CAMELOT FANTASIES

clay is the only thing that can help him get back on the right track.



he has to go get on clay as soon as Wimbledon is over.


clay is the wellspring from which he flows. 46 clay titles spell that out.



and if he refuses to get on clay after Wimbledon then prepare for even greater decline and  greater free fall.


hard courts will mean only more injuries with the significant decline in fitness and physicality.


it is now time to back off he hard courts. I would think that he and his team would see that.


they went to Miami to collect the appearance fee. there was no need for that $1.5 million when you have nearly $300 million.

and each RG crown is worth over $30 million.


they went to Miami knowing they were giving up valuable and critical practice on clay.



there is still time but unless adjustments are made his best is long gone and there will be no more comebacks.


you are only given so many comebacks in a tennis career.


I for one will be forever sad because he was so close to the record. and he could have won 3 more RG crowns simply by not neglecting clay so much.



damn I am heartbroken over what he has done to himself.


he had the last 6 months to prepare for the single most critical clay season of his career and all he could do was give it minimal attention.



once again to put things in perspective, Fog had not won a single match in Barcelona in over 5 years.

this just went from being horribly unprepared to damn near hopeless.

Quote from: Clay Death on April 23, 2015, 10:19:10 pm

this is what Rafa said:


“I didn't have enough power or speed on my forehand. I didn't have control of the points with my forehand. When I was in good positions, I couldn't push Fognini back. When that happens, my game can't hurt my opponent. That was the case today.”




and this is what I have been saying for nearly 3 years now. he was losing his fitness and his once supreme physicality little by little and he was not willing to reverse that process.


there is not sufficient velocity on his strokes. and he is also playing too far back from his backhand corner.


they know what he is going to do and they can get to his shots with a second to spare.


and as general Tee has pointed out, he is giving them over 1/2 of the court to blast away. he just cant get to those balls anymore with such diminished fitness and physicality.




he is doing the same thing in his practice sessions. often he just retreats to his backhand corner so he can just hit forehands.


bringing in Monaco to work with was a terrible idea. he was farting around with Monaco with his lazy practice session the day before he got run over Nick at Wimbledon last year. they don't really work hard. for about 90 minutes they fart around. and they have uncle tony as their ball boy.


until Rafa starts to train very seriously for 6-7 hours a day it is a very long and hard road back.



I am at a bloody loss. I would do something about it. he is the greatest gladiator of tennis the world has ever seen or known.


why cant he find the will to fight and win.

Farting around with Monaco. I had to laugh at that.

He doesn't seem to be focused at all.

Today was definitely a step backwards.

I'm at a loss too.  Moreso about the lackadaisical attitude.

This doesn't sound like our warrior...

Unless this is a strategy.

I'm so lost I'm inventing conspiracy theories.

he could have skipped that vacation to costa rica before indian wells and got on clay instead.


he could have played an extra event on clay in south America.


he could have skipped Miami.


he should have taken a wild card to Casablanca.


he is not stupid. he is very bright and very intelligent.


he just doesn't have the hunger the relentless will to win right now.


that fire has to be re-ignited or its over.


he has to focus harder than ever because it has slipped away from him and he has to start working 6-7 hours a day on the practice courts.



that is what borg, vilas, and muster did. even lendl did that to keep his competitive edge.


muster was so desperate to succeed that he was out hitting balls while strapped to a wooden bench.

a drunk driver destroyed his knee. so he had surgery and told his handlers to build him a bench. he wanted to be on the practice courts.


he reinvented himself and used clay to reach #1.

Quote from: Clay Death on April 24, 2015, 12:50:13 pm

Fog got just 1 game against Pablo Andujar today in the first set.


I hope Rafa is out on the practice courts today hitting the ball for 6-7 hours.

he has 1000 points in Madrid and 2000 at RG.

I'm sure it's sinking in that he has to work harder, but then again, maybe he doesn't want it anymore. You never know.

Hello General Hercules, Lady TT,  General Tee and the rest.   

Just getting back to health after a nasty flu since near the beginning of Monte-Carlo.

So I have a lot of catch up reading to do here...look forward to reading your comments, and watching matches if they are available.

I know the results.  Roger lost to on-fire Monfils in MC,  Rafa made the semis beating Ferrer, and lost to eventual champion Djokovic, so he must have been playing better, getting more matches in. 

But now in Barcelona Rafa lost again to Fognini again in straight sets no less.  I'll have to try and watch that one.  Obviously something is still not right with him.  Probably still returning from the stands and dropping it short.  Fognini is decent on clay if he gets time to play his game but very inconsistent.  But he is one of the faster players on court and he'll kill someone that loops balls to mid court with his flatter angles and excellent skill shots - volleys, lobs, drop shots, etc.   But if you can push him back behind the baseline with flatter quicker shots and take time away, he becomes very erratic, and I can see why Andujar beat him, because that is exactly how he plays.

Did Rafa really say he had to improve or die?  If he did, he's getting a bit dramatic, isn't he?  It wasn't long ago that he said that this is just tennis, losing is part of the game, not life. In history, nobody remembers the small losses, only the big victories.    Well, seems like a lot of psychological stuff going on with him. 

