Clay Warrior's Clay Domination Nearing An End

[ClayDeath]

I firmly believe that he has one more RG left in him and it happens this year.

of course he can use a little bit of luck as they all can but he should be able to find a way.

I am seeing a dramatic decline in his movement and his once amazing machine like consistency off the ground.

and as a result, you can see that he plays the game with lot less confidence and conviction.

translation: he is becoming shaky as hell. and this is not new. he has been losing finals since the end of 2010 at an alarming rate. he has lost around 12-13 finals since the end of 2013.

beating nico and ferru does not mean anything. he has beaten ferru in at least 7 clay finals and he has 10 straight wins over nico.

big fat hairy deal. look at his rank. he is not the player he used to be.

I think he has one last charge left in him and he might make that charge at RG this year.

if he is not going to put in the work then he can continue to get his sorry fat ass spanked by nole.

it is really that simple. he basically has zero improvements to show for after 2010.

and I do mean zero. and now with dropped fitness and extra 12 pounds, he is more vulnerable than ever.

so he has made life very hard for himself on the court. it is not hurting his bank account in any way yet but his ground game sure has fallen apart.

 

[Riotbeard]

A bit premature IMO. Nadal will move up to the No.2 rank in time, and could get back to No. 1 potentially, although I hope he doesn't. Once he starts losing clay finals to Murray and Federer, then it is time to be seriously worried.

 

[ClayDeath]

what if nole is the only one making the finals along with nadal?

so its ok to lose all the finals to nole?

how the hell can you get back to #1 when you have zero improvements to your game and when you refuse to put in the work?

 

[Postpre]

Clay Death,

Hi old buddy! Remember the old, "I am not happy with the Clay Warrior King"?

Then, I told you to relax, even after the rain delay last year (at the French), and Djokovic's surging momentum.

Here's what I know about Nadal:

He is extremely competitive. He is relentless. He knows his game well, and he knows when it's lacking even the slightest bit.

Translation: He will find a way to remain dominant on clay until the end of his career. He may lose a big one (or two) to Djokovic, but that's about all. He will find a way.

Every career has ebbs and flows. Times when one is more mentally strong, and times when one is more fragile. Don't think what you see now, is what you'll get from Nadal until hangs up his racquet. It means too much to the Clay Warrior.

 

[Moxie]

Clay Death,

Hi old buddy! Remember the old, "I am not happy with the Clay Warrior King"?

Then, I told you to relax, even after the rain delay last year (at the French), and Djokovic's surging momentum.

Here's what I know about Nadal:

He is extremely competitive. He is relentless. He knows his game well, and he knows when it's lacking even the slightest bit.

Translation: He will find a way to remain dominant on clay until the end of his career. He may lose a big one (or two) to Djokovic, but that's about all. He will find a way.

Every career has ebbs and flows. Times when one is more mentally strong, and times when one is more fragile. Don't think what you see now, is what you'll get from Nadal until hangs up his racquet. It means too much to the Clay Warrior.

Good post, Postpre! I'm surprised by Samson bailing on Nadal. Summer friends? Just remember we all called Roger out this time last year, and he managed another Major, and got back to #1. There is lot of tennis to be played by these very talented guys.

 

[ClayDeath]

Clay Death,

Hi old buddy! Remember the old, "I am not happy with the Clay Warrior King"?

Then, I told you to relax, even after the rain delay last year (at the French), and Djokovic's surging momentum.

Here's what I know about Nadal:

He is extremely competitive. He is relentless. He knows his game well, and he knows when it's lacking even the slightest bit.

Translation: He will find a way to remain dominant on clay until the end of his career. He may lose a big one (or two) to Djokovic, but that's about all. He will find a way.

Every career has ebbs and flows. Times when one is more mentally strong, and times when one is more fragile. Don't think what you see now, is what you'll get from Nadal until hangs up his racquet. It means too much to the Clay Warrior.

long time no see old friend. excellent post on your part.



make sure you join tennis4you. we have a castle at the chat section there.

I think the plan is to help each tennis community grow.

I will help in anyway I can. and we could use a helping hand as well as we try to reach critical ground speed at the castle at tennis4you so we too can become airborne.



you guys are doing a tremendous job here. great deal of credit is due for all of you and of course baron britbox.


together we can make sure both tennis communities grow and prosper.


think about it: if you guys reach out, you will get discovered in the process and become more well known.


and all of us knowing each other means that we have quality folks at both places. people from the castle will come post alongside the others here as much as possible.

I know I plan to be here.



at any rate, I hear what you are saying. I am just worried about nadal because I am seeing a dramatic drop in fitness, speed, and movement.

and all those finals lost worry me.

 

[Postpre]

Clay Death,

I understand your concern about those finals losses, but the majority of them were against Nole when Nole transformed himself in early 2011. Nadal wasn't quite ready to deal with THAT Nole until last years clay court season.

So, eight of those losses were to Nole (only one in their last four encounters).

One to Federer in the World Tour Finals (2010) (and he's not in Nadal's head)
One to Murray in Tokyo (2011) (and he's not in Nadal's head)
One to Zeballos in Chile (2013) (and he's not in Nadal's head)

Nadal also made 5 straight Grand Slam Finals during this time.

Fitness wise, I think his movement is a little off. I think it can be regained, though. When you get older, it may take more specialized training to maintain and preserve quickness and agility. I hope Toni understands this and makes it a priority during the off weeks.

 

[Moxie]

Clay Death,

I understand your concern about those finals losses, but the majority of them were against Nole when Nole transformed himself in early 2011. Nadal wasn't quite ready to deal with THAT Nole until last years clay court season.

