Rafael Nadal will look to maintain grass-court momentum when he begins at Queen’s Club on Tuesday against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios are also set for a tough first-round matchup.
(5) Rafael Nadal vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Nadal and Dolgopolov will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers when they clash in round one of the AEGON Championships on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-1 in favor of Nadal, but plenty of entertainment has taken place since the Spaniard dominated their first four encounters. Nadal triumphed 6-3, 7-6(3) in the 2014 Rio de Janeiro final before Dolgopolov pulled off a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) upset a month later at the Indian Wells Masters.
If Nadal was expected to emerge from a season-long slump on his old stomping grounds of European clay, he may be in line to deliver a big surprise on a more unlikely surface. The world No. 10 captured just his second title of 2015 last week on the grass courts of Stuttgart. It is a surface on which Nadal has never played Dolgopolov, who has also been in lackluster form this year. The 79th-ranked Ukrainian has lost three matches in a row and has not been past the second round of a tournament since Miami. Dolgopolov is coming off a routine setback against Philipp Kohlschreiber in his Stuttgart opener, so his confidence cannot be high at the moment.
Pick: Nadal in 2
[polldaddy poll=8933080]
Nick Kyrgios vs. (2) Stan Wawrinka
Wawrinka will play for the first time as a French Open champion when he takes the court on Tuesday at Queen’s Club. The fourth-ranked Swiss began the season on fire but was in completely mediocre form heading into Roland Garros. Out of almost nowhere, he lifted his second Grand Slam winner’s trophy by upsetting Novak Djokovic in the final to cap off a run that also included defeats of Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Solid but unspectacular on grass, Wawrinka is up against an opponent who is especially dangerous on fast surfaces. Kyrgios, who has never faced the No. 2 seed, reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in his first appearance at the tournament last summer. The 28th-ranked Australian has not been great of late, but he generally loves the limelight–and a showdown against Wawrinka at a 500-point event certainly qualifies. Although Kyrgios will make this competitive, the favorite’s serve and backhand will be the difference.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
[polldaddy poll=8933185]
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHmNVWQVEAA0HLt.png
Wawrinka/Kyrgios, what a damp squib that was………………
Krygios didn’t even break sweat.
If Rafa gets this title, would he be considered as a potential winner for Wimbledon? I wonder…
he will be…
where is every one?
where is every one???
where is every one?
I predict Stanimal (The Player Formerly Known As CryBaby) will reach Wimbly finals this year.
#LateBloomer
Stanimal has reached QF or better in six of the last seven slams.
#RealDeal
The Special One (Jose Mourinho) in the house watching Another Special One (Rafael Nadal) play……………
Former King of Spain, Juan Carlos, also in Rafa’s box.
oh marvellous rafa gets broken….
Dolgo’s unothordoxy is just so annoying………….
feeling nervous again…
Yes, I just tuned it and it’s already nervous time. Dolgo isn’t giving Rafa any breathing room.
Thank goodness I can finally see Rafa play live! However, this is kind of what I feared with Dolgo. He has come out and just kind of taken it to Rafa.
It’s tougn when Rafa gets broken early. But he should be able to find the answers.
i too feared this…
Bad serving day for Rafa so far. Dolgo rushing him……….
rafa is making the crowd nervous, let alone me….
Okay, some good serving and Rafa gets on the board. Maybe now he can get himself going.
rafa isn’t playing like a man who just won a grass court title
The problem is that grass suits Dolgo’s game with his big serving. He’s come out of the gate blasting and Rafa has to get it together.
that was a better game from rafa…striking the ball with more authority…
Dolgo’s just hitting the ball so sweetly at the moment, nothing Rafa can do about it…….
rafa will win this…he has started to play well enough now
Better serving from Rafa now but I’m afraid he’s already lost the set..
great serving from rafa the last game
Rafa has settled down and is serving well. Let’s see if he can try to make something happen as Dolgo serves for the first set.
Dolgo starting to leak errors now……….
1st set Dolgo. Hope the trend continues: Rafa improving his serve and Dolgo’s UEs increasing………..
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHoJwd4UAAAai3o.png
Beautiful serving display by Rafa in the opening game of the 2nd set………..
great first game from rafa…what a forehand on that first point!
snap @amy!
snap ritb!
Unreal half-volley forehand winner down the line by RAFA! Come on!
Just keep holding your serve , rafa. You are playing well enough now to have a crack at Dolgo’s service games.
Fantastic serving! He has gotten his serve back now.