But I think it comes down to what we've been saying since 2011 really.  He needs to improve fitness, so he can be confident that he won't get tired late in sets or matches chasing down balls.  Chasing down balls is what he does, because of the way he plays, going to that backhand corner, running around the backhand leaving the forehand court open.  If his shots from there don't have enough depth and pop, then the opponent can steer the ball to his forehand and Rafa can't chase them all down if he isn't fit.  Something has to give. 

I think at his age, almost 29, he has to commit to using the backhand more and forget running around it on the wide backhand.  That means he has got to get out on the practice courts for hours, and hit more than 3 or 4 consecutive backhands at a time.  He also can't stand so far back to return.  It gives the opponent at least 2 technical advantages and a very important mental one as well before the ball is even struck. You simply cannot win matches if you cannot break serve.  So it's also something he has to practice.  But it's almost impossible for me to believe that his coaching team hasn't been working on this with him.  He has extra time to practice after losing in Barcelona.  He needs to really take advantage of the time left to Madrid. He said he would leave no stone unturned.  Let's see what happens.  They need to get 2 or 3 top clay players to hit with him, whatever the cost.

From recent results it seems like he is taking 1 or 2 steps forward in improvement, and then a step back.  Time is getting short. He needs to improve and not take any steps back.  Madrid is next and he defends it.  In Rome he defends a final.   That is 1600 points.  He goes into those events as #4 seed.  But if he can easily lose that seeding at Roland Garros if he falters before and it will make it much tougher on him there.  And faltering at Roland Garros would be a heavy blow.  He could easily go out of the top 10.  So he has a lot of pressure to do well in these next 3 tournaments on clay, his best surface. 

There is really no room for backsliding.  He has to get it done.  His losses have been costly; the rest of the field no longer fears Rafa as they once did. The other top players are not standing still either.  Novak is practicing non-stop in Monte-Carlo.  Federer has been practicing and will be playing in Istanbul and Murray in Munich. 

Let's see what happens.  Good luck and good health to everyone!

Respectfully,
masterclass

Hello General Hercules, Lady TT,  General Tee and the rest.   

Just getting back to health after a nasty flu since near the beginning of Monte-Carlo.

So I have a lot of catch up reading to do here...look forward to reading your comments, and watching matches if they are available.

I know the results.  Roger lost to on-fire Monfils in MC,  Rafa made the semis beating Ferrer, and lost to eventual champion Djokovic, so he must have been playing better, getting more matches in. 

But now in Barcelona Rafa lost again to Fognini again in straight sets no less.  I'll have to try and watch that one.  Obviously something is still not right with him.  Probably still returning from the stands and dropping it short.  Fognini is decent on clay if he gets time to play his game but very inconsistent.  But he is one of the faster players on court and he'll kill someone that loops balls to mid court with his flatter angles and excellent skill shots - volleys, lobs, drop shots, etc.   But if you can push him back behind the baseline with flatter quicker shots and take time away, he becomes very erratic, and I can see why Andujar beat him, because that is exactly how he plays.

Did Rafa really say he had to improve or die?  If he did, he's getting a bit dramatic, isn't he?  It wasn't long ago that he said that this is just tennis, losing is part of the game, not life. In history, nobody remembers the small losses, only the big victories.    Well, seems like a lot of psychological stuff going on with him. 

But I think it comes down to what we've been saying since 2011 really.  He needs to improve fitness, so he can be confident that he won't get tired late in sets or matches chasing down balls.  Chasing down balls is what he does, because of the way he plays, going to that backhand corner, running around the backhand leaving the forehand court open.  If his shots from there don't have enough depth and pop, then the opponent can steer the ball to his forehand and Rafa can't chase them all down if he isn't fit.  Something has to give. 

I think at his age, almost 29, he has to commit to using the backhand more and forget running around it on the wide backhand.  That means he has got to get out on the practice courts for hours, and hit more than 3 or 4 consecutive backhands at a time.  He also can't stand so far back to return.  It gives the opponent at least 2 technical advantages and a very important mental one as well before the ball is even struck. You simply cannot win matches if you cannot break serve.  So it's also something he has to practice.  But it's almost impossible for me to believe that his coaching team hasn't been working on this with him.  He has extra time to practice after losing in Barcelona.  He needs to really take advantage of the time left to Madrid. He said he would leave no stone unturned.  Let's see what happens.  They need to get 2 or 3 top clay players to hit with him, whatever the cost.

From recent results it seems like he is taking 1 or 2 steps forward in improvement, and then a step back.  Time is getting short. He needs to improve and not take any steps back.  Madrid is next and he defends it.  In Rome he defends a final.   That is 1600 points.  He goes into those events as #4 seed.  But if he can easily lose that seeding at Roland Garros if he falters before and it will make it much tougher on him there.  And faltering at Roland Garros would be a heavy blow.  He could easily go out of the top 10.  So he has a lot of pressure to do well in these next 3 tournaments on clay, his best surface. 

There is really no room for backsliding.  He has to get it done.  His losses have been costly; the rest of the field no longer fears Rafa as they once did. The other top players are not standing still either.  Novak is practicing non-stop in Monte-Carlo.  Federer has been practicing and will be playing in Istanbul and Murray in Munich. 

Let's see what happens.  Good luck and good health to everyone!

Respectfully,
masterclass