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Yesterday, I thought Stan would want to avoid meeting with Nadal if he's not ready though one must admit that, there's no shame in losing to Nadal on clay, but now I am thinking if Nadal lost deliberately today to avoid meeting with Stan in the next match. I mean the way Stan dismissed Cilic in the round before may have raised a few eye brows and he dismissed Raonic this morning too in straight as well, so clearly Stan seems to be ready given that that was the first match. And losing to Stan again this time on clay and there's always the chance of that, would really damage Nadal's confidence to no end.
Well, I have many Rafa connections and in the last few months, he's been everywhere. Maybe a lot of it is sponsor-oriented, but he's been all over the place. And while it's good to relax, I live by that, you probably shouldn't be relaxing so much during your most productive time of year. He can relax after the USO, since he rarely does much after the North American hard court season anyway.
But, it's his life, and he can do what he wants to do. In his shoes I would do the same thing, simply because I felt like it, LOL.
I think these are good points, Emma. I'm inclined to agree. Knowing that his game isn't where it's supposed to be, taking a loss to Ferrer is ideal.
Even in the first rounds, although he won comfortably, he still didn't look like a man on a mission. He looked in both prior matches like he was trying to go on and off the court.
Dominating Seppi one minute and then going on a walkabout when he was so close to closing it out.
He's been doing too many unnecessary things off court, during this most crucial time.
What are those things? I am not actually aware but I did see him boating on the ATP side. I would have thought those would relax him, no? And take his mind off serious things? I think he really needs to be serious when he is on court and off court, he should try and relax as much as possible. -
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The quarter finals have come and gone with one major upset and two survivals.
The upset was not expected, but not surprising to me, and left me disappointed.
Ferrer beat Nadal in straight sets on the clay at Monte Carlo. Nadal had been as unbeatable there as at Roland Garros, winning 8 of the last 9 years. Ferrer hadn't beaten Rafa on clay in ten years. How did it happen? Well, obviously something is missing or lacking in Nadal's game at the moment. The most disturbing thing from a mental point of view, is that he looked flat, he looked like he didn't care a whole lot, or was distracted.
Tennis wise, Rafa wasn't hitting balls deep, especially from the backhand wing. He was lucky if they were landing further than the service line. Ferrer is not a bad clay court player and took full advantage, and was blasting balls left and right. Nadal looks like he is playing with little confidence at the moment. Or it could be that he is protecting his back more than he wants to let on, who knows?
He said in his press conference that he was physically fine, but that he was low on confidence. So why wasn't this surprising to me? I think he has let himself go a bit since winning all those titles last year. And what of it? He is only one man. He cannot just keep going out there and playing the brutal style he plays, especially on the joint jarring unnatural and especially slower hard courts, without something happening.
Look, most physically demanding sports were obviously meant to be played on dirt and grass. Look at sports like football, baseball, soccer, where players are jumping, falling, sliding, as well as running. Can you imagine those professional sports being played on hard pavement? Of course not. Look in history, at what happened when some playing fields went to artificial turf in the name of saving money on upkeep. Injuries increased, and players complained at the unnatural feel and balls bouncing like super balls. I've played all these sports, some at a higher level, and I can tell you that they are meant to be played on a natural surface.
Hard courts may offer a truer bounce in tennis, and provide solid footing for those not adept at good footwork, but running a lot on the hard courts takes its toll, not to mention what happens when you have to stretch for a shot, or jump, and fall. Now of course, in cold climates or winter, one has to go indoors for tennis. Indoor courts were played on wood for a long time, then soft carpet, often over a wood base. Typically, the indoor courts played fast. So there wasn't that much wear and tear on the players from these courts. But the acrylic hard courts came along, and have gradually replaced all those indoor courts. The problem is that indoor and outdoor hard courts have gradually been made slower, usually medium to slow, with a couple faster, but not fast, decoturf courts like Cincinnati and the US Open. We saw Djokovic and Nadal play for close to 6 hours on the medium-slow Plexicushion courts on Rod Laver. That takes it's toll in the long run. And Rafa is not exempt. I wouldn't have a problem with playing on the harder surface if they varied between medium to fast conditions. It is a more neutral surface, and generally more competitive, as it doesn't require the more specialized technical and physical skills that clay and grass require.
