General Clay Death has been telling like it is.
These days, every player has to be very fit if they want to be near the top.
The topspin player needs even more. They need tremendous fitness and repetition to hone their game.
How each player does their training may be a bit different, but some put in the hard work in tough conditions so that matches will be easy by comparison.
The players who still want to be at the top are putting in the work.
Look at this recent interview regarding Federer's work ethic in Dubai (pre-AO):
Interviewed by L'Equipe,
Emmanuel Planque, Lucas Pouille's coach, spoke about Pouille's practice session with Roger Federer and his team in Dubai and how beautiful the experience was.
'It's not only a question of money. There, the working conditions were extraordinary....
We mixed with Roger, Severin Lüthi (his coach) and Pierre Paganini (his physio),' he said. '
For us, they're examples, guiding lights.
We've watched Roger work. You think everything comes easily. But it's exactly the opposite.
He's associating volume and quality. We didn't realize so much work was involved.
We couldn't believe it. I saw sessions from 1 PM to 9 PM where Roger finished by taking off his shorts and socks and walking directly to the ice bath with a towel wrapped around himself.
He was that cooked. Seeing that, for us that was education.'
1 pm to 9pm. 8 hours in the heat of Dubai. Now people should know why Roger doesn't sweat much.
This is one of the world's greatest players who has already accomplished so much,
He's in his 35th year, (completes it Aug 8), yet he keeps working hard because he wants to stay relevant and knows there is always a chance if someone like Novak slips.
He is providing an example to the younger players like France's Pouille.
Of course, hopefully he stays away from people with viruses in the future so he doesn't catch anything, and he has to be fortunate with staying away from freakish injuries
To be a factor on clay, one has to have the fitness foundation. There is no other way.
At Federer's age, in this current period, it is very difficult to be fit enough for a serious run on the clay at Roland Garros or even the Plexicushion surface at the AO.
Wimbledon is probably his best bet, but it doesn't mean he can't win elsewhere if things fall his way and
he has prepared properly to take advantage.
To me, it looks like Rafa has other plans that don't involve tennis for much longer.
I think after his big 2013, he was satisfied with his career, and then after the Australian Open in 2014, he took a fork in the road.
He won his 9th RG in 2014 mostly on his fitness from 2013 and reputation/ability on clay, and that was it.
Can he stop the fall? Yes, he is one of the greatest, but even the greatest have to work hard to do it, and maybe he just doesn't have the same desire anymore.
We'll see if something changes.
Respectfully,
masterclass
