CAMELOT FANTASIES

I am going to have to agree with general Masterclass:


We both have been saying this for nearly 3 years. He let some of the hard yards on fitness go.


To compound the problems, he drastically cut back on practice time on the court.

He also took his clay supremacy for granted while we saw it slipping nearly 3 years ago.

I will say this again: he has to decide how much he wants it.

Clearly he has to say the right words for his fans and his sponsors but the absolute hunger and the totally relentless will to win is missing.

I don't agree with you and (gasp) Masterclass. I think the expectations are unrealistic. When you have multiple health problems you become acutely aware of the body's limitations. You can't play as freely as you once did. Each surgery takes something more out of your body and you have to compensate.

But, no one can come back and be where they were. Nobody, as we're seeing with Andy. You have to learn how to trust your body in its new state before you can push it to its limits.

A six month layoff is not going to be corrected in one or two months. It hasn't worked for anyone else, and it's not going to work for Rafa. The last time was different, that was desire and motivation. But the more you get knocked down, the harder it is to spring back up.

It has nothing to do with style of play. I think that's a bogus argument, one that the commentators have reiterated over and over again, and like they say, if something keeps being repeated it oftentimes becomes a "truth" in the eyes of many.

It's one thing to practice, but no one can simulate match conditions. That's what you have to get used to once you come back on tour. And in Rafa's case he's had all these false starts the last few years. That's a psychological hurdle. He has to come back and get into a groove first.

For example, the commentators keep saying Rafa won his first title in nine months, which is misleading. He won his first title since he came back within the first two months. He wasn't on tour for six or seven of the last nine months. So how do you count the injury time off? There are no tournaments in Mallorca.

And, since Rafa's been back, outside of the Oz, he's been playing in smaller tournaments and not playing against the top echelon of the game. There is a reason that the Big Four have been heads and shoulders above the rest of the field. But Rafa has to get re-acclimated to the different levels as well.

TBH, even though Rafa is still rusty, he could have won that match with Raonic. He made some decisions. He should've won that match in straight sets, he did have two or three match points.

What I've noticed about Raonic is that he too makes a lot of mistakes in key moments. Yesterday, he got lucky.

Rafa will be fine, because in every tournament, even this one he makes incremental increases in his level. That's what worked for him in 2013. The only difference now is the timing and choice of venues. Had he come back during the clay season I don't think we would be having this conversation, at all.