ATP - Rafael Nadal

[jacques9]

Dear Rafa,

We’ve been through some tough times bud.

There was the summer of 2009, when you lost to Soderling at Roland Garros. I was stuck at work, hovering around the Recreation Center gym tv, in hopes of glimpsing another comeback score. Instead I wound up staring at the ESPN ticker scroll for five minutes in confusion.

There was the entire year of 2011. A continuation of the high levels of play that helped you snag lots of trophies, butttt this one guy named Novak Djokovic kept beating you in what felt like ALL of the final rounds. I’ll be honest. It was torturous watching him win all of those trophies. On the plus side, it gave me a new tennis anti-hero to despise. I know. I know. It’s silly. Still every good story needs a dragon to slay at the end (by this time you had already slayed the original: Federer).

Then there was 2012. If I close my eyes, I can still see the backhand pass (in HD and slow motion. Funny how memories work) you missed to potentially go up 5-2 in the final set of that epic Australian Open final. 2012 was also the year of more increasingly severe knee injuries that forced you to take an extended break. I bet if you checked your twitter archives you would find lots of “I just want him to be healthy and on court again” tweets. HAHAHAHA RIGHT.

Now we have added 2015 to this list. A year that’s troubling to describe (remember when I wrote about your doubts during Roland Garros?), but in hindsight the causation is clear. 2014 gave you your most worrisome health troubles. Yes, the knees are famoose for being rickety, but many do not realize its a side effect of a solution for your primordial foot bone defect. Back, wrist, and appendicitis/surgery though is a new beast. You’ve already admitted it took longer than usual for the back to heal. Which would explain some of the service troubles, but you still don’t have the full confidence to place it well or switch up your patterns. I was also reading the other day about an NFL player who had an appendectomy as well. He said it took 6 months before he felt like he had his full core strength back. The outsiders will cry “Excuses! Excuses! It’s decline!” But honestly, I don’t feel like we use logic to problem solve enough in tennis. Anyways, I would vaguely classify 2015 as a lack of control. Control of your focus, mind, tennis strokes, topspin ;), preparation for the season and control of our reactions as fans.

We’ve also had some amazing times together Rafa. Remember 2008 Wimbledon (No more Claydal limiting narrative qualifiers in these parts!), 2009 Australian Open (I won’t be mad if you pause to watch the highlights with Verdasco. Just remember to switch back to this tab!), the 2010/2013 US Opens (the best surprises of your career as a fan), or being the closest man in tennis to completing a double golden career grand slam? Hell you were even world number 1 leading into the 2014 edition Wimbledon. The Rafa fandom has been waiting for your usual Rocky comeback, but now everyone feels as if you’re practicing the script for Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler.

Last night, I glimpsed the poise and control that we’ve all been searching to find in you. It’s often described as “switching a flip” in tennis. Instead you maximized your tennis. You dug your heels in, cut out all errors, defended like hell, and made Fabio hit wicked winner after winner. Unfortunately, Fabio obliged. Did that guy hide two extra nitrous boost tanks in his trunk? His tennis was fast and furious. Like you always say “that’s sport.”

Still you fought. Yet through the impending, glaring signs of another close loss I never felt prouder to be your fan. I remembered why I admire you so much and why I devote so much energy to being positive about this year. These results are not indicative of the progress. Vamos Rafa por siempre. Now may I leave you with some words of your own?

“So when I saw him play, when I saw his attitude, I see the eyes that he has when he has to shot, has the difficult shot, the decisive shot. Is very special. I don’t see a lot of sportsmen with that self-confidence, with that intensity on his face when he had to hit the important shot.
So for me, he’s a great example, great inspiration. I always say the same. I don’t have idols. But that’s closest thing that I have: him.” — Rafael Nadal on Tiger Woods

[jacques9]

OVAJ VIDEO NADAL - YOUN EVER WALK ALONE je zaista fantastičan.