We saw what happened last year when he started on the clay instead of Australia and tourneys like Rotterdam. He ended up with one of the best seasons of his career. He was so confident once he hit the hard courts in the summer, that he won the masters and US Open, and ended up with 10 titles. But that kind of success also comes at a price.
After a so-so fall, where he failed to win a title, which is not unusual, he spent his off time playing exhibitions on hard court. He didn't give himself time to get to the practice courts and work on his game and fitness. This cost him at the Australian Open. He just wasn't fit enough in my opinion and the hard courts at Rod Laver didn't help him. He had to play a hard match against Federer, and then followed it up with Wawrinka. Stan played very well, stretched Rafa to his limits, and Rafa's back injury cost him any chance of winning. This also had to hurt Nadal's confidence some, though some of his fans might deny that. After this, we could see how close he came to losing matches where he should not have had trouble. Again, he was unable to train properly once his back was hurt. Now what did he do after Miami? Did he jump right on the clay courts and start practicing many hours/day to get his clay game and fitness going? I don't know, but he seemed to be everywhere. So did it surprise me that he lost to Ferrer so badly, committing some 44 unforced errors in 2 sets at a tournament and surface he has dominated? Hmmm.
The good news is that he still has time to get his clay game in shape, but he's going to have to put in the hard yards. He only got in 3 matches in Monte Carlo. He needs at least 16-18 by Roland Garros, which means he has to go deep in these other clay tournaments. To do this, he has to be healthy, he has to be fit, and he has to be confident.
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In the other matches, Wawrinka won in 2 sets over Raonic after a tight 1st set and tiebreak, which could have gone either way. But once he won that, he was off to the races, and Raonic looked increasingly frustrated. Wawrinka served well and played solid. He should be tough nut for Ferrer to crack.
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In the bottom half of the draw, Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga contended for a place in the semifinal. Tsonga has upped his game recently after a dismal start to the year. He has returned to using his old racquet, and it seems to have restored his confidence in his game. For over a set against Federer he was the better player, playing very strong on his normally weaker backhand wing.
But in the second set, Federer upped his level and constantly had Tsonga in trouble on his serve, had many break points, but he couldn't seem to take the break, and Tsonga saved many of them with spectacular play himself. It was a very hard fought and well played second set by both men, winners flying off their racquets, and solid play all around. It was decided in the tiebreak, where Federer finally could take advantage of his edge on Tsonga's service, which had to have been tiring as the match progressed. At one point late in the second set, Jo had served close to twice as many serves as Federer after so many deuce games.
After Federer won the 2nd set tiebreak 8-6, he never looked back, had all the momentum, and Tsonga looked the beaten man and Federer mercifully finished it off fairly quickly with a breadstick.
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In the final match of the day, #2 in the world Novak Djokovic had to contend with the unseeded, but very in-form Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, known as GGL for short. Garcia-Lopez was coming off winning his first title in 4 years at Casablanca, and showed a lot of confidence beating an in-form Alex Dogopolov and strong Tomas Berdych. Djokovic had convincingly steamrolled his two previous opponents, but as they were a qualifier and lucky loser, he obviously wasn't tested. Well that changed. GGL gave Novak all he could handle, winning the first set in a convincing 6-4. He actually had a two break lead in the set, but squandered one, before buckling down and taking the set. Novak looked a bit undercooked in his play, and made too many errors as he struggled with his level of play.
In the second set, GGL also played quite well, and had Djokovic in trouble in his service games to 3-3 and even beyond. But Djokovic had finally upped his game, and was playing some amazing tennis to hold his serves, as GGL was not missing much, defending extremely well. And finally, it seemed like all the matches GGL has played the last couple of weeks began to take its toll. He wasn't quite getting to everything as he did earlier in the match, and Novak was playing extremely well and his backhand down the line was starting to do damage. He ended up breaking GGL, and won the second set.
