CAMELOT FANTASIES

Hello General Hercules, Lady TT,  General Tee and the rest.   

Just getting back to health after a nasty flu since near the beginning of Monte-Carlo.

So I have a lot of catch up reading to do here...look forward to reading your comments, and watching matches if they are available.

I know the results.  Roger lost to on-fire Monfils in MC,  Rafa made the semis beating Ferrer, and lost to eventual champion Djokovic, so he must have been playing better, getting more matches in. 

But now in Barcelona Rafa lost again to Fognini again in straight sets no less.  I'll have to try and watch that one.  Obviously something is still not right with him.  Probably still returning from the stands and dropping it short.  Fognini is decent on clay if he gets time to play his game but very inconsistent.  But he is one of the faster players on court and he'll kill someone that loops balls to mid court with his flatter angles and excellent skill shots - volleys, lobs, drop shots, etc.   But if you can push him back behind the baseline with flatter quicker shots and take time away, he becomes very erratic, and I can see why Andujar beat him, because that is exactly how he plays.

Did Rafa really say he had to improve or die?  If he did, he's getting a bit dramatic, isn't he?  It wasn't long ago that he said that this is just tennis, losing is part of the game, not life. In history, nobody remembers the small losses, only the big victories.    Well, seems like a lot of psychological stuff going on with him. 

But I think it comes down to what we've been saying since 2011 really.  He needs to improve fitness, so he can be confident that he won't get tired late in sets or matches chasing down balls.  Chasing down balls is what he does, because of the way he plays, going to that backhand corner, running around the backhand leaving the forehand court open.  If his shots from there don't have enough depth and pop, then the opponent can steer the ball to his forehand and Rafa can't chase them all down if he isn't fit.  Something has to give. 

I think at his age, almost 29, he has to commit to using the backhand more and forget running around it on the wide backhand.  That means he has got to get out on the practice courts for hours, and hit more than 3 or 4 consecutive backhands at a time.  He also can't stand so far back to return.  It gives the opponent at least 2 technical advantages and a very important mental one as well before the ball is even struck. You simply cannot win matches if you cannot break serve.  So it's also something he has to practice.  But it's almost impossible for me to believe that his coaching team hasn't been working on this with him.  He has extra time to practice after losing in Barcelona.  He needs to really take advantage of the time left to Madrid. He said he would leave no stone unturned.  Let's see what happens.  They need to get 2 or 3 top clay players to hit with him, whatever the cost.

From recent results it seems like he is taking 1 or 2 steps forward in improvement, and then a step back.  Time is getting short. He needs to improve and not take any steps back.  Madrid is next and he defends it.  In Rome he defends a final.   That is 1600 points.  He goes into those events as #4 seed.  But if he can easily lose that seeding at Roland Garros if he falters before and it will make it much tougher on him there.  And faltering at Roland Garros would be a heavy blow.  He could easily go out of the top 10.  So he has a lot of pressure to do well in these next 3 tournaments on clay, his best surface. 

There is really no room for backsliding.  He has to get it done.  His losses have been costly; the rest of the field no longer fears Rafa as they once did. The other top players are not standing still either.  Novak is practicing non-stop in Monte-Carlo.  Federer has been practicing and will be playing in Istanbul and Murray in Munich. 

Let's see what happens.  Good luck and good health to everyone!

Respectfully,
masterclass