BARCELONA ATP 500 - 20th April to 26th April

[Murat Baslamisli]

Some things jumped out at me today from Rafa that I have not seen from him before, like being not ready for certain shots, getting caught in the no man's land...He needs to work on the footwork. Those forehand shanks do not happen out of nowhere. They happen because you are not there at the right time to hit them properly.

I said this before, when Rafa loses foot speed, the shank-fest on the forehand side will be biblical. His grip has zero room for error.

 

[Fiero425]

Maybe Rafa should play Istanbul for some confidence...it is only Roger there :snicker

Exactly. Things are bad, but they can't get that bad... :snicker

Passed out after Fabio went down that break in the 2nd! Woke to the good news! Will have to catch the repeat in a little while! Unbelievable! HELL truly froze over! :eyepop :devil :clap :laydownlaughing

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I guess there is a trivia here, no? When was the last time Rafa lost to the same guy back to back on clay?

 

[Kieran]

Everything with Rafa comes down to confidence. He hits better, moves better, thinks clearer, dominates. He played nothing like that today, dropped things short, fell away too quick when he needed to assert himself.

As the youngsters today say, Bleh!

 

[tented]

Some things jumped out at me today from Rafa that I have not seen from him before, like being not ready for certain shots, getting caught in the no man's land...He needs to work on the footwork. Those forehand shank do not happen out of nowhere. They happen because you are not there at the right time to hit them properly.

I said this before, when Rafa loses foot speed, the shank-fest on the forehand side will be biblical. His grip has zero room for error.

Yep, he's not as fast as he used to be, and it's showing. He used to be able to whip across the court, with almost preternatural anticipatory skills. Now it's not surprising to see him shank what should be rally forehands.

 

[Carol]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

 

[Fiero425]

I guess there is a trivia here, no? When was the last time Rafa lost to the same guy back to back on clay?

Only because I just watched it on videotape, Nole back in 2011 owned him taking Nadal out in straights at both Madrid and Rome! :clap :snicker :angel:

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

I don't know how Patrick Jane can help Rafa but give it a try I guess...:snicker:snicker

 

[Kieran]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

I'm not at the stage where I'm worried, as such, but it's both natural and curious what's happening. We know he'll work his socks off to give himself as good a chance as he can, but he's not #4 or 5 in the world because he's been posting exceptional results. He hasn't had a good run of results since the second week in Paris last year - and before that it was Oz. So there's a lot of reasons to think that he's in the middle of something terminal, but we can't see it because we know he's looked terminal before.

Set against this, he's kinda like he was last year, and that turned out okay in Paris. I'm not concerned that he's finished, or anything, because I don't think he's anywhere near that. He's still a work in progress, as far as his comeback goes, but how fast will he progress, that's the thing...

 

[lacatch]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

I just watched most of Rafa's match against Fognini. I think it must be a combination of his confidence, his new racket, and a lingering loss of speed. It's the last one that's most troubling, because the margins are so thin at the top level, and because it can't get better (while he CAN regain confidence and get adjusted to new raquet).

 

[Carol]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

I don't know how Patrick Jane can help Rafa but give it a try I guess...:snicker:snicker

Or maybe Dr. Igor Cetojevic? :snicker

http://docigor.org

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Did not watch the match. Although I expected Rafa to lose early, I did not think it will happen
in this round. I was under the impression that Fog does not have it in him to do it again. Well done
fog, especially as you came back from a break and has to survive 3 MPs evaporating. :clap

 

[Carol]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

I'm not at the stage where I'm worried, as such, but it's both natural and curious what's happening. We know he'll work his socks off to give himself as good a chance as he can, but he's not #4 or 5 in the world because he's been posting exceptional results. He hasn't had a good run of results since the second week in Paris last year - and before that it was Oz. So there's a lot of reasons to think that he's in the middle of something terminal, but we can't see it because we know he's looked terminal before.

