CAMELOT FANTASIES

good read. I saw that article earlier.



there is nothing wrong with Rafa other than back issues that continue to worry him.

that and his steadfast refusal to get on the clay and stay on the clay until he can find his ground game.


if there is a drop in confidence then it is from the fact that he does not find himself sharp enough off the ground.

clay will fix that. he just refused to get off the hard courts after losing early in indian wells.

his lazy practice sessions on the hard courts while in indian wells and then another week wasted in Miami cost him in a big way.

he is not stupid. the guy is pretty damn smart.

if he wants to be competitive at the top then he has to go out there put in the work. and vast majority of that work has to be on clay. and I can assure you that those 2 hour lazy practice sessions are not cutting the mustard. he spends the whole time running around his backhands and then in the very end he plays a little practice set. and in that practice set he again runs around his backhand.

I used to have a weak backhand so I ran around my absolutely lethal forehand even in tournaments if I was not hitting my backhand well enough. he has to let his backhand get into rhythm. it is difficult to beat the top players while playing 200 miles behind the baseline from his forehand corner. he is not as fast and as strong as he used to be. also they all know where he is going with his forehand when he plays from that far back and plays from his forehand corner.

he can win on the hard courts as he proved last year but there was a time to let go of them and he refused to do it. I guess he wanted to make sure he got some easy points in Miami and also his appearance fee. a very big mistake as he does not need the money and he is going to lose his rank anyway. so why not at least dominate the surface he was born to dominate. little by little he has given up some of his competitive advantage on the red clay. also injured back mean you get the hell off those hard courts and get on the soft clay.

this is why Federer said that he and wawrinka can now challenge him at RG.


believe it or now but he has signed up for a hard court league that is starting up later this year. he is not doing what he said he was going to do last year.

he said he was going to start cutting back on the hard court activity.