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Nadal-...colo26128.html

[jacques9]

The End for Rafael Nadal? Don’t Fret
Although it will be the first time since 2004 that Nadal won’t win at least one major title in a season, consider how far his game has come
Here’s a crazy idea: Rafael Nadal is going to be OK.
After Nadal lost another tennis match that he should have won, his fans may still be dozing on their couches, covered in pretzel crumbs and smelling of stale beer. As Friday evening flipped to Saturday morning at the U.S. Open, Nadal did something he had never done before at a Grand Slam tournament. After leading by two sets and a break of serve in the third, he lost, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to Fabio Fognini.
Nadal had been 151-0 after winning the first two sets at Grand Slam matches. Fognini had been 0-7 on hard courts this season before the U.S. Open began. Fognini has now beaten Nadal three times this season. As Nadal walked to the locker room, he threw his head back and closed his eyes. The man looked sad and spent. This will be the first time since 2004 that Nadal will not win at least one major title in a season.
It’s here that you should consider how far Nadal has come this season. He lost his first match of the year to a player ranked No. 127 in the world. At the Australian Open, Nadal was dominated in the quarterfinals by Tomas Berdych, a man Nadal had beaten 17 times in a row. At Wimbledon Nadal lost in the second round to Dustin Brown, ranked No. 102. At the French Open, where Nadal has won a record nine titles, he lost for the second time in his career, in straight sets to Novak Djokovic.
Look back at Nadal’s French Open defeat and there’s reason to hope. After a close first set against Djokovic, Nadal checked out. He wasn’t in rallies. He didn’t pressure Djokovic at all. He won four games total in the last two sets and looked like he couldn’t wait to board the next plane to Mallorca. Toni Nadal, Nadal’s uncle and lifelong coach, saw it all coming.
“When he arrived at a difficult match against Djokovic, his mind, his mentality was not prepared, was not ready for a big, big match,” Toni Nadal said in an interview before the U.S. Open began. “That was the problem.”
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That was not the problem against Fognini. Nadal moved fine. He competed like the Nadal of old used to compete: to the end, past his limits, to the point where there was little else he could do. Fognini, the 32nd seed but an elite talent with superb strokes and easy power, pummeled the ball for most of the night, and especially in the last two sets. Take Nadal at his word when he says that this was not the worst defeat he could suffer.
“Is something that I was missing for a while, that feeling that I am there,” Nadal said. “I was not able to be fighting the way that I was fighting today. So is an improvement for me.”
Nadal has always analyzed his own game with precision and insight. Asked whether he was slower today than he used to be, he pointed out that everything in tennis is relative. Anticipation can make slow-footed players seem fast. Better shots, which give players more time to think about the next one, can do the same. Worse shots have the opposite effect.
“If you hit the ball a bit shorter, the opponent has more space,” Nadal said. “If you hit shorter, you will run slower. Is not [that] you run slower, but the opponent take the ball earlier so it looks like you are slower.”
Nadal’s serve and backhand have troubled him at various times in his career. He’s hitting them fairly well since Wimbledon, and at times really well. His forehand is the bigger problem right now. Nadal hit some remarkable forehands against Fognini, including a handful of the down-the-line rockets that were crucial to his hard-court success in 2013, when he didn’t lose a match all summer and won his second U.S. Open title.
When Nadal had a chance to close out Fognini in straight sets, his forehand let him down, just as it has at other moments this year. Nadal led the third set 3-1. Serving at 3-2, he lost the first point when Fognini pushed him too far behind the baseline (Nadal couldn’t use his forehand to control the point from that distance). Nadal hit a poor backhand drop shot on the second point. At 0-30, Nadal had a forehand right where he likes it. He hit the ball wide left, in a rushed attempt to go down the line. In the last game of the set, Nadal led 30-0 when he hit an easy forehand long (again, the ball was right in his strike zone). Nadal missed another forehand he never used to miss on the last point of the set, hitting it so wide that it landed in the doubles alley.
These are just a few points in a long match, but essential points because Nadal became Nadal by paying attention to detail. Look back on his matches of old and you’ll see all the times he was close to defeat before turning a match in his favor with a few shots. This is not easy to do, and Nadal may never do it as well as he used to do it. But he’s still not too old or broken down to do it for a while longer. He says he’s getting closer, and he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.
“When I am losing, I am losing because the opponents beat me, not because I lose the match, as I did a lot of times at the beginning of the season,” Nadal said. “That’s an improvement for me, so I have a base now. That is a start. I know what I have to do and I going to work on it.”