Set against this, he's kinda like he was last year, and that turned out okay in Paris. I'm not concerned that he's finished, or anything, because I don't think he's anywhere near that. He's still a work in progress, as far as his comeback goes, but how fast will he progress, that's the thing...

I know things can change in one day depending the mind of the players but the way that Rafa is playing
is nothing similar like we have seen before or what he can do. He is losing against players who have not even won a MS on any surface and less on clay and not because they are playing great but the poor Rafa's
game. If it's because his racket then I shouldn't be concerned but if it's because his mind I'm afraid it
would take him too long to put it in the right way and maybe it would be too late

 

[tented]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

About that ... was this really the best time to begin using a new racquet? Why not wait until, say, the NA hard courts? Perhaps he should do what Roger did a couple of years ago, and switch back (at least temporarily) to his old racquet, and try the new one again later.

 

[Kieran]

I know things can change in one day depending the mind of the players but the way that Rafa is playing
is nothing similar like we have seen before or what he can do. He is losing against players who have not even won a MS on any surface and less on clay and not because they are playing great but the poor Rafa's
game. If it's because his racket then I shouldn't be concerned but if it's because his mind I'm afraid it
would take him too long to put it in the right way and maybe it would be too late

Nobody wins MS titles except Rafa, Djoker and Federer, in fairness. When somebody else wins one, it's big news. But also, this is why I said it's like last year. Who beat him last year? Almagro?

It's too early to panic...

 

[Carol]

I'm starting to be too worry about Rafa's game. Now he is healthy but what is going on? his mind? his new racket? bad patch? whatever is there problem I hope it's not going to last too long, he must to be out of that hole and maybe to hire a Doctor/Mentalist like others have done before uzzled :nono :huh:

About that ... was this really the best time to begin using a new racquet? Why not wait until, say, the NA hard courts? Perhaps he should do what Roger did a couple of years ago, and switch back (at least temporarily) to his old racquet, and try the new one again later.

He started to play with that racquet last December, but maybe it's not working so well on him and he should get back to the old one. If that's the problem I'm sure he will

 

[Fiero425]

I know things can change in one day depending the mind of the players but the way that Rafa is playing
is nothing similar like we have seen before or what he can do. He is losing against players who have not even won a MS on any surface and less on clay and not because they are playing great but the poor Rafa's
game. If it's because his racket then I shouldn't be concerned but if it's because his mind I'm afraid it
would take him too long to put it in the right way and maybe it would be too late

Nobody wins MS titles except Rafa, Djoker and Federer, in fairness. When somebody else wins one, it's big news. But also, this is why I said it's like last year. Who beat him last year? Almagro?

It's too early to panic...

IIRC Almagro in the QF; again Rafa was flat! :nono :angel:

 

[Carol]

I know things can change in one day depending the mind of the players but the way that Rafa is playing
is nothing similar like we have seen before or what he can do. He is losing against players who have not even won a MS on any surface and less on clay and not because they are playing great but the poor Rafa's
game. If it's because his racket then I shouldn't be concerned but if it's because his mind I'm afraid it
would take him too long to put it in the right way and maybe it would be too late

Nobody wins MS titles except Rafa, Djoker and Federer, in fairness. When somebody else wins one, it's big news. But also, this is why I said it's like last year. Who beat him last year? Almagro?

It's too early to panic...

I had the hope to see again Rafa Nadal in Barcelona but I see that I have to wait, maybe in Roma or Madrid? but definitely in RG, crossing fingers and toes

 

[Kieran]

I had the hope to see again Rafa Nadal in Barcelona but I see that I have to wait, maybe in Roma or Madrid? but definitely in RG, crossing fingers and toes

Dot your teas and cross your eyes, too!

 

[Carol]

I had the hope to see again Rafa Nadal in Barcelona but I see that I have to wait, maybe in Roma or Madrid? but definitely in RG, crossing fingers and toes

Dot your teas and cross your eyes, too!

LOL