CAMELOT FANTASIES

fantastic post general masterclass.

nick was very well composed for a 19 year old. especially on the centre court with the whole world watching.

well done. congrats to nick and his fans.



grass has been tough for Rafa to adjust to after RG for the last 3 years. just goes to show how difficult it is to do that historic double: RG + Wimbledon.

that is why so few in history have been able to do it.


I have to agree with general masterclass. put rafa on yesterday afternoon and he probably goes on to take this match.

he had too much time off and he did not use it wisely. I have been saying this all year.

he does not train/practice enough anymore and it has been costing him. he prefers to do a lot of problem solving on the court.

he needed to do 2 practice sessions a day the last 2 days and forget about that world cup and fun and games with his buddies.

he does not work on his returns in practice and it shows so clearly.

Rafa himself says he does not like to practice as much as he used to in the old days.


well it shows. some of the fitness and the muscle mass is gone. and he is not moving like the wind like he used to. I am sure back issues and the knee issues have forced him to cut back.


often he is lunging and reaching for the ball or he rushes. that is why there are so many errors in his matches this year.

at any rate clearly his greatest liability on quicker courts is return of serve. nobody in the world has the guts to tell him that.

he is used to winning nearly all his clay matches so that tends to mask his return stats. this is the first time in 100,000 centuries that he has actually lost 3 clay matches in a single season.


so one key area of huge concern for me is that return of serve.


2nd area--which is the most critical area--is the small hit he has taken on the fitness front.

he even admits it. he said after RG that he needed to work on his fitness. I think he was in halle, Germany when he said that.


so if he can do some work on his return and his fitness, things should start to fall in place again. he is still plenty young.



and you are not going to believe this: my dad just called as I am typing this post. evidently they are showing his match on the tennis channel. I am not going to watch it again.

but here is what dad said: he said why is nadal playing like he is "scared"?


that is my dad's way of saying that he was too defensive.

I think he is right. Rafa knifed too many balls back thereby denying his topspin backhand a chance to get into rhythm. nick just blasted every single one of those poorly knifed shots from Rafa.

and what a day to have an off day off the forehand wing also. his timing was really off on that wing. it was just a tough day for him.

I like to just forget it fast but I cant. I hate to see him play this poorly. there was an opportunity here to advance.

In addition to all you said, both physical and mental, I think there was also a psychological effect as well. Maybe it's me, but I didn't appreciate the "articles" that surfaced during this tournament. I'm sure that got under Rafa's skin as well, since he actually got a bit peeved in his presser, talking about hearing the "same old song."

I think he's right. This matter of seconds BS is beyond annoying. There isn't a tennis player alive who follows every rule to the letter, starting with the not stopping your chari after one game, so why the picking and choosing? And why only target Nadal?

Usually Rafa doesn't let such stuff get to him, but year in, year out, and usually in the midst of a tournament, is not cool. I'm tired of it and I'm sure Rafa is too.