The third set was more of the same, Djokovic playing at a high level, and GGL just couldn't stay with him. The play was closer than the final set breadstick would indicate as many games went to deuce, but it didn't matter. Djokovic won going away as they say. I think Djokovic needed this match, prior to playing Federer as it turns out.
I'm looking for a good battle between them on the morrow, but who knows? I think recovery from today's matches will be the key. It's only best of 3, but on clay, even that can feel like a marathon at times, depending on the play.
I think whoever can get off to a faster start will have the advantage, but if it goes 3, I think I'll have to give the edge to Djokovic.
That's how I see and saw it. Over and out...
Respectfully,
masterclass
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excellent post general masterclass.
nadal does not have much time left to salvage the clay season. it is do-able but he has to drop all the extracurricular activities asap.
all the top players are working as hard as they can on their games and their fitness.
nadal is not doing that anymore. his idea of a training session is 90 minutes to a 2 hour hitting session where he may play a set.
that is something a college level player would do. he is not going to get it done that way.
even 33-36 year old players are working harder than nadal. I know his fitness and his game. I have been watching him for 10 years now.
he has allowed his fitness and his game take a hit after the last u.s. open. you saw that it actually cost him a slam in Melbourne.
his body quit on him there.
unless he fixes his fitness and his ground game on the practice courts he is pretty much asking to struggle.
2013 was all set for him to use as a springboard for more success in 2014. and sure enough he blew his lead and blew his advantage.
now he is behind the curve.
he even admitted in abu dhabi that others had been working harder than him. and there you have it.
he alone is responsible for what has happened to him in 2014 so far. he keeps chasing after money so that is also costing him. -
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Wawrinka has just blasted off Ferrer in straight sets. He's now beaten Cilic, Raonic and Ferrer in straight sets to make the final here. That's pretty good and a well earned position.
Ferrer though might have been somewhat overwhelmed after beating Nadal in straight.
Judging by Wawrinka's form here, I wonder how the match would have panned out against Nadal had Ferrer not beaten him, especially when Nadal recently admitted the AO loss being on his mind quite a bit and affecting his performance of late. In other words, he's not feeling as confident. I can't forget how a lot of fans said both during AO and Miami how brilliant Nadal looked, but the same tone changed after he got beaten in both events and by worthy opponents. -
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good win for stan. ferru is usually a tough customer on clay against most of the players. he made the final at RG last year.
it just goes to show that he can be overpowered deep in big events due to his diminutive size.
nadal basically had no business losing to anybody here. he showed up unprepared. he has nobody to blame but himself.
he took home 10 events that included 2 slams in 2013. he willed himself the top rank.
so it is safe to say he is in his prime. he dominated the hard courts last years so he certainly should be dominating on his best surface.
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I don't think Nadal's opponents who tend to beat him from time to time will ever get any credit from Nadal fans any time soon or perhaps never.
Anyway, I believe Wawrinka had 33 winners and 40 errors. These aggressive players including Federer (especially these days) strike me as mostly ball bashers. I don't remember Sampras having so many errors in a 2 sets match while being super aggressive. That's the unfortunate part of today's game. -
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If I know one thing about Nadal I know he takes his tennis super seriously. So to think he went into this match unprepared is hard to digest. And also, Nadal might just be focusing much more on RG at this point of his career and the trend shows that he's always vulnerable when he's No. 1.
Beating Nadal at RG is the toughest deal for any player right now so I definitely think the main challenge is there. -
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that is earliest exit from the event that he has won 8 times.
and when was the last time he lost to ferru at monte carlo?
he had 44 unforced errors in that match.
the guy has almost no rhythm off the ground. he is also lacking his usual fitness.
I think he showed up unprepared. clay has always saved him and it has done that for 10 years.
one day it had to catch up with him. I just never thought he would let his fitness and his game drop so much from 2013 levels.
it is pretty clear emma that he has been **** around and it is costing him.
now I know he has back issues but there still things you can do to get more fit. you can swim more for example. and there are endless other exercises you can do.
you can also get on the red clay and stay on the bloody red clay.
he had no business wasting 15 days after his early loss in indian wells. if he can play that event on the hard courts then he can also practice on the red clay.
he is just paying for the hard yards that are missing from his training on the fitness front and also on the practice courts.
this was the single most important clay season of his life very simply because he has 2 years left at best at the top.
it is still very salvageable. he just has to get to work.