So, eight of those losses were to Nole (only one in their last four encounters).

One to Federer in the World Tour Finals (2010) (and he's not in Nadal's head)
One to Murray in Tokyo (2011) (and he's not in Nadal's head)
One to Zeballos in Chile (2013) (and he's not in Nadal's head)

Nadal also made 5 straight Grand Slam Finals during this time.

Fitness wise, I think his movement is a little off. I think it can be regained, though. When you get older, it may take more specialized training to maintain and preserve quickness and agility. I hope Toni understands this and makes it a priority during the off weeks.

That was nicely put into context, Postpre. I also hope that Rafa and his team make smart choices about the schedule.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Clay Death,

I understand your concern about those finals losses, but the majority of them were against Nole when Nole transformed himself in early 2011. Nadal wasn't quite ready to deal with THAT Nole until last years clay court season.

So, eight of those losses were to Nole (only one in their last four encounters).

One to Federer in the World Tour Finals (2010) (and he's not in Nadal's head)
One to Murray in Tokyo (2011) (and he's not in Nadal's head)
One to Zeballos in Chile (2013) (and he's not in Nadal's head)

Nadal also made 5 straight Grand Slam Finals during this time.

Fitness wise, I think his movement is a little off. I think it can be regained, though. When you get older, it may take more specialized training to maintain and preserve quickness and agility. I hope Toni understands this and makes it a priority during the off weeks.

Way to early to start this type of thread. The kid was away from the ATP tour for 8 months and this guy makes 5 straight finals.. looses a meaningless clay final to a guy that played the match of his life, wins the next 2 tourneys( destroys Almagro and the world #4 Ferrer), wins IW hardcourt without a warmup and takes 2 weeks off and less than a week to make the transition to clay makes the finals but to loose to the number 1 player for the past 2 years whom he has only lost 3 times in maybe 12 enounters on clay, nah..

Samson, its too soon. The clay warrior as you know will be as the height of his powers in 4 weeks. It takes time to get the movement, timing and to be tournament final match tough to beat Djoker or Federer. True, he is not what he once was but is anybody after 8 straight years.

 

[ClayDeath]

excellent post general anti pusher.

 

[the AntiPusher]

excellent post general anti pusher.

Thanks Samson.. Welcome to the boards..your supreme knowledge of tennis philosphy has been missed my friend.

 

[ClayDeath]

much obliged general anti pusher.

its good to be around quality folks. you folks rock.

this is what I firmly believe: I believe that we may have quite possibly the 2 finest tennis communities on the planet:


the one here and the one at tennis4you.

we can do without that madness and large scale ultra aggressive trolling, attacks, insults, and nonstop harassment often found at that toxic dump (mens trolling forums).

 

[ClayDeath]

I am hitting the sack in a few minutes friends. see you around next time.

I have a road trip planned tomorrow morning. I will be getting back quite late tomorrow night.

have a good night.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Just to be clear on one thing, Nadal's decline in movement is not "dramatic." It's been slowly happening since after his 2009 injury. The odd part to me, this year at least, is that he looked to be moving far better at Indian Wells on hards, than he did at any other clay tournament he played.

 

[jhar26]

If there is a decline in Nadal's movement or anything else in his game it's not dramatic but marginal. The guy has made the final in all six tournaments he entered since his comeback winning four of them. What more can anyone possibly expect? Especially when you consider all the "nice, but this never could happen on the mens side" comments whenever a woman makes a remarkable comeback after a long break. I hadn't expected that he would be this good again this soon, or even ever. Ok, there are the losses against Djokovic the last few years, but those are hardly signs of a dramatic decline. Eventually there always comes someone who has your number or who's game is a bad match-up for yours, no matter how good you are.

 

[brokenshoelace]

If there is a decline in Nadal's movement or anything else in his game it's not dramatic but marginal.

True.

 

[Kieran]

If there is a decline in Nadal's movement or anything else in his game it's not dramatic but marginal. The guy has made the final in all six tournaments he entered since his comeback winning four of them. What more can anyone possibly expect? Especially when you consider all the "nice, but this never could happen on the mens side" comments whenever a woman makes a remarkable comeback after a long break. I hadn't expected that he would be this good again this soon, or even ever. Ok, there are the losses against Djokovic the last few years, but those are hardly signs of a dramatic decline. Eventually there always comes someone who has your number or who's game is a bad match-up for yours, no matter how good you are.

Exactly. Good post Jhar, especially the piece I bolded. Sometimes men's tennis today resembles the WTA in that sense, where the rest of the field are just numbers, more or less: the chorus line that stays chirpily in the back watching the stars get the glory.

I'm bitterly disappointed that Samson the Warrior is now telling Nadal fans to "prepare for Death." What shall I do with my troops, my liege? I have them massed into the bars at Howth and Dun Laoghaire, ready to sail for battle! Better you decide soon or they'll be too drunk to bother...

 

[britbox]

Too much gloom and doom. He's come back from a 7 month layoff and been in 6 consecutive finals, winning four of them.

Nadal's slight deterioration in movement is noticeable but as mentioned already he is still in the elite category within that department.

 

[Billie]

Clay Warrior's troops might be greater in numbers, but the Great Serbian Slayer does not lack in skills and courage to take down anybody is his way to the biggest prize in Paris. Be aware, be very aware and prepare for the greatest battle of all clay courts.

It's time for my Prince to shine the brightest.:angel:

 

[ClayDeath]

he is already shining the brightest billie.

its just that RG is off limits.

general clay warrior the conqueror is planning an all out assault on Paris once more.

this should be his last charge.

nole would be wise to abandon the campaign and save himself and his armies for London.