CAMELOT FANTASIES

looks like you and I have always been able to see eye to eye.


that is exactly what rafa is doing. he is enjoying life and he is enjoying his fans. his fans are just too much. they want so much of his time and space.

I don't even know how he makes it to the practice courts. they start lining up for him from here to china in order to be with him.


well I would come down hard on him but I have no choice but to cut him some slack because we don't really how much the back is hurting him still.

the mechanics of his backhand involve the back. the back comes into play when he is hitting his backhand.

it is not so with the forehand so much. he is so strong off that wing that he can just muscle the ball without involving his back to much.


the back also comes into play with the serve. in fact that is where it is in play the most.

so my theory:

1. rafa is laying low because he does not really want to take too much risk right now because RG is just a few weeks away. he figures he will have to let it all hang out there. I think he still has some back pain. of course he is not going to keep telling his competition that he is suffering.

2. complacency. there is a pattern of some complacency that I have detected. everytime he has become number #1 and destroyed the whole field in the process, he proceeds to lose his #1 rank and there is a dramatic/significant drop in his game and his fitness.

again I cant really come down too hard because his game is the most demanding ever. he has the most demanding style of play ever seen in the history of mankind.

it involves an immense expenditure of physical and mental capital. he has to work very blood hard for his wins.

and that leaves him depleted of his key resources which are mental and physical capital.

so he takes the following year to replenish all his resources before he goes on a tear again.

now only problem with that is that now he is out of time. he has 2 years left at best at the top to be able to win slams.

so he has to win RG and the u.s. open this year in order to try to chase down history.

that process would have been so much easier had he been able to take the Australian Open this year. everything lined up for him just right but the tragedy struck the last minute.

his body quit on him.


tomorrow we will talk about why his body quit on him in Melbourne.

You make some excellent points in this post. I love how you mentioned the fan base. His stock is soaring exponentially and he can't get from one place to another without a throng of fans, as you say, wanting a piece of him. And Rafa tries to be patient and accommodate them.

There are so many fan pictures on the internet with him, at the airport, walking down the street, the fans are everywhere. I know he doesn't want to go into diva mode, but what else can he do?

Maybe he is doing as you said, protecting the back for when he's going to need it, at RG.

The only place where we disagree is the degree of physicality required of his game. I don't think he's anywhere as near as physical as he was when he first came on tour. I think that element of physicality ebbed around 2008 when he started adding other dimensions to his game.

Everyone plays a physical game these days. They have to.

I was watching Nole today without the sound, because those commentators irritate me so bad. Now, that's a physical game. Nole is just blessed to not have any physical injuries (that we know of), because he looks like he's abusing his body and joints.

Try watching it without sound and just notice his ridiculous movement. Then, let me know what you think.