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Federer snatched the first set 7-5.
can he keep this up? -
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I got one right and one wrong.
ferru lost and Federer was able to get by in straights today.
congrats to the swiss players and their fans. -
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Congratulations to Spartan Stanimal Wawrinka, his team, his family, and his fans! Well done.
Commiserations to the current #2 Swiss, Roger Federer, his team and supporters. It was a good tournament for him, entering as a wildcard at the last minute, and a final result against a good friend and compatriot.
This win should keep Stan's confidence at a high level for awhile.
It will be interesting to see what happens the rest of the clay season.
Rafael Nadal needs to get back in the thick of things. Hard work and health is needed, and a title wouldn't hurt.
Novak Djokovic needs to get healthy. Status is unknown at the moment. We don't know how long he'll be out with that right wrist problem.
I'm sure General Hercules can tell you from experience that wrist injuries are tough to recover from in tennis.
Look at poor Juan Martin del Potro.
Respectfully,
masterclass -
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good win for stan general masterclass.
masters title on clay is not that easy to get your hands on with the big sharks like nadal and nole around.
congrats to stan and his fans at Camelot.
this was a huge opportunity for roger to finally snatch this elusive title but evidently it was not meant to be.
it was just not in the stars for roger. he most assuredly had the inside track after snatching the first set but proceeded to let his advantage slip away from him. -
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Congratulations to Spartan Stanimal Wawrinka, his team, his family, and his fans! Well done.
Commiserations to the current #2 Swiss, Roger Federer, his team and supporters. It was a good tournament for him, entering as a wildcard at the last minute, and a final result against a good friend and compatriot.
This win should keep Stan's confidence at a high level for awhile.
It will be interesting to see what happens the rest of the clay season.
Rafael Nadal needs to get back in the thick of things. Hard work and health is needed, and a title wouldn't hurt.
Novak Djokovic needs to get healthy. Status is unknown at the moment. We don't know how long he'll be out with that right wrist problem.
I'm sure General Hercules can tell you from experience that wrist injuries are tough to recover from in tennis.
Look at poor Juan Martin del Potro.
Respectfully,
masterclass
Stan's win was a shock! i guess he really does believe in himself now. Wow, the wonders of a tattoo, LOL! I didn't even watch the match thinking it was a write-in,plus I was too busy.
I also didn't want Fed and Nole, because I went to Columbus to see the Michael Jackson, Immortal Tour. Needless to say I was wiped out today and still had a paper to do.
So what happened to Novak's wrist. I haven't even checked the internet yet. I just submitted my paper with minutes to spare.
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good win for stan general masterclass.
masters title on clay is not that easy to get your hands on with the big sharks like nadal and nole around.
congrats to stan and his fans at Camelot.
this was a huge opportunity for roger to finally snatch this elusive title but evidently it was not meant to be.
it was just not in the stars for roger. he most assuredly had the inside track after snatching the first set but proceeded to let his advantage slip away from him.
After seeing the score I did watch a few highlights on YouTube. Fed looked to be playing well. What happened? Errors, or Stan raised his game? -
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General Hercules, you are right, it just wasn't to be for Roger Federer. He put himself in position to win, 1 set and into the tiebreaker, but a single muffed shot, early in the tiebreaker cost him as it turned out, as Stan played very solidly in the breaker, and the one mini-break was all he needed. Thereafter, I think Stan got a lot of energy from winning the set, and Federer looked a bit deflated, and a bit tired, and unable to raise his level. That's all Stan needed. He outplayed and outhit Roger in the final set to win going away, 6-2, and fully deserved the victory.
