CAMELOT FANTASIES

I agree Lady TT.  Nadal-Isner should be interesting.  They made it the earliest match - 12 pm.  Not sure if it helps anyone or not.

But what I don't want to see is this:



You don't see him, but Nadal is actually returning from the fourth row in the stands.    He ended up winning the tiebreaker anyway...

On one hand this is Isner, so I can't blame him too much, if he returns from downtown Rome tomorrow.  But he also did this sort of thing against Murray on his weak second serve, when most players these days are about a meter inside the baseline looking to hammer his second serve.

In my opinion, Rafa really needs to get closer to the baseline, especially on clay.  He's sending the wrong message ("I am afraid"), and it is tactically weak - his return tends to land shorter from so far back, especially considering his current fitness, and it gives the server more time to prepare for the return, and risks getting beat by shorter angled spin serves).   On return he needs to hit the ball on the rise more, taking a shorter back-swing.  He doesn't need to use the full topspin cyclone of death on return, which requires the massive swing which can only be safely hit when the ball is on it's downward arc.  He has a decent half-volley. He shouldn't be afraid of taking the serve on closer to the baseline and giving the opponent less time, similar to what Murray is doing.

Respectfully,
masterclass

he has made 5 Wimbledon finals winning 2 of them. so we know he can take the ball a little bit earlier on returns.



return of serve has become a huge liability for Rafa. again I have to say this. you don't ever see him diligently work on his return.

quite often he just skips that aspect of the game. quite frankly the casualties are mounting in that department.

he could not get anything back against berdych in melbourne. he was horrible against kyrgios at Wimbledon last year. he had problems returning fognini's serve also. same against nole in monte carlo. he could not make any impression on the return at all. and now same against andy who does not have a dominating serve.


not being able to return well creates 2 really massive problems:

1. it puts an immense pressure on your own serve. and it allows them to blast away freely since they know they can hold serve fairly easily.

2. you cant win of you cant break in tennis. even in a breaker you need a mini break.




practice makes things significantly easier. he has to work on his ground game.  and he has to work on his return.

it will take so much pressure off his own serve. you actually end up serving well under those circumstances because you know you can break your opponent.


this could be a close match tomorrow. Rafa has to return well and get this over with in straights.

don't let isner linger around and let him drag you into breakers. isner has a great record in breakers.