CAMELOT FANTASIES

Quote from: thetruth on May 30, 2015, 08:53:04 pm

Gustavo Kuerten who will present the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy to the men's champion next Sunday is in Paris talking to media , and do you know what he said ? " the King of Clay is not of this world .!.! "

" It's amazing , this " Kuerten told the media at the French Open today " He's so strong on this , it's hard to do this , it's easy to talk about this stuff and to try to tell your player or friend , Oh , put this in your head ; believe in yourself , but to do , it's really hard , I try to joke or make this spaceship , because he's not from this world , he's spaceship in the park somewhere "

Informed of Kuerten's comments , a smiling Rafa Nadal provoked laughter from the media for reaffirming he is not an extraterrestrial sent from space to conquer clay " First of all , I am from this planet , I think , Second thing , thanks to Guga for the words , Third thing , is true that is probably a tough record to beat , but at the same time , I tell you one thing : If I did , you know , somebody else can do it "

of course he is one of a kind but I am not ready to live in the past yet.


of course we will celebrate his achievements here forever and ever but there are more achievements just ahead.


he has much history to make. I think his best is yet to come but we cant get him to work for it.

lets see how it goes.

I was reading some things on TT last night. I was looking for information that we don't have here. Those people, Octabrina, Vernonbc, and a few others have all kinds of things that I never see on the internet. They are so thorough that they even had the menu for Rafa's Foundation dinner. Amazing.

This article I found but later I will share what I found on that other site. Unfortunately, Rafa's match is being on Lenglen due to the postponed matches which I don't think is fair. Rafa is the 9-time champion and he's being moved? More BS. When Rafa retires I'm quitting watching tennis. I can't stand the garbage that they do and the way they advantage and disadvantage players at will. So sickening.

How one court at Roland Garros helps Rafael Nadal dominate French Open

By Douglas Robson May 30 at 7:24 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/tennis/how-one-court-at-roland-garros-helps-rafael-nadal-dominate-french-open/2015/05/30/c65a61d2-070d-11e5-bc72-f3e16bf50bb6_story.html

PARIS – Nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal is the King of Clay for many reasons.

His lasso-like lefty forehand is one of the best ever. His mental toughness is off the charts. In the best-of-five set format, his unyielding physicality sets him apart.

In Paris, he has another secret weapon: real estate.

No major show court plays as spaciously as the French Open’s main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier, where the Spaniard’s defensive skills come to life. “It’s like the Maracana,” said three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, drawing an analogy to the giant Rio de Janeiro soccer stadium in his native Brazil. That advantage could be increasingly important in the week ahead.

Nadal, coming off his shakiest clay-court season in a decade, normally would spend the rest of the tournament on Chatrier, including Monday’s fourth-round meeting with 22-year-old American Jack Sock. Because of Sunday’s rain, which postponed several matches, they are slated for the smaller Court Suzanne Lenglen.

The extra space on Chatrier allows Nadal to do what he does best: roam several feet behind the baseline and dig balls out of corners; return serve deep in the court where he can take massive swipes at the ball; and generally make offensive-minded players miserable.

“For an opponent playing against Nadal on Chatrier, it seems that you have to put double as much effort than any other court in the world, because it’s so much space and it feels like you can’t make a winner,” said No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who could face No. 6 seed Nadal in a blockbuster quarterfinal. “He’s getting every single ball.”
Nadal has lost just once in a decade at Roland Garros, where he is 69-1. In best-of-five set matches on clay, he’s 92-1.
It’s no coincidence that he has been most dominant here.

Nadal admitted Saturday that, were it his choice, he would play every match on a court that accentuates his instincts — where he can slide further, scamper longer and lace zingers from far behind the baseline.
“It’s obvious that a big court helps a little bit more my game and for the opponent is a little bit more difficult to attack, to see the clear winner,” said Nadal, who has won 14 majors.

Chatrier, built in 1928 to accommodate the Davis Cup glory years of France’s Four Musketeers and renamed for an influential president of the French Tennis Federation, is the smallest of the four Grand Slam show courts. It holds 14,800 fans.

Around the edges separating the singles lines from the stands — the region where players can stretch, skim and leap to track down balls — it more than makes up for its lack of size (and no small irony considering the scarce elbow room around the overcrowded grounds).
With 32 feet behind the baseline, Chatrier is more spacious than both Wimbledon’s Centre Court and the U.S. Open’s Arthur Ashe Stadium (27 feet each). It is roughly the same as Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena (32 and 33 feet at either end).

At the sides, where players move laterally, Chatrier provides 21 feet to maneuver, equivalent to Centre Court (22 feet) and Ashe Stadium (17 and 21 feet on either side) but slightly smaller than Laver (25 feet).
This plentiful real estate is amplified on clay, the slowest surface. More time and more space means extra time to defend. The upshot: Chatrier plays even more generously than its physical attributes might suggest.
“It feels like there is a mile of open court,” said Mike Bryan, a two-time French Open doubles champion with twin brother Bob Bryan.

With the infrastructure for retractable roofs overhead, Centre Court and Laver Arena appear snugger, several players said. On the flip side, the soaring 22,500-seat Ashe Stadium — the largest of the four Grand Slam show courts — has a diminishing effect when it comes to on-court visuals.

In contrast, Chatrier looks wider and longer and can cause players to press. “Sometimes you over hit,” said Cedric Pioline, a 1998 French Open semifinalist and former top-five player from France. Many players also say Chatrier is drier and faster than Lenglen, the French Open’s second-biggest court, which is built on top of a parking facility and tends to retain moisture, which slows the ball down. The dehydrated surface helps Nadal’s biting topspin kick up more.
Others, including Nadal, say Chatrier is breezy, much like the hulking Ashe at the U.S. Open in Queens. That is another potential advantage since Nadal’s spiraling shots have more margin when they cross the net.