Author Topic: What Really Ails Rafa (Read 4536 times)

Clay Death · « **Reply #15 on:** April 25, 2014, 08:18:01 pm »

general Tee was right:

it is going to be tough for him to win anything significant at this rate.

now he is very short on match play on clay. and of course he is very seriously and dangerously short on practice on clay. he found that out first hand today against almagro. he slaved away for nearly 3 hours against him and still could not put him away.

he had him on the ropes and still he could not finish him. he took the first set so he had him on the ropes instantly.

he had almagro down 1-3 in the decider. and almagro is not exactly a mental giant. he is mental midget of the highest order.

so what does nadal do: first he loses the tiebreaker to him. and then he proceeds to lose to him in the 3rd set after leading 3-1.

I saw something on twitter today. some people who were at the match said that he looked like he did not care all that much.

nadal lost his serve 3 times in a row to pretty much gift almagro the set. so nadal beat himself.

how does nadal lose his serve to almagro 3 times in a row on clay. you spin your serve in deep and then you simply outduel him from the baseline.

the fact of the matter is that nadal's ground game is in shambles. today he could not even outduel almagro from the baseline.

he needs the red clay more now than ever before. clay is the wellspring from which he flows.

surely he can remember that he has 43 titles on clay that include 8 RG crowns.

get on the red clay fool and stay on it. 2 hour lazy practice sessions are not cutting the mustard.

stop the endless promotional and extracurricular activities before they all start beating you on every single surface.

focus on your game, your fitness and your training. time is running out.

thetruth · « **Reply #16 on:** April 25, 2014, 08:50:48 pm »

He might just be burnt out. It happens. Ten years is a long time to bear the weight of expectations. How must it feel to be constantly be expected to win every clay tournament you enter?

It may seem to be a bad period, but it might be a blessing in disguise. At this point in his career I think he deserves to exhale. That's the only way he'll get recharged. But for now, this is an ebb. Sooner or later he'll flow again.

Clay Death · « **Reply #17 on:** April 25, 2014, 09:08:38 pm »

I just found this article at the bleacher report:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2035499-how-much-longer-will-rafael-nadal-extend-clay-court-dominance

check it out. it is an interesting read anyway.

Clay Death · « **Reply #18 on:** April 25, 2014, 09:13:42 pm »

I know his back was ailing him in indian wells. you could see that he was not really doing much with his serve.

so if he really is a little spent mentally then why the hell did he not leave for home instantly after his early loss in indian wells. it would have been better for the back as well to go home, rest a couple of days, and then start preparing the single most important clay season of his career.

I could hardly bear to watch him play the way he was playing in indian wells. I watched with almost one eye closed.

he is just short on practice and a little short on fitness. short on practice on clay, that is.

he does not really have to win Madrid but 5 matches there would help his cause.

I think he has to win rome. lets see how it all plays out.

rafa does not really like the Madrid event all that much. but he is in a bind now. he has 1000 points to defend there.

Clay Death · « **Reply #19 on:** April 25, 2014, 09:19:04 pm »

I am probably rafa's greatest fan on this planet.

but I am also his greatest critic. I am still not going to give up on him.

I think he has made this way too hard for himself now. it is going to be very tough for him in Madrid.

that being said, he is still the favorite for RG as far as I am concerned. all he has to do is land in the final and he can take it from there.

getting to the final will require some luck and a decent draw for him this time around.

Clay Death · « **Reply #20 on:** April 25, 2014, 10:04:30 pm »

here is another interesting read:

http://www.tennishound.com/?p=20114

Backspin · « **Reply #21 on:** April 26, 2014, 01:44:30 am »

I wasn't as disappointed this time as I was after MC. In Barcelona, desite the defeat, Nadal played better than he did in Monaco. His BH was good, was moving better, and was the better player for most part of the match. He had his chances to win in straights but played too passive in the big points. His forehand lacked the usual spin and power though.

He kind of choked this time. It's mental, not his game. It's good that he has about 10 days time before Madrid. When you're struggling with your confidence, a few days away from what you do can help. I know this from my own experience. Rafa needs to enjoy his battles on court again. That's when he's at his best. Right now, he's focusing too much on winning. He needs to focus more on playing his best. And the results will follow.

Despite the loss, I think he's improving and will be close to his best by Rome. I'm confident he can win the French again.

Clay Death · « **Reply #22 on:** April 26, 2014, 08:55:13 am »

I read some of his remarks after this loss. he admits he is not sharp enough.

and at least twice he has so far admitted that he is not fit enough.

so this is exactly what I have been saying for months.

he is not in any kind of crisis. he is in a personal crisis: he knowingly dropped his fitness and his game.

translation: he is just not working hard enough. there is way too many outside interests and way too many extracurricular activities.

he also stayed on the hard courts too long as I have suggested before. he should have gone home after his early loss in indian wells and jumped on the red clay.

he knew that the most important part of his season was coming up.

so all this senseless blood shed could have been avoided. there was nobody at monte carlo that could have challenged him if he had showed up sharp enough.

and quite obviously he could have bagged another Barcelona title also.

now it gets a little harder but I agree with general backspin:

he is still the man who will go home with the RG crown. he just has to start focusing better and start putting more time on the practice courts.

thetruth · « **Reply #23 on:** April 27, 2014, 12:03:47 am »

Quote from: Clay Death on April 25, 2014, 09:08:38 pm

I just found this article at the bleacher report:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2035499-how-much-longer-will-rafael-nadal-extend-clay-court-dominance

check it out. it is an interesting read anyway.

