CAMELOT FANTASIES

heavy topspin strokes--backhand and the forehand require an extreme expenditure of energy.

and that is each and every single shot executed requires almost 2 times the energy expenditure of somebody just hitting it flat and early.

andre Agassi is an example of that. djokovic is another example except that it is even less than usual energy expenditure because of the leverage he enjoys due to his height.

just look the RPMs Rafa generates on his forehand wing with each and every single shot hit from that wing and usually from deep behind the baseline.

heavy topspin players like vilas, muster, borg, and rafa had to develop extreme fitness to practice their trade on the courts.

muster had no problem running for 20 miles after 3-4 hours of practice.

borg could practice for 6+ hours and not even break a sweat.

vilas once practiced for nearly 3 hours after one of his matches at the Italian Open.

translation: these men were called the iron men of tennis because they had to be. their game and their style of play demanded it.

finally extreme fitness (physical endurance) was not enough alone. they had to be very strong physically as well. meaning they needed supreme physicality as well.


Rafa failed to maintain and even improve his fitness and his physicality so vital to his trade. that is the biggest reason for his decline.

he simply fades away in the middle of his matches. uncle tony said he "checks out". and then he also said that Rafa lost his fighting spirit.


Rafa became a little bit complacent after 2010. he failed to maintain his extreme fitness and his immense physicality. this led to enormous number of injuries and also a staggering number of losses to djokovic.

djokovic, in the mean time, saw an opportunity and never looked back. he took his fitness higher than ever before while Rafa allowed himself to stagnate.

Rafa also failed to progress and innovate his game which caused the rest of the world to catch up a little bit.

what djokovic saw is this: he saw that he could own the world if he could win the long rally. he basically stole Rafa's book.

Rafa was the greatest baseliner on the planet in 2010. that alone allowed him to bag 4 more RG crowns.

but he started to lose the long rally. meaning that he could not fight to death for every single point like he always had. he could not control the baseline as he always had. he could not outwill and outlast them time and again. so the losses started to become more frequent.

djokovic saw what was happening and took full advantage. now he owns the long rally and the world.

own the long rally and you can own the world.

this is what djokovic did to andy murray in Bercy. he took nearly 70% of the points from the baseline. he took the long rally and totally demolished andy murray. looked at another way, Rafa was able to win just 10% of the points from the baseline against Berdych in Melbourne and accordingly got destroyed in the process.

but getting back what we were talking about, the heavy topspin strokes--by their very mechanics and nature--require extreme energy expenditure.

it is the most demanding style of play on the planet.

the sport is very demanding today and becoming more so with each passing week no matter what your style of play is but the heavy topspin game is the most demanding of all styles of play.


more next time.

Great post.  It also would explain why Borg left the game so early. If it was me I'd quit. Why kill yourself over a few trophies? That doesn't seem worth it to me. I guess Jack Sock is also  risk then?