs to keep his errors down and force Wawrinka to go for too much and make the errors.

Much as I would love Spartan Stan to get his first Grand Slam win ever, I still have to go with Nadal, probably in 4, but I wouldn't be shocked with any result.

That's how I see it Lady TT.

Respectfully,
masterclass

masterclass ((aptly named),

This is all that I wished for and more. I would love to be able to see a match through your eyes. You must literally feel the cogs working inside your brain as you dissect what's going on between two combatants.

Besides becoming a sportswriter you should consider becoming a tennis analyst. What you are telling us is worth $$$. There is no way you shouldn't be getting paid for these insightful pieces.

That you can bring it down to a level that anyone can understand is mind-boggling.

Thank you so much for answering this post. I appreciate every post that you write.

You are seriously, too much.

Really.

general masterclass is the best on the planet on this type of thing.

he and I often see the same things out there which is incredible.

and what is more, we have even seen press read our stuff from time to time at MTF.

he is a master analyst and a masterclass writer.



now the problem with masterclass is that he wont listen. I have suggested that he fire up a thread right here at this section called "The Masterclass Desk".


this will be given top billing as it should. it will generate some interest and he can start building a small following.

and that is how it all starts. sooner or later, with enough exposure of the type that I am suggesting, he will get discovered. some tennis magazine will scoop him up.



blogs are fine but there must be 20 million blogs out there. blogs are not the future. very few people bother with them.

people want instant gratification. that is why they are all addicted to twitter, facebook, livefyre, and a host of other social media innovations.

they want a response and they want it in real time.

that said, there is no harm in continuing with the blog work. post those blogs and the links to them everywhere possible. it will help with gaining a following.

look here is how it is: nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained.

that desk will also become a bit of a "Q&A". people will come from all around and post their questions if and when they have them.


and in time that will exactly what will happen. it is too much work for many to dig for general masterclass posts and his amazing pearls of wisdom.

this way they can go straight to his desk and see his posts and see some of his work also.


and of course nothing changes in terms of our normal discourse around here. we still carry on as we have been doing and having fun in the process.


sooner or later I am going to get lucky and land a couple of retired pros for Camelot. that will help with the growth and also add some valuable content here.


I have been working on Pat Cash but no cigar. he is just too damn busy for us.

general masterclass is the best on the planet on this type of thing.

he and I often see the same things out there which is incredible.

and what is more, we have even seen press read our stuff from time to time at MTF.

he is a master analyst and a masterclass writer.



now the problem with masterclass is that he wont listen. I have suggested that he fire up a thread right here at this section called "The Masterclass Desk".


this will be given top billing as it should. it will generate some interest and he can start building a small following.

and that is how it all starts. sooner or later, with enough exposure of the type that I am suggesting, he will get discovered. some tennis magazine will scoop him up.



blogs are fine but there must be 20 million blogs out there. blogs are not the future. very few people bother with them.

people want instant gratification. that is why they are all addicted to twitter, facebook, livefyre, and a host of other social media innovations.

they want a response and they want it in real time.

that said, there is no harm in continuing with the blog work. post those blogs and the links to them everywhere possible. it will help with gaining a following.

look here is how it is: nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained.

that desk will also become a bit of a "Q&A". people will come from all around and post their questions if and when they have them.


and in time that will exactly what will happen. it is too much work for many to dig for general masterclass posts and his amazing pearls of wisdom.

this way they can go straight to his desk and see his posts and see some of his work also.


and of course nothing changes in terms of our normal discourse around here. we still carry on as we have been doing and having fun in the process.


sooner or later I am going to get lucky and land a couple of retired pros for Camelot. that will help with the growth and also add some valuable content here.


I have been working on Pat Cash but no cigar. he is just too damn busy for us.

With all due respect to masterclass he should listen to you. You seem like a risk-taker, willing to go all out for the desired result, much like Rafa. There is a steely  resolve covered up with humor, but it is still there nonetheless.

I too wish masterclass would get the exposure due to him. I read a ton of sportswriters all over the web and have been doing so for years. Masterclass is worthy of the exposure because of his ability to break things down into manageable pieces.

We have to keep working on him, maybe he'll finally relent, hee hee hee.

Thanks for your comments both Lady TT and General Hercules. I do appreciate it.

General, I know sometimes it appears if I'm not listening.  But I ask that you please be a bit patient with me, I have several personal things going on, and I don't like to promise to commit to something which might end up taking a chunk of time that I don't have at the moment.

There are pluses and minuses to blogs.  One plus is that you can write them as time allows.  No instant response need like on twitter and facebook where you are reacting more instead of thinking more.  Right now I've committed to Baron Britbox at Tennis Frontier for the blog he graciously set up for me.  And actually I'm a bit ashamed that I haven't been able to post as many blog entries as I feel I should because of my personal issues.  I also wanted to communicate with Baron Britbox and make sure he didn't have any issues with me having a "masterclass desk"  here at Camelot.  Not that I need permission, but more just to make sure things are smooth between us.

All that said, general, let's discuss in a PM your good ideas and how much time you think I will need to dedicate myself for this. It may be that I'm misinterpreting your expectations.   Thanks as always!

Respectfully,
masterclass

Thanks for your comments both Lady TT and General Hercules. I do appreciate it.

General, I know sometimes it appears if I'm not listening.  But I ask that you please be a bit patient with me, I have several personal things going on, and I don't like to promise to commit to something which might end up taking a chunk of time that I don't have at the moment.

There are pluses and minuses to blogs.  One plus is that you can write them as time allows.  No instant response need like on twitter and facebook where you are reacting more instead of thinking more.  Right now I've committed to Baron Britbox at Tennis Frontier for the blog he graciously set up for me.  And actually I'm a bit ashamed that I haven't been able to post as many blog entries as I feel I should because of my personal issues.  I also wanted to communicate with Baron Britbox and make sure he didn't have any issues with me having a "masterclass desk"  here at Camelot.  Not that I need permission, but more just to make sure things are smooth between us.

All that said, general, let's discuss in a PM your good ideas and how much time you think I will need to dedicate myself for this. It may be that I'm misinterpreting your expectations.   Thanks as always!

Respectfully,
masterclass

it will take no more time than what we are doing already general.


its not like we have 500 people here. we have 3 people posting.


you are not doing this for us. you are going to do this for you.

you start "The Masterclass Desk" and you develop/gain a following. it will happen over time.


so it is something worth doing. you get to create but you create excellent content already.


now people have to look for your posts. with your desk, they go straight for your posts and they can even get to ask you a question or two.


it is not different than "the mertov desk". he does not take any extra time. he just shows up once in a while says something.


now in your case, you can get the ball rolling by telling the world about your blogs and give them the link to them.


then either I or lady TT or general Tee or emma will fire away a question or two.

that will let the people know that it is also going to be a bit of a Q&A. that may start to get the attention of the press.


nothing ventured, nothing gained general. stop making excuses.

do something for yourself and have fun with it. who the hell is going to make you an administrator and give you this kind of a platform.


I had to ask scott 20 times to give you a mod status. I had to ask him 30 times to make freaky a mod. mtf took away javi's mod position. so you see that nobody is willing to give us a damn thing. this is why we created our own platform.

 I think with admin status, you can capture the attention of the folks so that should help your cause also.


if all objections first must be removed or dealt with nothing in the world would ever be attempted.


this will take exactly zero extra time and may yield some returns for you.