It was a decent read, but this is sport, and aging and burnout is inevitable.

thetruth · « **Reply #24 on:** April 27, 2014, 12:13:51 am »

Quote from: Clay Death on April 25, 2014, 09:13:42 pm

I know his back was ailing him in indian wells. you could see that he was not really doing much with his serve.

so if he really is a little spent mentally then why the hell did he not leave for home instantly after his early loss in indian wells. it would have been better for the back as well to go home, rest a couple of days, and then start preparing the single most important clay season of his career.

I could hardly bear to watch him play the way he was playing in indian wells. I watched with almost one eye closed.

he is just short on practice and a little short on fitness. short on practice on clay, that is.

he does not really have to win Madrid but 5 matches there would help his cause.

I think he has to win rome. lets see how it all plays out.

rafa does not really like the Madrid event all that much. but he is in a bind now. he has 1000 points to defend there.

The way the ATP is structured is tricky. You can't just skip tournaments without jeopardizing your points. So, even if you don't want to, sometimes you have to play when you don't want to.

Mentally, I don't think he feels like competing at the highest level right now. He's lacking the necessary motivation. In past years he saw himself as an underdog and went about his business. But now, his popularity is skyrocketing, the negative press has trickled down to nonexistent.

I'm sure these things motivated him in the past. They were always saying he was only a clay-courter and would never win on grass (check), he'd never win on a hard court (check), he'd burn out by 25 (check), he'd never hit double digits (check), they said all manner of things, and in each instance he proved them wrong.

Now, many are giving him a chance to catch the record, speculating if he'll break the record, and all of that stuff. That would irritate me, because I do what I do because of me, not because of others.

At this point he's exceeded his own goals. How do you stay motivated after that?

thetruth · « **Reply #25 on:** April 27, 2014, 12:15:42 am »

Quote from: Clay Death on April 25, 2014, 09:19:04 pm

I am probably rafa's greatest fan on this planet.

but I am also his greatest critic. I am still not going to give up on him.

I think he has made this way too hard for himself now. it is going to be very tough for him in Madrid.

that being said, he is still the favorite for RG as far as I am concerned. all he has to do is land in the final and he can take it from there.

getting to the final will require some luck and a decent draw for him this time around.

Um, I don't know about that

.

thetruth · « **Reply #26 on:** April 27, 2014, 12:20:42 am »

Quote from: Backspin on April 26, 2014, 01:44:30 am

I wasn't as disappointed this time as I was after MC. In Barcelona, desite the defeat, Nadal played better than he did in Monaco. His BH was good, was moving better, and was the better player for most part of the match. He had his chances to win in straights but played too passive in the big points. His forehand lacked the usual spin and power though.

He kind of choked this time. It's mental, not his game. It's good that he has about 10 days time before Madrid. When you're struggling with your confidence, a few days away from what you do can help. I know this from my own experience. Rafa needs to enjoy his battles on court again. That's when he's at his best. Right now, he's focusing too much on winning. He needs to focus more on playing his best. And the results will follow.

Despite the loss, I think he's improving and will be close to his best by Rome. I'm confident he can win the French again.

I thought so too. He had so many chances to win that match against Almagro, but made so many mistakes. I think he'll be fine.

thetruth · « **Reply #27 on:** April 27, 2014, 12:24:12 am »

Quote from: Clay Death on April 26, 2014, 08:55:13 am

I read some of his remarks after this loss. he admits he is not sharp enough.

and at least twice he has so far admitted that he is not fit enough.

so this is exactly what I have been saying for months.

he is not in any kind of crisis. he is in a personal crisis: he knowingly dropped his fitness and his game.

translation: he is just not working hard enough. there is way too many outside interests and way too many extracurricular activities.

he also stayed on the hard courts too long as I have suggested before. he should have gone home after his early loss in indian wells and jumped on the red clay.

he knew that the most important part of his season was coming up.

so all this senseless blood shed could have been avoided. there was nobody at monte carlo that could have challenged him if he had showed up sharp enough.

and quite obviously he could have bagged another Barcelona title also.

now it gets a little harder but I agree with general backspin:

he is still the man who will go home with the RG crown. he just has to start focusing better and start putting more time on the practice courts.

Great post, #2 Rafa Fan on the planet.

Clay Death · « **Reply #28 on:** April 29, 2014, 09:41:05 am »

I just saw this article at tennis.com:

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/04/when-rafa-blinked/51299/#.U1-42WdOWpo

thetruth · « **Reply #29 on:** April 30, 2014, 03:04:47 am »

Quote from: Clay Death on April 29, 2014, 09:41:05 am

I just saw this article at tennis.com:

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/04/when-rafa-blinked/51299/#.U1-42WdOWpo

This is a great article. I agree on so many fronts.

1. The point of diminishing returns, and
2. Champions fatigue

I'm just surprised that it took so long. Everyone gets tired, even if you're at the top of the game.

This is what I thought when Federer went through his slump. People were writing him off, but I didn't see any decrease in skills. Just mental fatigue.

These two have battled at the highest level for ten years. That's ridiculously consistent.

Bodo actually got it right, this time.

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Author Topic: What Really Ails Rafa (Read 4536 times)

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