CAMELOT FANTASIES

not a good day at the office for Rafa today.

he was flat and really off his game.



he also pushed the ball too much off his backhand wing and it cost him.

he failed to make any adjustments on the return of serve. nick hit all his aces pretty much at the same spot in both boxes.


something is wrong. he had 2 days off and yet did not bother to put in enough time with practice.

he had almost no timing off the ground and his stable and consistent forehand was horribly off.

nick is not that good. he was ranked 800 a year ago. he was just a wildcard here.


milos is going to demolish him tomorrow.


at any rate I think there has to be something to today's performance and the lack of willingness to practice more.


even espn analysts said the same thing I say: he practices with the same people and doesn't really bother with practice sets. he also doesn't care to practice returns.

most top players get big servers to hit them serves in their practice sessions. Rafa prefers to find the solutions on the court.


the reason why he has struggled the last 3 years at Wimbledon is because the return and the backhand. he wont give either a chance to get in the groove.


beating klizan, kuku, or rosol was not that big a deal. they are not very good and never will be. rafa struggled against them anyway initially.

and that was a sign that his poor play was going to catch up with him.

this is why I did not pick him to win the tournament. I said its a close call if Rafa can get into a final.


I think his back is bothering him. I really cant think of anything else. it is not that nick is a world beater. its just that Rafa was just extremely flat today.

you cant win if you push the ball. no wonder just about anybody can bully you when you play that way.


isner hit 52 aces the other day and still lost. so it is not really about the aces either. it is about winning a few crucial points.

Rafa was not able to snatch a few crucial/vital points in those 2 tiebreakers.



anyway I am glad it is over. now he can go rest and start working on his fitness and his game. at least he is leaving relatively healthy. I don't trust the slick grass given his knee issue anyway. thank goodness the knee is not worse.

he has 4 thousand points to defend in Canada, cincy, and flushing meadows.