just returned from Hollywood Casino here on the Gulf Coast.
had dinner with my mom and dad there. they are on their way back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana now.
so they have a 130 mile drive ahead of them.
Never been to the Casino there general, how do you like it?
What does your dad say about Rafa?
My mom (a huge Rafa fan, and tennis player), blames Rafa's hard court success of last year for his poorer play on clay this year. She said that on clay that he looks confused this year. He at times is trying to be too aggressive, like on the hard courts, and he is not being patient enough to construct the point as he used to be. But then she said at other times, he is standing so far back and giving up too much court on his forehand wing, that he can't stay in the point. She also said his serve has been awful and he can't depend on holding serve in crucial situations. She also said that he might just be tired after last year.
Respectfully,
masterclass
que pasa general masterclass.
well you know we never got around to talking tennis last evening. my cousin has arrived to stay with my parents. she is 24 years old and wants to make a life in America.
she was at dinner too.
we sort of talked to her a little bit. she has been here just 3 weeks and she has picked up a job already.
I had scotch with dad in his room before dinner. we talked mostly about the stock market. and of course all the birthdays in the family coming up in may. we did some planning for the birthdays.
as for Rafa, general masterclass you know my position. you have been talking about some of this for years.
rafa did this to himself. he really has no one to blame but himself.
I can sum all this up with one word: greed.
greed to be #1 last year so he played all those hard court events after the u.s. open. he then went to south America to collect $10 million when he played all those exos with nole.
I can assure you general that #1 rank for last year is totally meaningless in the long run scheme of things for a player like Rafa. nobody ever again will find himself in a position to chase down roger's record. the sport has simply become too demanding.
rafa had that chance and he has probably thrown that away. I would have let the #1 rank go and play maybe 2 exos at best on indoor clay in south America.
and then I would have gone home to get on clay to practice. it is a soft surface and he could have kept himself healthy and kept his game sharp. clay to hard courts do not require much adjustment for the top players.
he has proven that he can win on the hard courts but it takes a lot of out of him. 100% of his injuries have come from having spent too much time on the hard courts. hard courts are too punishing on his body. quite simply he does not move well enough on the hard courts and the mechanics of groundstrokes are such that they require more time to execute.
hard courts don't really give the time that he needs. so he has to work very hard for his wins on the hard courts.
at any rate I would have put minimal effort on the indoor hard court circuit after the u.s. open. he had won simply too much by the time he took the u.s. open.
he had spent enormous physical and physical capital in taking those 10 titles. it was time to cash in the chips for the hard courts for a little while.
it was time to let those hard courts go so to speak. you can play those events but put in a relaxed effort. let somebody else take them while you try to find an exit strategy at those events.
in short he spent too much time doing all the things that he did not need to be doing. he was also in massive demand so he went everywhere picking up awards. and then his sponsors needed his time. his fans also wanted his constant attention and time. some of that can be done in the off season. he was losing his focus.
he basically showed up unprepared for the Australian Open. he was tired from all that he did after the u.s. open and his body finally quit on him.
I am blaming the excessive hard court activity---after the u.s. open ended last year--- for what happened at the Australian Open. he never recovered from that. he had already also dropped some of his fitness so that is why the recovery is taking so long now.
now what is compounding his issues is that he made matters worse for himself by staying in indian wells after his early loss there. he stuck around to relax and put in some lazy practice sessions on the hard courts there while he waited for his jet to arrive to take him to Oregon. lot of time was wasted in indian wells that could have been put to far better use like on the red clay at home.
NIKE sent him a jet to pick him up and fly him to Oregon for sponsorship duties. that was a waste of 2 days on account of NIKE alone.
and then he goes to Miami. all in all he wasted 16-17 days that he could have spent at home on the red clay.
he went to Miami to pick up a few cheap points and his $1.75 million appearance fee.
now this man is already worth $200 million and his 8 French Opens are worth $1 billion over a lifetime. do you really think he needs the money.
he did not focus and prepare properly for the Australian Open and it cost him a chance to make history there.
he did not prepare properly and focus properly on the most important part of his season and as a result he got run off the courts in monte carlo and then again in Barcelona.
and now the bad back is not helping any either. again that was another reason why he needed to skip town pronto/ASAP after his early loss in indian wells. that was a blessing from the gods.
he did not listen.
I still think he will manage to win at RG but all this meaningless bloodshed could have been avoided with better focus and better preparation.
he had the inside track on the world. he had the world by the balls.
he became too reckless and it cost him in a big way. no player will ever find himself in a position to capture as many slams as roger has.
Rafa was in that position. Rafa was in a position to chase down that slam record. 14th slam in Melbourne would have made the record a little more possible.
I don't know now how much time he has left. he has now signed up for a hard court league for later in the season.
he is just one injury away from having his career come to an abrupt end. he better start playing and practicing more on clay.
back injuries usually end a player's career more often than not.
I am worried about him but it is clear that he is not going to listen to anybody. not even himself. he said last year that he needed to start spending little less time on the hard courts.
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