CAMELOT FANTASIES

Really sad for the Nadal camp. It's not that he's just losing; Rafa is losing to his pigeons and turkeys.

And Almagro, though he played well at times, gave Nadal every chance to win.  First in the second set, at 3-3, Nadal had at least 3 chances to break and Almagro somehow survived 4 deuces, and then wins the tiebreaker.  Then Nadal up a break at 3-1 in the final set, collapses on his serve and doesn't win another game on serve. It seems he has a difficult time consolidating his breaks lately.

So passive on his serve, and he just looked a beaten man, instead of his usual fighter self.

What's next?  Madrid is no haven for Nadal.  But a good performance is needed somewhere. Rome is absolutely vital now for a turnaround.

But I'm starting to lean toward him not getting it done at Roland Garros if he plays anything like this.  He wouldn't deserve it.

It's as bad a collapse on his play on clay as I've seen from Nadal.  This is not Djokovic, or Federer, or even Wawrinka,  this is Almagro, who had won a total of 2 sets and 0 matches in 10 tries before today.

It's starting to remind me of Federer's 2013 year.

Respectfully,
masterclass

It reminds me of the same thing. But even when Federer was going to his slump, I never thought he was finished. I think we forget what kind of pressure they're under to be expected to win all the time.

They need a break. They're only human, they can't live, eat, and breathe tennis 24-7.

Personally, this kind of stuff doesn't get me down. When Rafa is looking like he doesn't want to fight, or flubbing balls that he could've blown over the net, that tells me that he's tired.

He needs to take care of himself first and foremost. That's all I want for him.

IMO what worked well for Rafa was that he doubted himself after being away from competitive tennis for 7 long months. He worked hard on his game to be able to compete at the highest level again.
And he went on to have one of his most dominant seasons. I don't think he planned on that. He exceeded his own expectations winning FO and USO + 5 Masters and other titles.

Once he knew he's back on top, he stopped doubting himself. He knew he was the best player in the world. He stopped doing the things that helped him compete so well in 2013. He practiced, but not like before.

I've said this before. I was very disappointed with him in Miami final. Djokovic was playing very well. But Rafa was just awful. He couldn't or didn't retrieve some balls that even I would have gotten to. He made Novak look even more impressive than he already was.
I thought after that Miami final, Rafa needed to come back strong in the clay swing. He needed to play the kind of tennis that elevated him to the top. But sadly, he didn't, and got bounced by Ferrer in Monaco. A few days later he loses to Almagro in Barcelona!

The way I see it, Rafa will have to fight hard and play his best to be the dominant king of clay again. His B game is no longer good enough against quality opponents. He isn't getting any younger or faster. He's gonna have to be near his best to defend his FO title.

IMO what worked well for Rafa was that he doubted himself after being away from competitive tennis for 7 long months. He worked hard on his game to be able to compete at the highest level again.
And he went on to have one of his most dominant seasons. I don't think he planned on that. He exceeded his own expectations winning FO and USO + 5 Masters and other titles.

Once he knew he's back on top, he stopped doubting himself. He knew he was the best player in the world. He stopped doing the things that helped him compete so well in 2013. He practiced, but not like before.

I've said this before. I was very disappointed with him in Miami final. Djokovic was playing very well. But Rafa was just awful. He couldn't or didn't retrieve some balls that even I would have gotten to. He made Novak look even more impressive than he already was.
I thought after that Miami final, Rafa needed to come back strong in the clay swing. He needed to play the kind of tennis that elevated him to the top. But sadly, he didn't, and got bounced by Ferrer in Monaco. A few days later he loses to Almagro in Barcelona!

The way I see it, Rafa will have to fight hard and play his best to be the dominant king of clay again. His B game is no longer good enough against quality opponents. He isn't getting any younger or faster. He's gonna have to be near his best to defend his FO title.

Interesting points and good post general Backspin.  The real question is, what level is his best now?  We know what it was in the past.
I think he has to put in the hard yards - practicing 4-6 hours/day  to get close to that, and the question is, does he have the motivation and dedication to do that, especially when he is #1?

He keeps saying things like tennis isn't everything, not important compared to some other things in life.  I'm wondering if his passion to excel and do the work it takes to stay at the top is disappearing.  He's only human, and I think it's natural to want to do other things.  To be at the top consistently in tennis, many have found that you have to give up many other things that are enjoyable.  I think Rafa has had a taste of other pleasures, golf, fishing, poker, football, whatever, and may be struggling to dedicate himself completely to tennis.  It's not surprising, he has been on the tour for what, 11-12 years?   When he is not at the top, he does seem to be more passionate in his competitive drive.

