CAMELOT FANTASIES

scores and results:


http://www.tennisexplorer.com/results/

Hello Mr. Tee.  I'm having trouble quoting posts on this forum.  It just says Loading at the top of the page, and never finishes.

Anyway, how do I rate Rafa's chances for the rest of the year?

Hmm, historically he has never been that great at the tail end of the year, so one wouldn't normally expect great things from him.  Also, he has played a pretty heavy schedule now for close to 8 months.  One would think that he might start tailing off a bit soon. 

Then again, he missed the early tournaments and Australian Open.  He might have something left and his form and confidence has been so good in itself recently ( I think better during the summer hard court than clay season, believe it or not), that he may just carry it to the rest of the year.  And as you infer, his chief competitors' form is a bit suspect, though Djokovic is not off by much.   

Still, traditionally the indoor courts don't play to his strengths.  They are not high bouncing.  So I suspect that if he plays someone that enjoys indoor and lower bouncing courts, Rafa could have trouble against them.  I personally think that it would help Rafa for 2014 if he were to not go all out in this latter part of the year.  He's done more than enough this year.

So specifically, given his draw in Shanghai, I wouldn't be surprise to see him make the final especially if he continue to play outdoors if  the remnants from the typhoon are gone.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him skip Basel. But if he goes there, I think there are other players that can challenge him there. Paris is tricky, since the WTF again follow it immediately.  How many of the WTF players, including Rafa will be willing to put in a big effort there?  I think Rafa is eligible to skip Paris (he has 2 exemptions).  So he might skip there or Basel, but probably not both. 

Given the current form of the traditionally tough players at the WTF and the O2 arena, one might think that this would be Rafa's best chance to finally win a year end championship.  But again, the surface just works against his game relative to others whom it favors.  It's about as tough for him to win there as it is for others to win at Roland Garros.  Can he win there?  Sure, if things go right for him.  Will he? Who the heck knows?  Federer could return to form and if he plays at even a fairly high level he is nearly unbeatable there.  Djokovic also likes the surface, and even Ferrer is pretty good on it.  I don't think it will be easy for Rafa.  But he's been almost unnaturally unbelievable this year, so who would count him out? Not me.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Some great R3 matches! I will watch the replays tomorrow. I might be able to catch a little of Rafa's match in the morning.

Nole - Fed will be quite interesting. I just finished watching Fed-Seppi on replay, too many errors by Fed.

Delpo seemed a little bit ill during his match yesterday. Him and Berlocq withdrew from doubles .

I am taking a look at the nadal vs dologo match. just 5 games into the first set and I am seeing indications of nadal wanting to trust his backhand less.

huge mistake. this is dolgopolov. nadal would win this match in 59 minutes.

he should have trust his backhand more because he will need it against nole or roger in the final.

one small difference from last week: nadal is looking to serve a little better this week and it shows.



so basically 4 things are hurting nadal right now:

1. mental and physical fatigue

2. some loss in confidence off the backhand wing

3. not returning well. he returned horribly last week at the china open

4. some serve issues


you cant beat nole on the hard courts in a best of 3 sets format if you are having these issues.

I agree about the backhand. So far his serve looks much better than it did in Beijing, perhaps this is due to the faster surface. The mental fatigue is what worries me the most. He has already played 70 singles matches since February and he looks burned out.

I just saw him hit a swinging topspin forehand style volley at the net. pitiful.

 it was such an easy put away volley anyway. he should have hit the bloody volley right. even against dolgo he shows no inclination to play the right away.

he is also running around his backhand too much.



but like you said, the dude is burned mentally and physically. his style of play is too demanding and it takes its toll by the end of the season.

Yep, I don't like this at all. Plus, he slices a lot on that wing too. He will get killed against Nole or even Wawrinka!

Dolgo just donated the break, horrendous smash