The Fall of Rafael Nadal

[ClayDeath]

Tsonga can't fight his way out of a wet paper bag.

Translation: get ready for a Rafa vs Djokovic semifinal.

 

[Moxie]

I am out on the beach.

Checking the scores:

Pleasant surprise. We will take any and all wins.

That still does not mean I am happy with the clay warrior.

You're on the beach and Rafa had his biggest win of the year. You have every reason to be happy.

 

[ClayDeath]

You're on the beach and Rafa had his biggest win of the year. You have every reason to be happy.

I will head for home shortly.

Tsonga is just useless. And so is berdych. their testicles disappear when they see djokovic.

Of course they don't quite have talent djokovic has either.

 

[Moxie]

Tsonga served poorly today, but he showed a lot of nerve. Yes, I think the point is they're not as good. Rafa will have to play his best tomorrow to beat Djokovic, but Novak is also going to need to clean it up a bit, including his attitude. But he will.

 

[ClayDeath]

we will hope for he best for Rafa of course.

at least it is 1 more match under his belt.

 

[ClayDeath]

Tsonga served poorly today, but he showed a lot of nerve. Yes, I think the point is they're not as good. Rafa will have to play his best tomorrow to beat Djokovic, but Novak is also going to need to clean it up a bit, including his attitude. But he will.

Tsonga had his chance for one of the biggest upsets of his life against djokovic at RG a few years ago.

he choked. his balls disappeared. he had djokovic on the ropes and he could not finish him.

 

[Moxie]

As you said, he's not the better player. Tsonga is what he is. He should have more patience and make better choices. But that is the story of his career. A good one, but not great one.

 

[isabelle]

Tsonga played a good match even if he served bad. Nole isn't very impressive, he has to play better vs Manaors' bull , this is the real final tonight

 

[ClayDeath]

Get one thing straight.

Rafa is a mere shadow of what he used to be.

there is very little mustard on his shots and a lot less depth.

There is also less spin.

I checked out the highlights. Nishikori was far from his best.

Rafa is going to get killed today. I just can't see any other outcome.

Nishikori was terrible.

Djokovic is another story. Even a terrible Djokovic can toy with the entire field.

you are looking at a guy who is probably not going to lose 2-3 matches all year.

 

[ClayDeath]

It would not have mattered had he won the first set.

He would have lost the next 2 sets 6-2, 6-0.

 

[ClayDeath]

It was luck that landed him in the semis anyway.

Nishikori was horrible and the the lanky Russian would have won had he not choked that easy volley.

Bottom line: once again while Rafa was content to fart around vacationing and playing golf while Djokovic was training and also competing. He played Davis cup matches. In fact all the others are training long and hard and competing. Roger was the exception but he just had his surgery.

Rafa can win but he just doesn't want to.

There is no significant and sufficient body of work on the practice courts and on the fitness front.

this is heart breaking for me but the man is done. Now simply too wealthy and too complacent.

He is happy with his 14 majors and more money coming in than ever before.

he may get 2-3 wins in Barcelona at best. basically you are looking at somebody who can't even win 250 and 500 level events, let alone masters.

Djokovic stands at the gates of all maters anyway.

Rafa has 1 small window left: 2017 clay season.

work for that needs to begin now.

 

[Moxie]

It would not have mattered had he won the first set.

He would have lost the next 2 sets 6-2, 6-0.

As I was recently "reminded" by Ricardo, you cannot say what would happen next if a different person won the first set. The match would have gone on longer, were Nole to win, and the wind was frustrating Nole. He broke a racquet early in the 2nd, and that given that he'd won the first.

Rafa was not "lucky" to be in the semis. You can't judge the Nishikori match on highlights. He came out hot, but got rather unglued, which is his fault, though partly opponent-driven. Same with Zverev, and I'll give you that there was more luck involved with Rafa winning that one. But you make your own luck. If you stay in it, and with "good positive actitude" as Rafa would say, you are there when the opportunities present themselves.