Dolgo’s erratic game and rafa’s level will hopefully provide some chances to break.
Biggest challenge is to return Dolgo’s first serve! Rafa’s been indecisive as to whether bunt it back or take a proper swing. Dolgo’s serve is BIG and that can always cause problems to rafa on grass.
Two awesome returns to get to 40-30…but it was too late … 1-1
Anyway, just hold your serve boy…you will win
Really good serving from Rafa now, good to see!
wow…fabulous serving!!
Wow! That forehand winner from Rafa was unreal!
Thanks to vamosrafa, I know what it was. A half-volley forehand winner! YES!
Rafa needs to make an impression on Dolgo’s service games.
Rafa is serving much better now and playing better. He just has to try to get the break and take the second set.
great to know you are finally watching rafa’s match live 🙂
what a let off by rafa there…..he is missing shots on crucial points….
dolgo was there for the taking that last service game…should have broken him…
Rafa’s 2nd serve returns were really good in the last game but he disappointed with two unforced errors. The forehand miss at 30-15 and then the backhand miss at deuce…
Anyway, good second serve returns. He is getting closer…
Another love game! Rafa’s second serve is improving…I can feel the improvement now…just gotta make sure he does not get nervous on big points..
I don’t see Roig in Rafa’s box……..
Wonderful backhand return off a big first serve for 15-15 but the killer combination for Dolgo has been that serve out-wide to rafa’s backhand on the deuce court…
Again, rafa missed an easy backhand passing shot at 30-15 and now hits a perfect backhand return for 40-30 and again too little too late!!
yes, he wins a great point, then loses on an easy miss…..has been the pattern….
One thing I have noticed about rafa’s backhand slice is that he is able to keep it low and skid through the surface WHEN he slices it cross court to a righty’s forehand…on the other hand, the shot has the tendency to float and sit up more when he hits it down the line to find he backhand of righties ….Players with good footwork are able to run around those floaters and punish them inside out! Of course it is cool to mix up the direction but the slice CC is more effective on grass esp when his backhand DTL is clicking! If he can get the one up the line to skid more, that would be awesome!
vamosrafa,
I was noticing that Rafa seemed to be trying to use the backhand slice more, maybe to throw off Dolgo. So you think the slice CC is more effective on the grass than the DTL backhand.
You can almost sense Rafa thinking out there as he tries to find a way to break Dolgo.
Nice insights VR.
15-30!! breakkk
thank the lord rafa is serving first this set…….let’s hope dolgo gets tight…
40-40 point, 2nd serve to rafa’s backhand and rafa hits a CC backhand return for which Dolgo was waiting and the Ukranian pulled the trigger down the line with his forehand again! This is annoying. Rafa must try to hit either to dolgo’s backhand or to the centre of the court…. otherwise, he is returning fine now….
ONE point lost in 5 service games! bravo
SAME pattern on the first point ! but a big return on the next point….15-15..
these big serves are getting so annoying :@
Yes, I noticed that pattern. Dolgo had his sites set and ready for that one. At least Rafa is getting into Dolgo’s game, but can’t quite manage to get the break. I notice that Dolgo is not making as many first serves and some errors have creeped into his game.
So far Dolgo has stayed strong on his service games.
for the 100th time, rafa hits an awesome return to reach 40-30 and the next point is a winning serve!! I am annoyed
Grass is increasingly a crap shoot.
No one has defended Wimbledon (in successive calendar years) since 2007.
And that was only because of the Weak Era.
No one has legitimately done so since 2000.
6-5, c’mon rafa strike now!!
Dolgo will win the TB (Rafa’s nerves will be his downfall).
rafa’s nerves on crucial points have already been his downfall….should have broken earlier this set…..
Just turned on the match. No nose sweat drip. He looks confident. Maybe he won’t tense up after all.
MB Rafa!!!
Just. Wow. BHDTL!!!
Nose dripping now followed by UE FH long.
Here we go.
horrible miss by rafa at 3-1
Yep. He’s done. 3-3.
The nose drip running tap is a dead tell.
Another UE.
another horrible miss at 3-3
Dolgo UEs letting Rafa stay in this.
great serve at matchpoint
Rafa saves MP………
What. A. Drop. Shot.
great half-volley
YEEEEEEESSSSSSSS
sod off now dolgo
LOL….poor dolly. But yes, do as Amy says.
Phew, that really was a lottery. Could have gone either way……..
Set Rafa.
