CAMELOT FANTASIES

Scorp, I think all of what you say is true to a good extent. A lot of factors have been in play for Stan, many of them mental.  He had to get used to the notoriety that comes with winning a major. He had to make the rounds in the media circuit.  It's a lot of attention to get used to for someone that was perennially in the shadow of his countryman.  A lot of money and more sponsor endorsements came his way.  He took some time off as well to heal some niggles and rest from his early season efforts. So when he came back, he had to get back in the swing of things, and deal with the "real world", and the inevitable mental letdown of playing in less important tournaments.

But I see the recent Davis Cup QF as an important watershed moment for him.  A win in Davis Cup for Stan has always been his dream, maybe even more than winning a major.  He probably puts more pressure on himself there than anywhere else.  And I think mostly due to that self-imposed pressure, he hasn't always performed as well as he could in the past. 

Now, after winning a major, he even put more pressure on himself, and he had the external pressure from his team, fans, countrymen, that now expected him to play Davis Cup like a major champion and help carry the team to victory.  The pressure told.  He did not play well in the first rubber against a very good Golubev, on many occasions, impatient, and over hitting, and not serving that well, and played even worse in the doubles, especially the first two sets, where he was outright missing balls he should make in his sleep.  When I say missing, I mean swinging and not even hitting the ball, with Federer coming up behind him to hit it after Stan missed, which is how bad it got at one point. 

But when it mattered, with his team on the brink of defeat at 1-2, in his second singles match he came through with calmness and courage. He lost the first set tiebreaker to an inspired Kukushkin, but he said he didn't let it bother him as he felt he was playing the right way, and didn't think Kukushkin could keep up his play at that level.  Stan's serving was back to where he had it at the Australian Open, and he won an astounding 94% of his first serves and 60% of his second serves, including 25 aces in conditions that were medium pace at best.  He played solid from the ground, and hit over 60 winners in 4 sets.  But most importantly for him, he came through under tremendous pressure to allow his team to stay in the tie, and give a chance for his compatriot, Roger Federer to win it.   Federer said that Stan worked very hard, and it was a matter of getting his emotions under control.   

So I think in the end, this experience at Davis Cup will help him mentally in the toughest situations.   He has already demonstrated his brilliance, but whether he can show the consistency of form and desire/drive that the very top players have shown from tournament to tournament throughout the year is another question.   He might not have that in him. Very few do.  The euphoria of winning a major at this time in his career and satisfaction it brings can make it difficult to continue with high motivation.  We see how tough it has been for Andy Murray, OBE, since winning Wimbledon, and made even tougher after returning from back surgery.  I would like to think as long as Stan stays relatively healthy, he'll have more Stanimal moments.  Will one come on the clay this year?  He has said it's his favorite and best surface, despite his better success on hard courts.  We'll see.  I think that he will have his next best chance at the US Open.

Respectfully,
masterclass