Lady TT, it was a bit of a strange match, due them being good friends as well as compatriots. I thought the first set was a bit nervous from both men at the start, but Federer came out of it sooner and better. He played aggressively and was very solid, especially on serve. He came to the net repeatedly, didn't give Wawrinka any rhythm, mixing everything up with variety. Wawrinka tried to respond in kind, but his shots simply were not finding the court as often as Roger's and he couldn't pass Federer, either dumping the ball into the net, over-hitting, or losing to Federer's superb anticipation and volleying, and Federer took the set 6-4.
The second set started off with Stan holding serve pretty easily, and then Federer had a sloppy service game, with a double fault and a couple of unforced errors, and Wawrinka played solid to get the break at 30. But then it was Wawrinka's turn to make some errors, and along with Federer's good play and Federer broke to love. The rest of the set was even, with each player holding a difficult service game, and both enduring a brief rain delay. I thought Federer backed off a little in his aggression though on Stan's service games, perhaps saving energy, and seemed content to let the set go to a tiebreaker. Stan, serving first in the set, always had the scoreboard pressure on, and Federer at 5-6, was forced to hold his serve to stay in the set. And he held very well, serving to love, crafting some nice points, and perhaps Stan was saving some energy as well.
Off of that last service game, it looked like Federer had the momentum going into the tiebreaker. But Stan served first, and bombed a nonreturnable serve in to take the 1-0 lead. Then Federer had a fine serve, but Wawrinka managed to get a decent return, and after a brief rally, Roger overhit a bit, and missed the court with a cross court backhand for a mini break - 0-2. Thereafter, both men played well on their serve. Stan served big, played aggressively, and Roger couldn't make a dent on his serve, Roger played equally well on his serve, but the damage had been done with the lone early mini-break, and Stan took the tiebreaker 7-5. Stan improved in that set, curbing his errors to only 10, while Federer made more, and an error too many.
I never expected that either man would be able to have more winners than errors, in the match, as they know each other's game very well, and it was difficult to put winners away in the slow heavy conditions. Also, they were both trying to control the court with aggressive play, and naturally made some errors with that style of play, as they went for lines. I think statisticians need to separate out unforced error stats better for people who don't happen to watch the match to give a better idea of what happened. There is a difference between dumping an easy ball into the net, or sailing one well past the lines; and the errors made going for your shot, and just missing a line.
In the third set, Federer had first serve, but appeared a bit deflated after losing the tiebreaker, and the chance to win the match in 2 sets, and was broken immediately with 3 forehand errors, 2 of them into the net, and then a backhand error into the net. Stan quickly won his next service game as Federer didn't seem to have the energy or will to fight back to prevent consolidation of the break with the same enthusiasm as he did in the second set. Stan played very well in the decider, playing a more error free and yet still aggressive ground game. So with Stan up 2-0, the 3rd game was the key game of the set. Federer quickly went down love-30, but managed to get to deuce, and then played well to get the advantage. But Stan was resolute, and with Federer looking in control of the next point, Stan turned it around and played a super down the line forehand winner to get it back to deuce. After a short rally, Federer then dumped a slice into the net. Stan then broke Federer for the double break with another excellent forehand winner, this time cross court. After that, it was clear that Federer didn't have the energy to raise his game to match Stan, Stan won his serve to go up 4-0, and then the rest of the set played out on serve. Federer didn't go to the net anywhere as much in the 3rd set, didn't serve that well, and just didn't seem to have it, while Stan was pumped and playing very well.
But at the end, as they met at the net, you could see that despite any disappointment Federer might have felt from losing, that he was very happy for Stan.
Stan and Roger had dinner the night before, practiced in the morning before the match, had lunch after practice, and then after the match were laughing together in the locker room. As Stan said, Roger is his best friend on the tour. So I think the Monte Carlo title helps Stan solidify his confidence, which will keep him a tough opponent for anyone going forward. Roger didn't seem too bothered about the loss, seemed happy for Stan, and fact they had an all Swiss final, and in retrospect was quite happy to make the final as a late wildcard entry in the first clay match of the season, was pleased overall with his season thus far, making 4 finals, winning one, along with a SF and QF, and tour leading matches won, and only said that his immediate goal was to get the wins when he reached the final going forward.
Respectfully,
masterclass -