Rafa didn’t do enough with that 2nd serve return left short but Dolgo donates the UE to give Rafa the set.
Ok.
Set, Rafa.
Vaaaaaammmmmmmooooooossssssssss!
Whew! That was nervous time for sure!
rafa played the first few points of the tb really well…then the inexplicable errors…then dolgo errors….but that half-volley was a champion’s shot…..
VAMOSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!!
That backhand volley at 6-6 was TOOOOOO DAMN GOOD!
He was so calm under pressure! Loved it!! there was a bad bad forehand miss to create a 3-5 deficit but then he was soooo good!
Signs of composure, ‘colm’ ! he is not losing this now
*half volley*
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHoWO_7WEAAvss7.png
Gosh, this was nerve wracking…Rafa, Rafa…what will we do with you….
that was cray cray !!!
wish rafa was serving first….
so true! i really really hope we don’t reach those 4-5 5-6 moments!
Rafa has more composure and courage on the court now!
he MUST win thsi match now…cannot let this effort be wasted..
Oops rafa slips… get up champ! And win this
why is rafa slicing the ball so much??
what happened on match point
great serve by rafa then an unreal half-volley….
Brilliant out-wide slice serve saved match point… service winner
I think he is trying not to give Dolgo any pace.
I noticed that, too. I think he’s trying to disrupt Dolgo with the slices.
NNY, we were talking about rafa’s backhand slice. Yes, I do believe that rafa’s CC backhand slice is a little more effective as compared to his backhand slice DTL because the latter one sits up a bit more…the one CC USUALLY has a tad more bite..
Brilliant grass court tennis by rafa! 15-30
amy,
I was trying to answer your question about the slices.
nny, thanks…..rafa breaks!! am on the floor with nerves!
sometimes the slices work but other times they do sit up……
YESSSSSS!!!!! rafa breaks…now close the deal rafa.
WOW! Rafa gets the break!
Okay you can do this Rafa!
YESSS!! rafa breaks! pheww such a small margin! rafa’s backhand slice approach was well struck 🙂
Folks. he is intentionally hitting slice to disrupt Dolgo’s rhythm and extract more errors. As long as he is not giving his slices too much air, it is a good strategy. Slices for rafa are also a good way setting up backhand as well as forehand DTL >>
Rafa got the luck he deserved in the previous game and deservedly so, he is now leading !
vamosrafa,
That’s what I was saying in a previous post. That the slices were a tactic by Rafa to try and disrupt Dolgo’s rhythm.
Thanks for the response!
What I like is that Rafa is thinking out there. He also stayed strong in that tb, fighting off a MP! This is more like the old Rafa. He finds a way to win.
Uncle T should keep quiet…I don’t know what he is saying probably nothing that would be crucial to Rafa’s game but I already feel the Fedtards will be dragging on about it…
who cares about the fedtards!! they will attack rafa regardless….
rafa is wearing blue…attack….rafa is grunting….attack….
Guess former king JC is in the house watching Rafa. and he’s up a break now!! woot!
what did uncle T say?
geat backhand at 30-15 after another million slices…
Did you guys see that point construction!! CC backhand slice to set up a backhand DTL and then BOOM! this was what I was talking about 😉
yes vamosrafa….i did notice…..lovely backhand
vamosrafa,
You are right! I just saw Rafa taking his time and then he hit a cc backhand slice and got a backhand from Dolgo and he crushed it with a DTL forehand!
Our Rafa has figured it out!
You helped by pointing it out so I knew what to look for.
Two more games and he’s got the win!
Come on, Rafa!
vamosrafa,
Did you see my post? I think we both posted at the same time!
So, yes I did see it! The commentators noted the point construction.
vamosrafa,
Sorry, I just replayed that point and saw that Rafa hit a DTL backhand winner, not a forehand.
Dont relax, Rafa has not won it yet. never know these days
time violation warning on break point!! ridiculous!
very busy at work so just reading your comments when I can… am glad I think I’m not actually watching this 🙂
I think there should be umpires to umpire the umpires, and give them violations and warnings to be booted off a match when they give violation warnings only to certain players and only at crucial points.
this is such stupid umpiring! time and time again umpires do this to rafa
OH NO!!!!!!!
well, rafa’s got broken here
SHIT
appalling miss at 0-15 with the open court!
Rafa os 2015 is back..what a terrible forehand miss! wow
Roger is in a way playing too in this game, against, rafa, without having to actually be there. Nice 25 second rule applied only against some players at some important moments. Brilliant, roger, you’re a genius! Brilliant, atp vassals, you are geniuses!
rafa should be up 0-40
15-40! should have been 0-40 … better break here rafa!!