[jacques9]

"I'm critical with myself and I [have] got used to not find excuses outside of myself so I know when the things are not going well is myself - it's not with the people who are around me.

"I have very good people around me. I'm having a great career with all those people around me so if everything was great with those people for [all] those years, they are not getting worse - that's my problem.

"I am going to be back to my best level with that team, I am sure of that. I believe in them and I believe that they believe in me. We hope to be ready for next year.

The nine-time French Open champion says he has the belief he can still add to his 14 major titles: "I don't know if I can win another Grand Slam, I don't know if I can do it, but I believe I can do it.

"If that happens - and I believe that's going to happen soon because I feel much better - I'm going to find my level of tennis."

The 29-year-old has been one of the game's most popular and successful stars, but feels he needs a big effort to get back among the best.

"Especially during the first six months I was feeling very tired - every time I was playing and practising.

"Being honest with you, I suffered this year - especially for those months. [But] the last couple of months I'm enjoying again and I'm not worried about my tennis level.

"I have to change, yes. I have to change one very important thing - be the player I was one year ago.

"That's the most important change. I get used to not finding excuses outside of myself - so I know when things are not going well it's myself, not the people around [me]."

[Stefan-kobe]

Sta je ovde radio iz BH-a, pa to je brutalno. Kad ga vidim sta radi sad jednostavno povraca mi se.

[jacques9]

Sta je ovde radio iz BH-a, pa to je brutalno. Kad ga vidim sta radi sad jednostavno povraca mi se.

Stefane ove godine BH je najmanje loše kod Rafe.

Osim finala Madrida Bh je više-manja solidno funkcionirao ove godine

Veliki problem je u FH-u i returnu, a i kretanje te passing nisu više šta su bili.

Ali vratit če se Rafa.

Ajde još jedna pobeda na Roland garrossu.

[Niki]

Stefane ove godine BH je najmanje loše kod Rafe.

Osim finala Madrida Bh je više-manja solidno funkcionirao ove godine

Veliki problem je u FH-u i returnu, a i kretanje te passing nisu više šta su bili.

Ali vratit če se Rafa.

Ajde još jedna pobeda na Roland garrossu.

Slazem se, behend je najmanje los, ima greske i tu, ali forhend, pa to ne moze nikako da "nastima" da funkcionira. Najsigurniji udarac, je problematican svaki mec. Servis, takodje, nikada toliko brejkova nije pretrpeo kao ove godine. Passing skoro i da ne postoji, sem poneki koji potseti da je to nekad bilo jako oruzje.
Doduse ja mislim da se sve ovo moze popraviti, i da nije u pitanju tehnnika ili snaga, nego mentalni kolaps.

[jacques9]

Rafa je danas trenirao u Shangaiu. Znači ništa ozbiljno od ozljede.

Sad se treba fokusirati na meč 2.kola. To če biti najteži meč. Ako prođe taj meč siguran sam, da prolazi v četrtfinale.

Volio bih polufinale Roger VS Rafa.

[Weltschmerz]

I ja bih voleo da gledam taj meč i ako bi tu izašao kao pobednik verujem da bi to bio veliki korak ka povratku na stare staze.

[Mrkela]

Ma nema teorije da se taj meč gleda

[Stefan-kobe]

Ma nema teorije da se taj meč gleda

Logicno

[jovan]

Idi bre Stefane

[proudNolee]

Stefan je predosjetio šta će danas da se desi

Ipak taj meč nećemo gledati

[jacques9]

Ma nema teorije da se taj meč gleda

Kako da nema teorije, da gledamo PF ROger VS RAFA

Roger če tamo stiči bez problema, Rafa naravno puno teže.

Rafa mora naJprije, da dobije Karloviča (i bit če užasno težko)

Onda na putu do Rogera je još Stan v četrtfinalu. AKo bude došlo do tog meča imat če Rafa svoje dobre šanse.

[proudNolee]

Roger če tamo stiči bez problema, Rafa naravno puno teže.