CAMELOT FANTASIES

Didn't want to leave a pic of Djokovic as the last thing in Lady TT's thread... I know she is not a big fan.

So here is an article yesterday from Sky Sports, Barry Cowan:

Rafael Nadal has lost his fear factor as next generation make their mark

Personally, I wouldn't be worried about young Thiem, after all, youngsters are supposed to challenge the older players eventually and push them out.
What is more worrying is that someone like Cuevas from Rafa's generation and others even older are having success against Rafa. 
Pablo Cuevas is 6 months older than Rafa born on New Year's day 1986.
Cuevas has undoubtedly worked hard on his fitness.  He finished off Rafa late at night while Pella was resting, and came back the next day and snatched the title in 3 sets.

The whole world of tennis reporting thinks that Rafa is having a crisis in confidence, and losing his nerve, but for me it all stems from two things:

1. Greater Dedication/Motivation needed to:
2. Work harder on his fitness and game

When you have the fire inside to work harder, success and results follow, and that builds confidence.
For me, we haven't seen that fire from Rafa since losing the Australian Open final in 2014. 
Actually it began earlier, in 2011 when he said he lost his passion for the game, but he was able to take a long break and restored the passion for awhile in 2013.

Yes, he won Roland Garros in 2014, and 4 other lesser titles since then, but 2014 RG was mostly won on inertia, and other players fear of Rafa on clay.
So Cowan makes a good point; other players do not fear Rafa anymore.  Why?

These players are on the court and in the locker room with Rafa and can see and feel close up what we here at Camelot have been seeing for the past few years.
Sadly, but inevitably I suppose, he is a shadow of his former self.  It happens to all players eventually, great and small. 
The great topspin players don't last as long; it's a brutal way to play tennis and the body and mind have to be extremely dedicated to play that game.

I just wanted to add that all should still respect what Rafa has done in the game. 
He is still #5 in the world even with these problems, perhaps due to the aging of the tour combined with the youngsters not coming up to speed fast enough.
Some forums have lots of people laughing and enjoying Nadal's decline. 
This is not respect and quite sad for one of the greatest players the tennis world has ever seen, and frankly idiotic, since it will happen to their favorites eventually. 
NO human is immune to Father Time.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Ha ha ha, Lady TT is only a fan of Rafa, Andy and Berdych, but has nothing against Djokovic at all.

Cowan? Pfft! He was one of the main ones on the bandwagon of disrespecting Rafa from day one. Him, Leif Shiras, Patrick McEnroe and the rest of that gang. Suddenly after years of the game being played we saw them take innocuous things and blow them up into mountains; the water bottles, the 20-25 second rules, rules that had never been thought about or considered in the past. If you look at a classic match there is no worrying about seconds, all of the that was conjured up for Nadal and Nadal alone.

It's all BS. They started calling it "cheating" although they rarely ever timed anyone else. When they did for that brief period they found out that no one was keeping up with the seconds so they abandoned that theory and stopped putting the shot clock onscreen because it made them out to be liars.

They have maligned Rafa, Serena, and Venus forever. Venus only gets a pass now because she's sick and older. At one time the Williams Sisters were referred to as ugly, ape like, and manly. They were called lazy and disrespectful to the game. They did the same thing to Rafa, and swayed a lot of weak minds, while glorifying others who don't have an ounce of character in their entire bodies.

They made Andre out to be an "icon" and thrashed Pete, knowing all along that Andre was doing drugs and wearing a wig. Let that be someone that isn't on their "good side" and that would've been all over the internet.

I read through articles very carefully because I'm not down with the BS they're selling. All of them are followers and there's nothing worse than someone who follows the crowd.

I don't have a problem with any articles that are put in this thread, because people can make a choice of what they want to read, but Barry Cowan? That @ss kisser and liar? I'll pass.