What on earth is going on with this business of calling time violations when Rafa is at break point!
Even Paul Annacone spoke up and criticized the chair umpire for the timing.
So Rafa gets broken. You can see that it disrupts his concentration.
This ain’t over yet!
another horrible forehand miss at 30-40
What a forehand miss! cake forehand for rafa . Wow
Rafa will only contend for slams when he finds away to turn off the nose tap.
Anxiety – got me on the run
Anxiety – can’t get nothin’ done
Anxiety – spoils all the fun
#BetweenTheEars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXatoCG13tw
Rafa chip and charging on deuce 4-4 final set LOL..nice
NOOOOO after all that defending, what a terrible miss!! WHYYYY
disaster…
rafa should have broken there….some truly horrible misses
now rafa will have to serve with the time violation hanging over him
Such a shame. He has clearly let the match slip away from him…I know he can still win it but this is BAD
Same old. Same old.
Nothing new.
Nice FHIO.
Serving into the middle of the net is a dead tell.
Dolgo nothing special.
serve has vanished!
Dolgo slicing the ball more now…. esp on returns..
phewww 30-30…big serve PLZ
Can’t find a first serve.
(He should look between his ears.)
MP No 83 in the world
terrible
pffft.
Rafa not even a dark horse to win Wimbly.
OH NO!!!!!!!!
that last game throwing away the break points just killed him
This is a nightmare. How can Rafa play such a bad game after playing so brilliantly in Stuttgart? 🙁
very poorly played. No excuses. rafa deserves to be down the rankings unless he can learn again how to tame players like Dolgo.
GUTTED!
OK am sorry but this match is proof that rafa’s mental problems are still controlling him. He has to get the problem fixed as he is just throwing away matches that he should win.
i knew it would be a difficult match but I expected Rafa to win it all the same.
Yes, that was it. When he couldn’t break Dolgo at 15-40 and lost those break points, he seemed to lose his confidence.
I don’t believe what I just saw. So Rafa is out in his first match.
This was a high level choke 🙁
Rafa has smashed all the momentum he built in stuttgart. terrible
Rafa deserved to lose that. He was a break up in the 3rd…………..
Looked like some tired serving from Rafa in the 3rd. Could be a factor in 5-setters.
Disappointed Rafa lost this early but, onward to Wimby!
Dolgo now 13-13 for the year.
Rafa’s nerves are doing HUGE damage…I feel sorry for him…as long as he is not able to deal with it he will be losing the matches that he had in the pocket…this is very sad…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHog-WrUcAAbEhc.png
🙁
This problem with the bloody nerves is just not going away until he gets some real help.
Also, this vendetta by the umpires against him is becoming farcical …..first time warning on break point….come on!
Maybe Rafa will play at The Boodles with Nole and Milos next week.
maybe rafa should see a shrink..that would do him a lot more good….
please please rafa treat this problem at source and stop wasting all this time…..
Yep, I’m just going by the way he seems to be trying to address this by hitting his way out. Not gonna do it.
I feel sad for the spectators and the tournament.
It would take a fool to think rafa has sorted him mental problems the next time he wins a few matches…he needs to win matches , esp tight ones, on a consistent basis!
cannot believe he lost after saving match point to DOLGOPOLOV. WHAT!
#ChickenAndEgg
I should not have gotten so carried away after Stuttgart. When will I ever learn?
He fought back in that second set and won the tb to take it to a third set. He was up a break, two games from winning the match! How many times have we seen the same thing this year? Then he just gives it away.
Again, it’s how he lost, not the fact that he lost! So no more matches at Queens for Rafa.
Rafa will definitely be very vulnerable in the 1st week at Wimby, more than usual.
Oh well……………….
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
This ain’t going away on its own. Anyone who thinks so is delusional.
#AChangeWillDoYouGood
YES! for god’s sake rafa…face the truth….toni and roig are not giving you what you need…..
I am absolutely lost for words!!!! This is definitely not a good start for Wimby!!
‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’…
the problem is that this is Toni’s philosophy…he doesn’t have any other way of doing things…
Wimby is over for Rafa. Won’t make it past the first week’s slippery grass with no consistency nor confidence.
