CAMELOT FANTASIES

General, unfortunately I missed yet another match.  I don't usually say it, but I'm almost glad I did.

Bottom line, he is losing to players he should be handling in the decider.  After Nadal not losing a set in their first 5 matches, that's two losses in a row to Dolgopolov, much like Fognini. He rarely used to lose deciders with his previous fitness.

I know he won the Stuttgart tourney, but against the level of players he played,  it wasn't that much of a surprise and he got those last two matches done against Monfils and Troicki in straight sets..  Now he arrived at the more competitive Queens with fresh grass and lost.  I guess the good news is that he won his first grass tourney since 2011, and has 5 grass matches under his belt without getting hurt.  So who knows what will happen?

I know some people would laugh at me, but I almost think he needs to give up Wimbledon and take a full training block and then return on the summer clay in places like Kitzbuhel and Hamburg.  Some hard work on the bike wouldn't go amiss - maybe 50-100 miles/day for a good foundation.  Well, you're the bike fitness expert general.  How many miles should someone like Nadal need?  I would first go for the long miles as a foundation for a few weeks, and then start doing repetitive shorter sprints to build explosiveness. But what do I know?

I don't know General.  We keep saying it, but something needs to change if Rafa is to be competitive at the top again, or, I guess he won't.

Federer barely escaped from a very good Philipp Kohlschreiber in Halle in a tough first round battle against the former champion, so nothing comes easy.  He just outplayed Philipp at the very end of the tiebreaker in a mostly good quality match that could have gone either way.  Strangely, Philipp probably played better tennis in the two tiebreaker sets he lost, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  He won more games, more points and broke twice to Federer's once, and still lost.  But Federer still looked physically strong at the end, and was serving well to close it out at the last.

Respectfully,
masterclass

great post. he has no business to losing to dolgopolov. and now twice in a row on 2 different surfaces.



winning in Stuttgart was a step in the right direction but it masked the issues only briefly.


it is like that title in rio last year. he should have lost to Pablo who had 4 match points. rafa did not face anybody ranked higher that #59 in that event.



the downfall has been steady and well forewarned and well forecasted here at Camelot.


winning barely just 10% of the points in the rallies against berdych in Melbourne should have told the story.


this was a weakened rafa with limited ground game and significantly diminished fitness and physicality.



his traveling coach has said this and we all know it too: he won in the past even when limping around. part of that was the youth and part was the hunger to win. he had better focus.


he cannot overcome the deficiencies in his ground game and his fitness this year to stand up to the top guns. it is going to take some time.


that is why I said I hope he realizes that next year starts now.

he has to work on both daily: practice courts and fitness.



general I don't think he will go ride bikes but he can do some swimming and spend time in the gym.

resistance training now is more critical than ever. he has lost his physicality and is no longer able to overpower his opponents.


he gives them free space with his poor court positioning and they also know exactly where he is going with his shots.


rafa has made the game very hard for himself.



now there is no way out except for very hard work on the practice courts and on the fitness front.

he just has to get back on clay as soon as Wimbledon is over.


it is either doing what he has to do now or drop out of top 20 next year and possible retirement at the end of 2016.


there is no time to waste. window keeps closing. he has to go find clay after Wimbledon.



getting caught up with all these extracurricular activities was a very bad idea.


I mean he stages poker tournaments right in the middle of the tournament. he has done that at least 3 times now.


so poker star throws $1-$2 million at him but each RG is worth $30 million over a lifetime.


and not to mention the chance to stare down history.


and who the bloody hell builds tennis academies while still in their prime. no other all time great has ever done that.


and then there is the world. the world just cant get enough of his time and his attention.  rafa is kind so he gives the world his time.


then there is golf and vacations. who vacationed for a week in costa rica except for rafa in the tennis world just before indian wells.


there are no more injuries. he is healthy and should be fresh. he loses just about every other match. he has been losing early damn near everywhere.


so there is plenty of time to work on the declining game and fitness.


he is just not doing enough. he is an all time great. one of the greatest players of all time.

they are not better than him. that is why he had a winning record against 100% of the top 30 players.



he is just leaving too much on the table for them to take.