CAMELOT FANTASIES

Quote from: thetruth on June 16, 2015, 01:19:58 pm

Quote from: masterclass on June 16, 2015, 12:50:42 pm

Yep. Another super post general.  I guess I forgot bike training might put too much stress on the knees for him. Swimming is probably the way to go.

Here is something I just saw on ESPN general that is making me wonder...

    ESPN Staff
 
Rafael Nadal says he is not focused on winning grand slams this year and has set his sights on qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals at the end of the season.

Nadal suffered just his second ever defeat at the French Open last month when Novak Djokovic knocked him out in the quarter-finals, but he has made a blistering start to the grass court season by winning his first title on the surface since 2010 at the Mercedes Cup.

After falling to No.10 in the rankings, his next target is a place back in the top eight and at the O2 Arena in November. "That's my main goal," the 29-year-old said. "Winning grand slams or not, I have won enough in my career. Fourteen is enough.

"Right now, I am the No.10 in the world and I only played six months, with half of them being very bad. But I am sure that I'm going to keep trying.

"I have the motivation and I feel my mentality and my body are ready for it. Then, if I'm able to play the full season, I hope to finish in a good position on the rankings and then have the chance to start 2016 stronger."
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What do you make of this general?  That stunned me when he said, 14 slams is enough.  Hard to believe that he would have that perspective. Do you think he is just taking pressure off himself?

Respectfully,
masterclass

It's not weird to me. So much depends on someone's mindset. I would never be battling to be, stay, or hankering after the number one spot or trophies. I can't even say if I admire that. At some point we get sated. I know I do, and I can truly understand how he feels. In the end, what's the point? There will just be someone who comes behind you to take all your "glory" away.

Look at Pete. Everyone thought he would have a record that stood forever, but in just a few short years it was eclipsed. If I was in a competitive sport I would only be comparing my achievements to myself, not someone else. So, if I started a career and did well, I would be satisfied. Maybe that's what many people don't understand; contentment.

I don't think Rafa had dreams to be the greatest. I think he just wanted to play the game, but then all the titles, the money, the status came along, but is that really how you should define yourself as a player?

I actually respect him more for saying that. Nothing that we do will stand the test of time. Fifty years from now, when we're not here people may not even remember this era. Who talks about Renfrow now? Nobody.

Everything we do on earth is temporal. People, IMO, tend to make much ado about nothing.

As a fan I can only be grateful for the last decade of superb tennis. But, if he's not feeling it right now. I'm OK with that too. First and foremos I want my player to be happy, not just on the tennis court, but in his life.

I know it's weird, but I really don't like the idea of competition. I don't get the point of it. I only want to be happy. Bettering my fellow man just doesn't appeal to me. It never has.

Well said, and I understand that mindset Lady TT, and it's not weird to me either.  I know a lot of people that don't really like the competition thing.  But for a sport like tennis, and a player like Rafa, I'm pretty sure he has said many times that the feeling of competition is the most important thing to him, what he likes the most on the court, win or lose, though he'd rather win, of course.  But I also know that eventually all athletes lose motivation, ambition, desire to compete at the top level, whether because of family, other interests, injury, decline of their game, or whatever reason, they eventually stop to do other things, and Rafa certainly can afford to.  There comes a tipping point eventually.   It's always a sad day for a fan when it happens, but Rafa fans have a lot to be happy about, and should be happy for him to move on when that time comes. 

I guess some of us though get disappointed when we feel it has come too early. But it's hard to actually be in that person's shoes, isn't it?   The great Bjorn Borg, for all practical purposes left the tour at 26 years old, and most of the tennis world was stunned and begged for him to return, even his competitors. But inside people saw it coming. He was upset with the tour bosses for requiring that he play in x tournaments, when he didn't feel he had to.  He got death threats at his final US Open, and had to be whisked away by security soon after the match.  He had won 6 Roland Garros and 5 Wimbledons and many more top tournaments.  I guess he reached a point where he had had enough. It happens.

Mind you, I don't think anyone should write off Rafa just yet.  He is too great a player to write off before he calls it quits.  Wasn't it Sampras a few years ago that had not won much in a while, had gone down to something like #17 in the rankings, and then just went out and won the US Open before retiring?  Never write a great player off.

Respectfully,
masterclass

great post but the Sampras game did not require the fitness and the physicality the rafa game requires.


pete also had the most impossible serve in history. he won points without even hitting a single ball on his serve.


pete had the best serve in history. that made his life very easy on quicker courts.


he could also volley and had an adequate backhand.


heavy topspin game requires a superhuman. you know about vilas, muster, and borg. and rafa was one until he decided to shelve his game and his fitness.