He says he’s gonna fix it but I’m starting to believe he has no idea how.
no of course he doesn’t because he’s in thrall to bloody toni and his family and he can’t make the changes he needs…I am so mad about this…
he is wasting so much time over this
Come on Toni be a mensch and man up over these problems….bring someone else some others) into the team or go!
amy,
I love it! Be a mensch! Right on!
There is nothing wrong with bringing in some help for a problem that is not going away. Players do it all the time. I am seeing guys doing meditation on the changeovers between games. There are all sorts of techniques and ways of handling nerves. There is no reason for Rafa not to avail himself of some help!
Darn it, I just checked the score … another step back after a good spell. It’s really hard to gauge Rafa this season… 🙁
OMG I HATE the ATP’s new web site.
horrid
Why does Rafa now need two breaks, at least, to guarantee winning a set?
how the hell did Nadal lose?
his nerves..had easy forehands to break back in third set and just tanked them…one forehand he had the entire court and missed…another in net……
he has to make changes
also rafa got a first time warning on break point!
Same way he’s lost all his matches this year,
He beat himself.
Nothing new.
We can’t blame Toni or Roig. Rafa is the only one who knows what’s up with him. He’s very stubborn it would seem and doesn’t think he needs any help for his psyche but it’s clear that he does.
ANY other top player with these problems would be making changes and probably seeing a sports psychologist…..
No. He knows what the problem is but doesn’t know how to fix it (nor does his team).
And that is why he needs a change.
absobloodylutley
I think this is probably true. Unfortunately.
this giving warnings at crucial moments is becoming ridiculous! it isn’t happening to anyone else
No one else is threatening 17.
The time violation Rafa rule is the catalyst.
the problem also is that rafa used to get mad and win the points after the time violation now he’s losing them……
Anxiety untreated is an ever worsening spiral.
yes of course…..it may well get worse not better…..
but is toni even acknowledging this?….doubt it….it’s just more of the same…back on the practice court…..
I think they all know what the problem is but have zero idea how to fix it
why not?? every one else sees psychologists so why make it a religion to stay away from them…..
exactly!
1. I don’t expect team Nadal to come out and say to the world (and its vultures) the words ‘anxiety disorder’ and Rafa in the same sentence. The most we’ve heard is the understated ‘some anxiety’. Fair enough/
2. That does not mean they don’t know that this is the case.
3. How much of the anxiety came from rafa’s proneness to it in the first case, how much, possibly from the type of tough love language from uncle T? Not sure. Perhaps it matters, but it matters then only when looked at with a psychologist or someone like that.
4. Could adding a former champion to the team and really hearing what he (she 🙂 ) has to say be enough with no need for also a (sports or anxiety) psychologist? Don’t know, but at least try one of them, rafa, please.
5. Does anyone on the team not know that this is what most other teams would do? Of course they all know this.
6.Then what is the hold-up? Uncle T and/or rafa having a view that those types of help are a. not necessary, b. don’t really work, c. they can’t even think straight about this question, or don’t talk about it, or rarely…
Seems all to be in number 6, no?
yes chloro, is frustrating beyond belief watching all this and knowing that it is actually not that bloody difficult to make huge psychological movement with the right help.
as you know, i have been saying for ages that rafa has to makes changes….maybe getting in an ex great if they can listen and help would do it…maybe he needs both that and a psychologist. but he is just wasting time right now…..
these problems could have been addressed and substantially ameliorated long ago…hey, he could even have just won the french!
3. is of course unanswerable, but Toni’s kind of tough love is not the kind that rafa needs
right now….
feeling depressed….
yes amy
to be willing to really address this problem is also to be willing to see clearly and take actions based on seeing clearly what has not worked well for many years… ie in good part uncle T’s approach… and thus the symptoms were increasing, e.g. increasing number of rituals on court and before serving
many of the cultures we are part of or that are part of us are not kind towards people being vulnerable, even when that is called for (and a brave thing to do), and even more so towards men being vulnerable
while at the same time you are right: a ‘huge psychological movement’ is not difficult with the right help. You just have to be open to it and willing to do it.
yes chloro, but rafa is part of a larger culture ie the international culture of sport which accepts that nerves are a part of a sportsman’s makeup and that is why no-one bats an eyelid when someone sees a sports psychologist. even in the more macho sports.
rafa says that sport is not life in relation to this which frankly makes no sense to me..of course it’s not war or death.. but it is his life, his vocation, his passion. this kind of language is just the language of denial…..
