CAMELOT FANTASIES

Not at all.  If I were a big Federer fan...I'd want Djokovic to make it to the final and get destroyed by Federer. 

But really I'm a fan of great tennis, as General Hercules can tell you.  Historically, Djokovic-Federer matches produce some pretty good tennis matches.  More so than Federer-Nadal, or Murray-Djokovic for example.  So in that case, I would hope that Djokovic makes it through and gets to play Federer and they both play well, produce some great tennis, and the best player on the day wins. 

I'm not one of those silly fans that wants the better players to lose so that my player can more easily win.   What kind of challenge is that? It is not the way of the warrior.    And that is how I look at men's tennis.  The best play with the heart and mentality of a courageous warrior when they are confident.  When they are not confident, it shows.  For example, Rafael Nadal is a big fighter, maybe the biggest. But when I see him drop back to the fence to return for no reason, I just cringe.  He is sending a message to the server... I am not confident today.  I'll play back here and get more time to deal with the shot.  He didn't win the hard court events last year doing that.  Why? Because he was super confident in his game.

Most of the top players can play great tennis more often by definition.  That said, there are certain match-ups where a player does not allow the other to play their best tennis for whatever reason.  Many lower ranked players are also capable of playing some good or even great tennis.  The problem is that they don't often have the belief when they run into a top player, and they implode at the critical moments.   But it's a game played by two players, and many times a player can force a player to play worse than he would against another player.

Now there are times, when a player is not in form, not on his game at all, and it that situation, I think he might be better off losing to some other player than his biggest competitors, for psychological reasons, and get out of the tournament and work on their game.   Tennis is not only about playing matches. To be at one's best, one has to constantly work on their game, and especially when one is not in form.  Playing matches when not in form or playing with injury is a recipe for destroying confidence and it leads to a vicious cycle of losing to players to whom you shouldn't lose.  Hard practice, focusing on the deficiencies and strengths in your game leads to better form.  Winning matches leads to better confidence.
Sometimes it can be difficult to find the right balance, as one does need match play as well. I think Federer was in this position much of last year. I think Murray is in this position this year.  Djokovic is also not on his game.  I think Nadal is risking his game, and his confidence is lower.  That's why I believe he shouldn't play in Miami, get 100% healthy, and get on the clay and work on his game until Monte Carlo starts.

Ok, enough, said....

Respectfully,
masterclass

Great post. I feel the same way. Although, at this point, I think it might not hurt Nadal to play Miami since he has zero points there from last year and could pick up more points without jeopardizing too much.

I like great tennis too and try not to focus too much on the players. Tennis is a game of losses as well as wins. So, I take the bad with the good.

Although I hated to see Nadal lose, he wasn't playing well enough to win, so that's that. I'm glad he went to Alex than against his main rivals, that would've created more psychological damage as you said. So, in the end the loss wasn't too bad in my opinion, because life must be meted out to all.

 I hope that this tournament gives Dolgopolov the confidence to keep improving. He's great to watch.