So Lady TT, are you thinking he needs another longish rest to recharge the batteries?
I would never write off greats like Rafa, until they actually retire.
That 7 month rest seemed to do him good a couple of years ago. He came back very fired up in 2013.
I think he almost needs to press on till after the US Open this year as he defends a lot of points in that space.
Then I think he could afford to not play at all in the fall, and come back very refreshed in 2015, maybe even skipping the AO as he did in 2013, with about a 4-5 month overall break, but practicing very hard on clay in Dec-Jan, and just starting on the South American clay in Feb 2015, same type of pattern as 2013?
Respectfully,
masterclass
No, I don't think he needs a long break. The 15 days would have sufficed. I think that did hurt him. He could've taken a week off and then started practicing on clay.
But he didn't, so every action creates another reaction. We're seeing that now.
But, at the same time, this is the first time Rafa has had a slump without a bad injury, so I think it was kind of overdue.
A decade is a long time to be so excellent and burnout becomes a real possibility.
Players like Rafa and Fed have been doing it so long, I don't think you can except them not to lose motivation at some point.
I try to always remember that they're regular people like us.
And in the end, his career has been so brilliant. There's no reason to worry about a mufti-millionaire. If he quit tomorrow, he's had a fabulous career. What more can he want?