I don’t know who is controlling the dialogues and vocabulary surrounding rafa and which he himself uses….because rafa is very much a part of his family and that is where this kind of thinking seems to come from…..
sorry not being very coherent, haven’t eaten for hours….
chloro, i just wrote you a post which has somehow got lost…in it i was making the point that rafa is part of the international culture of sport where it is a given that people see psychologist when they have problems. there is no shame attached to it even in the more macho sports. that is part of what is so frustrating and baffling…
rafa says tennis is not life…. well no it’s not war and death but it is his life, his vocation and passion so how can he really make that separation. it’s the language of denial….
very good points!
language of denial
when i head rafa say this ‘tennis is not life’ i always think he is more or less quoting uncle t ‘it is not complicated, not important, just a game where you send a ball back to the other court’. But as you say, when you have dedicated your entire life thus far to be the best in the world at it, or as near as you can to the best in the world, and you have millions of people follow you, admire you, be inspired by you, and earn millions upon millions each year in match wins and sponsorships, this is a little more than a regular job
June 16, 2015 at 6:15 pm,
U.Toni has said more than that, you quoted him partially.
Interview with Toni Nadal, Tennis Magazine (Fr), n°413, Octobre 2010:
¤¤ TENNIS means HITTING THE BALL back and forth over the net, there is no other signification. However, tennis BECOMES a PASSION when you measure the mental effort it requires, when you sum up all the difficulties you’ve encountered and when you gradually, step by step, start to rise above these obstacles. This is a good summary of Rafa’s career. Whatever happens in the future, I can assure you that he’ll leave a happy and satisfied man with all that he has accomplished. ¤¤
Agree wit hawkeye. Rafa beat himself.
yes I totally agree….it is toni who is blocking rafa from making changes…he has to initiate the changes rafa needs
sorry i meant this as a reply to hawkeye below…
Rafa will never fire Toni. Toni needs to do what’s best for Rafa and walk away.
Set Rafa free Toni.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSGl3d4KOMk
Aside: Omar Hakim rules.
No point in letting expectations get the better of reality, the reality is Rafa lost the match in the 1st set. He was so tentative, allowed Dolgo to bully him. He was waiting for Dolgo to make mistakes. Rafa was lucky to win that TB, it could have gone either way. Dolgo had MP in the 2nd set. The 3rd set, Rafa let his concentration wander and Dolgo pounced.
A below par performance by Rafa.
He needs to do better.
Rafa lost the match a long time ago.
#BeforeToday
Rafa of today, that is Rafa of the whole clay season, stands no chance at Wimby…he lost the strongest part of his game: his mental strength…this way he will keep losing to nobody…it’s funny how Dolgo believed the whole time…he knew if he kept his service Rafa would choke and give that one thin break back…
Rafa becomes predictable with his behavior, his fears…just about anybody on tour is dangerous for him…now, with no confidence and no belief he will lose in the first round…
I feel broken…I wasted time watching this to learn that Rafa is not progressed as I thought…one step forward two steps back…that’s the story of Rafa this year…
yes natashao, the problem is that the players now know that rafa will crack at crucial moments so that instead of losing belief and giving up against him as they would have done before they have hope and just keep hanging in there…
natashao,
I have to say that I agree with you. I put off doing some things that were necessary in order to watch this match. Now I have to play catch up. Now I really, truly understand that this is not going to be solved by Rafa and his team alone.
The players are on to Rafa’s problems. They know that if they hang around and don’t go away, then they have a chance to win the match.
i was very nervous even after he had broken in the 3rd set thinking that something was going to go wrong….but those forehand misses on break points were unbelievable…
Sigh, at least one person in my life is happy Rafa lost………..my mother! I meekly surrendered the TV remote control to her and she has the run of her favourite channel now, National Geographic. No protest from me………..
She can have the whole tv for all I care……………
while other players have one opponent to face, Rafa has two…Rafa is his worst enemy…
Very well said!
Gussie, please post Rafa’s post match interview when you get it, thanks.
Ooops, Rafa’s still in the dubs. Good luck to Rafa and Mac in that!
Rafa says Dolgo’s 2nd serve was difficult to read. He says whilst he is sad to lose a match he should have won, the best player of all time on grass nearly lost in the 1st round in Halle yesterday.
“nearly lost”…but he still won…that is what greatest players do…wining when they should have lost…while Rafa is losing where he should have won…
oh snap, nats!
Oh snap @nats!
Oh snap @ritb!
When did Sampras come out of retirement?
Besides, two differences here:
Firstly, Fed is five years older.