You keep harping on Rafa not working hard enough. This is patently ridiculous. If you'd bother to watch his matches, you'd see the results. Some of his problems are age- and mileage-related, and there's not much you can do about that. And at Novak's current level, not much of anyone can touch him. There was a lot of good fight from Rafa today, good shots, and it's the best he's played Nole in a while.

 

[masterclass]

I believe we've seen a slight improvement from Rafa, with additional match play, but it's difficult to tell for sure as the opponent's level is relative.
We saw him make a fortunate escape against an improving, but still wet behind the ears, Zverev, who vacated the premises after not converting an easy match winning volley.
Nishikori imploded for some reason after looking good for the first few games, and perhaps made Rafa look better than he was. Maybe Rafa scares him.

Today, Novak did not play well in the first set and still escaped with winning the tiebreaker.
Unfortunately, it looks like Rafa has about a set of good tennis in him against the best players, maybe 2 sets against lesser players, and then he's done.
Rafa was redlining a lot of the first set just to stay in the match and did have chances to take the set, but didn't.
Mind you, he won more games than his last few meetings against Novak, so there is the slight improvement for you.
The bad news is that Rafa still lost in straight sets, which is 6 matches in a row he has lost in straight sets to Novak, since Rafa's last win at Roland Garros almost 2 years ago.

In the second set, Rafa played too impatiently; wanting to end points too quickly, like he was gassed.
The old Rafa would be content to run shots down, wait patiently for the opponent error or the tactical opening and then put it away,
But with a topspin game, one must be very fit to do that, with speed and stamina. It's clear that is missing from his game, and has been.for awhile.

Why play Miami on hard court next week? It only increases the chance for injury. He can take the week off and practice for 4-6 hours on clay instead.
Houston has a very nice clay tournament on the 4th of April, the US Men's Clay Court Championship.
Rafa could get back on the clay as soon as possible, work on his clay game and fitness, maybe get some confidence winning his 1st title since Hamburg last year, before going against the big boys in Monte Carlo.
He might even get some poker in while he's in Texas.

He has a chance at Roland Garros this year, but he needs about 20 matches on clay at least, and he can't get that without winning some of those tournaments.
If he can't do it, then 2017 might be his last hope.

Respectfully,
masterclass

 

[Carol]

Get one thing

It was luck that landed him in the semis anyway.

Nishikori was horrible and the the lanky Russian would have won had he not choked that easy volley.

Bottom line: once again while Rafa was content to fart around vacationing and playing golf while Djokovic was training and also competing. He played Davis cup matches. In fact all the others are training long and hard and competing. Roger was the exception but he just had his surgery.

Rafa can win but he just doesn't want to.

There is no significant and sufficient body of work on the practice courts and on the fitness front.

this is heart breaking for me but the man is done. Now simply too wealthy and too complacent.

He is happy with his 14 majors and more money coming in than ever before.

he may get 2-3 wins in Barcelona at best. basically you are looking at somebody who can't even win 250 and 500 level events, let alone masters.

Djokovic stands at the gates of all maters anyway.

Rafa has 1 small window left: 2017 clay season.

work for that needs to begin now.

Well, even that that second set Rafa has played pretty bad (he just can blame himself) he has lost against the #1 who is proclaimed as the perfect player, isn't? so I don't see any big deal

 

[Moxie]

I believe we've seen a slight improvement from Rafa, with additional match play, but it's difficult to tell for sure as the opponent's level is relative.
We saw him make a fortunate escape against an improving, but still wet behind the ears, Zverev, who vacated the premises after not converting an easy match winning volley.
Nishikori imploded for some reason after looking good for the first few games, and perhaps made Rafa look better than he was. Maybe Rafa scares him.