Respectfully,
masterclass

congrats to nishikori and his fans. he is a talented athlete.

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?

Quote from: Backspin on April 26, 2014, 05:37:53 am

IMO what worked well for Rafa was that he doubted himself after being away from competitive tennis for 7 long months. He worked hard on his game to be able to compete at the highest level again.
And he went on to have one of his most dominant seasons. I don't think he planned on that. He exceeded his own expectations winning FO and USO + 5 Masters and other titles.

Once he knew he's back on top, he stopped doubting himself. He knew he was the best player in the world. He stopped doing the things that helped him compete so well in 2013. He practiced, but not like before.

I've said this before. I was very disappointed with him in Miami final. Djokovic was playing very well. But Rafa was just awful. He couldn't or didn't retrieve some balls that even I would have gotten to. He made Novak look even more impressive than he already was.
I thought after that Miami final, Rafa needed to come back strong in the clay swing. He needed to play the kind of tennis that elevated him to the top. But sadly, he didn't, and got bounced by Ferrer in Monaco. A few days later he loses to Almagro in Barcelona!

The way I see it, Rafa will have to fight hard and play his best to be the dominant king of clay again. His B game is no longer good enough against quality opponents. He isn't getting any younger or faster. He's gonna have to be near his best to defend his FO title.

Interesting points and good post general Backspin.  The real question is, what level is his best now?  We know what it was in the past.
I think he has to put in the hard yards - practicing 4-6 hours/day  to get close to that, and the question is, does he have the motivation and dedication to do that, especially when he is #1?

He keeps saying things like tennis isn't everything, not important compared to some other things in life. I'm wondering if his passion to excel and do the work it takes to stay at the top is disappearing.  He's only human, and I think it's natural to want to do other things.  To be at the top consistently in tennis, many have found that you have to give up many other things that are enjoyable.  I think Rafa has had a taste of other pleasures, golf, fishing, poker, football, whatever, and may be struggling to dedicate himself completely to tennis.  It's not surprising, he has been on the tour for what, 11-12 years?   When he is not at the top, he does seem to be more passionate in his competitive drive.

Respectfully,
masterclass

I agree. To get to the top, get acclimated to being on the top and the associated fame, and then maintain that drive is otherworldly. You have to have something inside of you that still wants to do it, be it fame, notoriety, or ego.

But, some people have a different mindset. The way I approach things is probably similar to Rafa. At the onset, I may doubt if I can actually do something, because I know that if I want to quit, I'll quit. I'm not concerned about what others think of my choices.

But, say I really want to do something, then I'll ponder it, make the decision and go all out to achieve my goal. For instance I was always an A, B student, and I did that without really applying myself. I hadn't declared a major and was going to school just to exercise my brain and needed the structure of school, (pressure) to study things I might not select myself.

Then, years later I decided to go back to school with a purpose, but this time I decided I wanted to graduate Summa Cum Laude. So, I delved into my program head first. It charged me to learn all of these new processes.

At first, I would work on my assignments daily. I would write a paper, keeping doing research, and by the time the paper was due I had rewritten it adding more insights.

After I had been in school for a while, the work became second nature where I'd do a prep, but not actually write the paper until the due date. Now, I don't do it until hours before it's due.

I have to find things in life that motivate me and make me want to do things. I am not interested in extrinsic motivation, everything is intrinsic. I can see Rafa questioning what HE wants to do, and I don't think it has to do with Fed, Joker, or anyone else.

The passion is not there right now and there's no sense in faking it. For all of his on court "troubles" he looks the happiest when he's off the court. He's always smiled a lot, but now it's perpetual smile.

It's all up to Rafa. I believe he is contented, and that's why he's struggling to reach for things he really doesn't care that much about.

Glad it's Nishikori who won the title. With Rafa out of the tournament, I wanted a Nishikori win. He surprised me with how well he played in this tournament. If he continues this form, he can have a great season.

Glad it's Nishikori who won the title. With Rafa out of the tournament, I wanted a Nishikori win. He surprised me with how well he played in this tournament. If he continues this form, he can have a great season.

Kei is definitely making a statement.

He's playing very well.