Secondly (and more importantly), Fed won (when not at his best). Just like Rafa USED to do.
although he stated objective facts that is not the whole picture, as we know… not that he SHOULD say the rest that is upsetting us… to the world.. repeatedly or ever… but he SHOULD address it at the core
a new challenge in the form of an even deeper form of humility…
Spaniards are too macho.
that for sure is part of the problem here
@nadline10, did Rafa actually reference Fed’s near loss in his post match interview? I am hoping he did not. That would be a new low for me. Fed’s near loss in Halle totally irrelevant to his loss to Dolgo today. Fed won, he lost. Nearly just does not cut it. Hell, he should have nearly won himself!
Dolgo took his chances, Rafa did not. He cannot bemoan other reasons.
+++1
Yes, BBC 2 showed an interview with him during a break in the Murray match and he did not look too distraught, disappointed, yes, but not distraught.
http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-adapt-or-perish-2.png
#DontYou?
#OrDoYou.
to be able to keep calm consistently again, rafa will need to adapt
#WillHe?
#OrWontHe?
i fear that we are a long way still from the changes needed. that there is such a deep structural resistance to change in rafa’s camp that it will only happen after the problems go on and on….
his relationship with his family is becoming a big problem….
For myself, I was actually thinking about how Fed almost got bounced out of Halle. Almost being the operative word here. The difference is that Fed managed to get the win in a tight battle where he easily could have lost. From a player who is five years older than Rafa and clearly not in his prime anymore, well he did what he should have done. Rafa did not get the job done and these are the kinds of matches where he would step up and find a way to win.
He lost and there is no way to rationalize it. He needs to stop doing that and face the problem. It’s not a terrible thing to have this problem, but it’s a terrible waste not to do anything about it.
Sadly, I expected this to happen at some point this week and if not at Wimby, but much more likely before Halle was out. The nervousness he alluded recently of earlier in the year not sure how the back would hold up… ok, that must have been part of it (I don’t think rafa resorts of making up reasons like this) but when I read about it a couple of days ago I knew that this was at most a smaller concern. In other years this type of worry was not causing these major breakdowns in confidence left and right.
At the age of 29 and after having missed six months last year, I do not think that Rafa can afford to fritter away the rest of this year.
I thought that now that RG was behind him and there were almost no points to defend, that the pressure was off. I was wrong. There will always be pressure, the internal pressure and anxiety inside Rafa.
In this day and age, there is simply no excuse for a player to continue playing and struggling with futility when the problem can be resolved with some expert help.
Bjorn Borg came to mind. When he couldn’t win the way he was winning slams earlier he quit. Makes you wonder whether with some psychological counselling or something equivalent he might have decided to stay on the circuit some time longer and see how it goes.
Rafa has been the opposite. He’s hit many walls over the last years, Djokovic no 2 in 2011, early 2012, several injuries, etc and none caused him to retire. Right now he might be thinking there is no way he is going to retire at this low point… and I’m afraid you are all right: he is very unlikely to suddenly go for that kind of help / change the dynamics with Uncle T / his family.
I try not to think about what happened to Borg. He had a kind of burnout and then just walked away. But I never realized all the intricate routines he followed that enabled him to do what he did. For whatever reason, it was gone. He did say in the documentary “McEnroe/Borg:Fire and Ice”, that it wasn’t because he lost to McEnroe. He wasn’t even sure what happened. But he did say that he has been thinking about quitting for a while because he had no life. Only his parents and coach knew.
However, Rafa has stayed the course through everything. He has dealt with so much. But this is something that I believe he cannot deal with alone.
chloro, i was remembering again something i commented on before about how rafa says that he never makes changes to his team because the losses are his fault, his responsibility. that language is frightening! why is it all his fault, his responsibility?? they are there to help him and have to take their share of praise or blame in equal measure. it’s very isolating to construct things in this way.
you are right again… how can it all be just rafa’s?
also, this team which never changes is a closed circle, closed group, like his family
and that was all pretty much ok while it was going well… With the exception of that we will never know how else rafa’s game would have evolved had he changed uncle t’s coaching for someone else’s long ago, or simply added another coach long ago and perhaps experimented with various coaches as most top players have…
it would not have had to be in contradiction to the continuing to live in a close-knit family… he could have even kept many of the same physiotherapists, doctors, etc.
rafa has said that because he always keeps the same people they know just what to say to him….that’s scarcely apparent now is it?? or indeed for periods of time in the past.
but the mindset of always taking responsibility really unnerves me…no wonder he gets weighed down by anxiety and one supposes from his readiness to use this language that it is inherent in his thinking. people who take on excessive responsibilities upon themselves do tend to suffer from anxiety for obvious reasons as they are carrying too great a load. he just needs way way more help and please from outside the family….!
someone to whom he can open up and offload some of these burdens…..
