CAMELOT FANTASIES

take a look at this article sports fans. this is what I was talking about then I said that his fitness has taken a hit. it has and he admits it also.

only we at Camelot know this even before nadal admits or says it, let alone the experts in the field.  this is why Camelot is required reading.


this is not exactly rocket science anyway. it is pretty damn clear to me anyway that the man is short on practice and a little short on fitness.

and we all understand that a large part of that has to do with the back issues. he really had no choice but to pull back a little in order to let the back heal, recover, and get stronger.


anyway take a look at this article:


http://www.sport24.co.za/Tennis/ATPTour/Nadal-hopes-to-fine-tune-form-20140401





"It is great that I am in the top of the race arriving to the claycourt season," Nadal said. "But now we start on clay and I need to be 100 percent.




"I need to work hard and try to be in better shape for clay."

I hear roger Federer has a wildcard for monte carlo.
great news.  we are missing just 2 top guns now: andy and del potro.

great post general backspin as usual.


I am going to have to agree with you general.


I am not really happy with rafa right now but I guess I have to allow for the fact that he is carrying a back injury. he may be just being very careful and cautious.


the reason I know and understand his game is because I played a very similar game. heavy topspin off both wings and the ability to run for a whole damn day.

but age and time does great deal of damage to all the athletes. it slows them down.

repeated injuries slow us down even more. there is nothing worse than a back injury or a wrist injury because those injuries never really go away.


rafa has not been working hard enough on the clay. I think he should have skipped Miami because his back was not 100%. his ground game was pathetic at best.

you got a good glimpse of it in indian wells when a 36 year old stepanek pushed him and nearly beat him. stepanek should have won that day.

nadal looked almost lost out there. that should have told him something: he needed to be on clay asap.

clay is the wellspring from which he flows. all he has is the ground game and his athletic ability.

all the relentless will on the planet is useless if you don't have the ability. little by little--and it is because of the bad back---his ground game and his athletic ability has take a little hit this year.

clay is the only thing that can fix it all.

he just cant keep handing nole match wins. he has to try to take the monte carlo masters and beat nole in the process.

the back wuld have been further along had he skipped Miami.

who gives a damn about Miami when you just cant afford to lose ground on clay. he has so much to defend there.

Can't agree with you more generals hercules and backspin.   But he's training hard in Mallorca at the moment, so let's hope any back problems he had are gone.  I still don't like that even in training the Spaniard isn't practicing his backhand, but is hitting his forehand near the backhand tram lines.  This is practice. What the hell is Toni doing out there? Rafa should be hitting backhands, backhands, backhands, in practice if he is that scared of them.  It is exactly what is opening up the court for players with the ability to hit the cross court backhand wide to Nadal's forehand wing like Djokovic and Wawrinka. I might have to start using General Hercules "blundering buffoon" phrase soon. Just look at this generals:

Rafa training in Manacor - April 5th





Respectfully,
masterclass

thanks god for clay. the ultimate battlefield of the gods.

now the real battles begin. just 13 days to go now.

I am counting the days, hours, and the minutes.

well nadal can beat him Hoshi but it is fairly clear to me that a number of things have affected his game:

his back issues have kept him from training as hard as he needs to so that is one of them.

2nd one is lack of some focus but that is probably of all the back issues.


he is out doing too many things. he took a trip to Oregon after Indian Wells. he was in a Poker tournament in Miami. and then there is golf and all those press interviews.

he just has too much going on but not enough tennis practice. his game is visibly suffering.

I am worried about his fitness. those who were at this match yesterday said he looked slow and somewhat worn out. I am not sure about all that but it is easy to see that his fitness has taken a hit.

Quote from: Clay Death on April 08, 2014, 11:50:58 pm

I hear roger Federer has a wildcard for monte carlo.
great news.  we are missing just 2 top guns now: andy and del potro.

Confirmed general.  In fairly surprising news, Federer has taken the wild card. He hasn't played there since 2011.   He must be feeling in good shape after his Davis Cup matches last weekend.  He's been runner-up 3 times, never winning a title in Monte-Carlo - just so difficult when Clay Warrior King is always there and has won 8 of them. Maybe he senses Rafa is vulnerable after his recent losses?  Or it might have something to do with Mirka....  Don't know for sure.

Respectfully,
masterclass