Today, Novak did not play well in the first set and still escaped with winning the tiebreaker.
Unfortunately, it looks like Rafa has about a set of good tennis in him against the best players, maybe 2 sets against lesser players, and then he's done.
Rafa was redlining a lot of the first set just to stay in the match and did have chances to take the set, but didn't.
Mind you, he won more games than his last few meetings against Novak, so there is the slight improvement for you.
The bad news is that Rafa still lost in straight sets, which is 6 matches in a row he has lost in straight sets to Novak, since Rafa's last win at Roland Garros almost 2 years ago.

In the second set, Rafa played too impatiently; wanting to end points too quickly, like he was gassed.
The old Rafa would be content to run shots down, wait patiently for the opponent error or the tactical opening and then put it away,
But with a topspin game, one must be very fit to do that, with speed and stamina. It's clear that is missing from his game, and has been.for awhile.

Why play Miami on hard court next week? It only increases the chance for injury. He can take the week off and practice for 4-6 hours on clay instead.
Houston has a very nice clay tournament on the 4th of April, the US Men's Clay Court Championship.
Rafa could get back on the clay as soon as possible, work on his clay game and fitness, maybe get some confidence winning his 1st title since Hamburg last year, before going against the big boys in Monte Carlo.
He might even get some poker in while he's in Texas.

He has a chance at Roland Garros this year, but he needs about 20 matches on clay at least, and he can't get that without winning some of those tournaments.
If he can't do it, then 2017 might be his last hope.

Respectfully,
masterclass

I disagree that Rafa redlined his game to hang with Djokovic in the first. He worked hard, yes, but he always does. My tv commentators agreed that it was his tennis, within himself. Respectfully.

I think that Rafa was a bit discouraged and gassed, in the 2nd. But he was spritely enough to wait for Zverev to lose the plot, so I wouldn't compare him against Novak, as if that's his best against the field. Your suggestion re: Miami/Houston is not without merit. Interesting. But I think he feels he has to stay with the best competition to feel positive. He lost today, but it was the best he's played against Novak in a while. That's a good thing.

 

[Carol]

Well, even that Rafa has played pretty bad the second set (he just can blame himself) he has lost to the #1 who is proclaimed as the perfect player, isn't? so I don't see any big deal

Oops, I posted twice the same comment

 

[ClayDeath]

he is done.

you just cant win if you wont work in this sport. lucky wins and lucky semifinal appearances dont mean a damn thing except for a few points.

he is actually worn out after just 40 minutes of play.

now how the hell can you beat anybody with that level of fitness.


nishikori was beyond terrible and threw up a few ton of errors.


again this is just for the public consumption. any and all talk before the press is just for the sponsors and for the public consumption. I know his game and his fitness better than anybody on this planet and I can assure you that he cant win any event. now even a 250 level event.

he just cant go the distance.

and he simply doesn't care to win. now he will go fart around in Puerto rico while playing some worthless, meaningless exo against some unknown player. on indoor courts. why?

and Rafa complains constantly about how so many events are on the hard courts.


translation: zero titles this year and most probably an exit from the sport at the end of this year.


money wont stop coming in. in fact the money is fixing to get even bigger. so why hang around and keep getting your ass handed to you. why damage your legacy.


he will end of making around $1 billion because of who he is and because of his 14 majors even if he hangs it all up tomorrow.

 

[Moxie]

Blah, blah, blah. If you're so disgusted with him, why do you bother? Really. It's so much palaver that has no meaning, little basis in reality, and is tediously repetitive. Why don't you just give up posting about him? Have you no other web identity? Just pick a new favorite. We'd forgive you the "Clay Death" handle. Or, pick a new handle, and make a clean slate of it. It's not like we wouldn't recognize you.

 

[Mastoor]

I see Samson is still pissed off because Rafa lost, but this was very much the best of Rafa, not far from the best, wasn't it?

 

[Carol]

Rafa is physically better than ever but he needs to win and the only way he can do it is shaking off all those ghosts in his head and anxiety which doesn't allow him to recovery his lost confidence but he is close, very close