CAMELOT FANTASIES

Glad it's Nishikori who won the title. With Rafa out of the tournament, I wanted a Nishikori win. He surprised me with how well he played in this tournament. If he continues this form, he can have a great season.

IMO what worked well for Rafa was that he doubted himself after being away from competitive tennis for 7 long months. He worked hard on his game to be able to compete at the highest level again.
And he went on to have one of his most dominant seasons. I don't think he planned on that. He exceeded his own expectations winning FO and USO + 5 Masters and other titles.

Once he knew he's back on top, he stopped doubting himself. He knew he was the best player in the world. He stopped doing the things that helped him compete so well in 2013. He practiced, but not like before.

I've said this before. I was very disappointed with him in Miami final. Djokovic was playing very well. But Rafa was just awful. He couldn't or didn't retrieve some balls that even I would have gotten to. He made Novak look even more impressive than he already was.
I thought after that Miami final, Rafa needed to come back strong in the clay swing. He needed to play the kind of tennis that elevated him to the top. But sadly, he didn't, and got bounced by Ferrer in Monaco. A few days later he loses to Almagro in Barcelona!

The way I see it, Rafa will have to fight hard and play his best to be the dominant king of clay again. His B game is no longer good enough against quality opponents. He isn't getting any younger or faster. He's gonna have to be near his best to defend his FO title.

I'm not following Barcelona this time. Did anyone watch the Nadal-Dodig match? How was Rafa playing?

It seems Kei Nishikori is playing well. He's like 4-2 against Marin Cilic. Has a good chance to make the final in Barcelona.

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."

Nadal did look low on energy in Miami final. He also looked a tad slower than his usual self. Some of the balls he couldn't get to, I'm pretty sure I could've gotten to myself. It was a bit strange to see him move slower than Berdych.
Of course Novak also made it very difficult for him to have any chance in the match. Nadal needed to be at his best to beat Novak on that slow hard court. He wasn't in his best form and Novak made him look ordinary at times tbh.

I am with you, general Clay Death. If the back isn't bothering him too much, he needs to practice more and be at his best to dominate the clay swing. He may be the king of clay, but his average game isn't going to intimidate his rivals. He better come out playing like he can on clay if he wants to retain his RG trophy and hold on the #1 ranking.

My pick for the final would be Novak in 3.
But it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Roger takes the title.

Happy New Year!

Emma, Clay Death, theTruth, and other forum members, wishing you an amazing 2014!

I hope it's ok to post this here.

Quote from: Backspin on December 14, 2013, 02:41:52 pm

Quote from: Clay Death on December 05, 2013, 06:17:23 pm

Quote from: Backspin on December 05, 2013, 12:44:13 am

I hope Rafa wins this and gets the double career slam. He will need to serve well and return as well as he did in Montreal.

affirmative.

that is absolutely key on the hard courts:


you have to take care of your serve and you have to be able to return well enough to secure your break points.




nadal is my pick for the title at the Australian open.


 

I've noticed that whenever Rafa serves well, he ends up winning the tournament more times than not. In his victories over Novak in 2013, I think he was returning better than Novak.

here is a question for you general backspin:

if Rafa could have only one of these, which one would you suggest that he take?


1. a great serve

or

2. a great return of serve



by the way nole has both which is why he is so tough to deal with on hard courts.

For Nadal, I'd go with a. A great serve. He already has a good ROS, just not a great one like Djokovic's.
I agree Djokovic has good serve and an amazing RoS. However, he tends to struggle against good servers on a good day. And right now, Nadal's biggest obstacle to winning more slams is Novak Djokovic.

If Nadal has a great serve, his ground game is so good, I think he'd be the favorite or co-favorite in all the slams.