I had held out a small hope for an upset win.
I am not encouraged going forward.
Regardless of what he or his camp says, this is not good for his confidence.
And the real tragedy is that it all started nearly 3 years ago.
His dominance of the surface started to slip 3 years ago.
I will be optimistic for the two of us. I think this match will go a long way towards re-building his confidence. It would be one thing if he played his best, then it would be disappointing, but he didn't, so that gives him a lot of room to improve, while Novak was close to his best level.
It'll be fine.
We need Rome and we need a win over djokovic.
He has to start focusing and start putting in the long yards on the practice courts.
Barcelona title will do him good. It would increase the chances for the Rome title.
I am not giving up on him. I am just discouraged that he let his fitness drop so much.