CAMELOT FANTASIES

so far he has not taken the most vital and the most critical part of the season seriously and today you saw it costing him already.

even if back is not 100% and I know it is not, that is all the more reason why he should have left indian wells ASAP after losing so early there.  he should have gone home and jumped on the red clay.

instead he hung around indian wells to play golf and hit casually on the hard courts. and then when the players were already training in Miami, he was goofing off with his sponsor (Nike) in Oregon. they sent a jet to pick him up from indian wells.

he also took in a poker tournament while in indian wells. he did the same thing while in monte carlo.

he has a huge endorsement deal with poker stars.


still all this crap can wait until the off season. he went sailing. he went  to Madrid by train so as to take maximum amount of time to sign on with a bank and then he went to a real Madrid game.

this man does not want to work like a dog on clay. nadal's ground game is in shambles now for one reason and one reason alone: he has neglected the red clay. he has simply not been putting in the time on clay. the result is that now he is suffering on all surfaces.

he cant get enough of the hard courts when he does practice. well its no wonder than that he has near zero confidence in his ground game and less than zero confidence in his backhand. he avoids his backhand even in his dreams.

clay is the wellspring from which he flows. he has to start putting in the vary hard yards on the red clay as general masterclass has suggested. he wasted a total of 15 days after losing early in indian wells. those 15 days should have been spent on the red clay at home and he would have been taking the monte carlo title home.

somehow last year happened and he won a bunch of hard court events. don't expect him to win montral and cincy this year.

it is going to be difficult at best to grab that hard court double. and quite frankly he can just forget about right now if he cant snatch Barcelona, rome, and Madrid.


I am still holding out hope for RG and the U.S. Open. its best of 5 and maybe he can get going there. it is a lot harder to derail him in a best of 5 when he is fairly healthy.


I will just hope for the best.


I am past the disappointed part right now. I am more like heartbroken that he can allow his fitness and his game to take such a hit.

especially in his prime that is about to end in 2 short years.

You gave a great summation of all the places he's been and the things he's been doing. I saw it too. And, while I was concerned I tried not to think about it.

He wasted a large block of time running around and not focusing on clay. Usually during this time Rafa would maybe take a three day vacation in Mallorca, but this is the first time I've seen him so cavalier about the clay season. I'm sure he'll get it together.

Rafa is good at surprising us.

looks like you and I have always been able to see eye to eye.


that is exactly what rafa is doing. he is enjoying life and he is enjoying his fans. his fans are just too much. they want so much of his time and space.

I don't even know how he makes it to the practice courts. they start lining up for him from here to china in order to be with him.


well I would come down hard on him but I have no choice but to cut him some slack because we don't really how much the back is hurting him still.

the mechanics of his backhand involve the back. the back comes into play when he is hitting his backhand.

it is not so with the forehand so much. he is so strong off that wing that he can just muscle the ball without involving his back to much.


the back also comes into play with the serve. in fact that is where it is in play the most.

so my theory:

1. rafa is laying low because he does not really want to take too much risk right now because RG is just a few weeks away. he figures he will have to let it all hang out there. I think he still has some back pain. of course he is not going to keep telling his competition that he is suffering.

2. complacency. there is a pattern of some complacency that I have detected. everytime he has become number #1 and destroyed the whole field in the process, he proceeds to lose his #1 rank and there is a dramatic/significant drop in his game and his fitness.

again I cant really come down too hard because his game is the most demanding ever. he has the most demanding style of play ever seen in the history of mankind.

it involves an immense expenditure of physical and mental capital. he has to work very blood hard for his wins.

and that leaves him depleted of his key resources which are mental and physical capital.

so he takes the following year to replenish all his resources before he goes on a tear again.

now only problem with that is that now he is out of time. he has 2 years left at best at the top to be able to win slams.

so he has to win RG and the u.s. open this year in order to try to chase down history.

that process would have been so much easier had he been able to take the Australian Open this year. everything lined up for him just right but the tragedy struck the last minute.

his body quit on him.


tomorrow we will talk about why his body quit on him in Melbourne.

You make some excellent points in this post. I love how you mentioned the fan base. His stock is soaring exponentially and he can't get from one place to another without a throng of fans, as you say, wanting a piece of him. And Rafa tries to be patient and accommodate them.

There are so many fan pictures on the internet with him, at the airport, walking down the street, the fans are everywhere. I know he doesn't want to go into diva mode, but what else can he do?

Maybe he is doing as you said, protecting the back for when he's going to need it, at RG.

The only place where we disagree is the degree of physicality required of his game. I don't think he's anywhere as near as physical as he was when he first came on tour. I think that element of physicality ebbed around 2008 when he started adding other dimensions to his game.

Everyone plays a physical game these days. They have to.

I was watching Nole today without the sound, because those commentators irritate me so bad. Now, that's a physical game. Nole is just blessed to not have any physical injuries (that we know of), because he looks like he's abusing his body and joints.

Try watching it without sound and just notice his ridiculous movement. Then, let me know what you think.

nole's movement is among the very best in tennis.


he works very hard at it.


he also stretches a lot daily and he does yoga.



that is another reason why is hardly ever injured.


that being said he does have a wrist injury right now.

Did Nole's injury occur during the match, or was it a lingering issue? I must check out the sports news, pronto.

nole said he injured his wrist in practice. that means he was injured when he entered into his battle with roger in monte carlo.

he said he wont be able to practice for a few days.

wrist injuries and back injuries are painful and often don't go away too easily.

Sorry guys, but this is funny. I had tears coming out of my eyes. First I looked at the shoes, then the location, and was like WTH!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1516380705256206&set=vb.1467068643520746&type=2&theater

you are a part owner of Camelot.


its your place. just do your thing and have fun.

NOT For Lord Clay's Eyes Only.

He might get ticked and have a conniption fit. But, here goes.

http://rafaelnadalfans.com/2014/04/21/photos-rafael-nadal-visits-barcelonas-liceu-opera-house-with-david-ferrer/