Even if it is all Rafa, the simple fact is that there is help. Sports psychologists exist for a reason. If they weren’t there for a purpose, then they would not exist. The pressure and mental stress of competing in this sport can take a toll. There is no shame in admitting that one needs help.
Rafa is not failing. It’s not that it’s all on him. There are better ways to deal with this. But I just don’t see Rafa and his team doing it. They don’t have to publicly announce that they are getting some help. It can be done privately.
I just don’t want to see Rafa helplessly going around in the same circle. It’s not pleasant to watch.
Jon Wertheim says (last month before the FO):
“This was one of those casual hallway talks, so I will not name names. But I was speaking recently with a former champion who made an interesting observation about Toni. This former player is a fan of the Nadal camp and was not saying this critically. But, essentially, he noted that Toni is more of a diagnostician than a clinician. He is great at spotting the issues. He is less good at solving the issues. When Nadal figures out how to take Toni’s observations and use them to his advantage, all is good. When Nadal knows the problems but struggles to self-correct, life becomes more difficult.
yes i remember your quoting that before hawkeye….
but it is more than that isn’t it! rafa needs full-on change, not this endless fuddling around..
not exactly reassuring that toni can see the problems but not the solutions anyway…. so even here rafa has to self-correct, more strain and anxiety then….
the ex great we have been talking about with a psychologist would know what to say and how to help
PS ANYONE can see the problems here anyway….
i just wrote you a reply which seems to have disappeared hawkeye!
not exactly great that rafa has to self-correct, more strain on him…..
our ex great plus psychologist would know how to help him…..all this fuddling around without change isn’t going to cut it….
I remember you (or someone else?) posting this quote a couple of weeks ago. It is worth posting here again.
This observation about Toni, along with another one that I think vr posted about Toni not having started coaching as a former champion but being a good student of the game… has meant that Toni has been a good coach overall.. up to a point… but in no way as knowledgeable as a former champion might have been… or better, yet as knowledgeable as the combined input of a succession of several former champions hired as coaches.
So why was only Toni the one main coach so far since rafa was in grade school (with some additional coaching by a couple of other regulars on rafa’s team) ?
Because of the special bond and relationship and keeping it in the family. It did work very well in terms of achievements. But it also did not work very well in other ways.
I’m starting to think that with rafa’s amazing ability at tennis, and his unusual level of desire and will to win, with the enormous preparation for what was to come while he was a child, with his character made strong well before he hit the atp…. he COULD have adapted to having other coaches, say around the time he turned pro, or any time after that. He would have brought along his work ethic, his skills, his desire etc …
He and Toni and others might have thought that this would not have been a good idea… that Rafa is like a purebred horse that has to be handled just so… but I am not sure that’s the case. Especially had the new coach been one who would be building up rafa’s confidence verbally the way that doctor has been building Novak confidence starting in middle / late 2010. Perhaps that coach would even have introduced rafa to mindfulness, visualisations perhaps even some meditation. After all, many top athletes use self-hypnosis, visualisations, midnfulness nowadays in tandem with the latest electronic tools.
agreed chloro. novak has had a good working relationship with vajda and that didn’t stop him being open to change whether with becker or looking at new techniques….
Am I the only one not blaming his team? he is the man on court, Missing easy shots at crucial points is not their fault. He needs to come to terms with himself that he IS the Great Rafael Nadal who is able to beat anyone.
Sorry nadline, but that is naive, or rather, being in denial of what is clearly the case here.
Honestly, if Rafa could just stop missing easy shots, then wouldn’t he stop doing it? If it was that easy, then he wouldn’t still be doing it.
This is not about blaming Rafa’s team. At least as far as I am concerned. This is about dealing with a problem. I am not saying to get rid of Uncle Toni or anyone else. I am saying that they should add one or two people to the mix. Get some new input, different ideas.
Rafa has not been able to come to terms with himself and the year is half over. Do we really want to keep watching him go through this cycle over and over?
nny, for myself i am getting really pretty scared at the thought of how long this is going to go on for given the structural reluctances to change inside rafa’s camp.
he is injury prone as we know, what if he goes on like this and then gets injured?! he won’t have a cushion of ranking points to fall back on like in the past….
he really needs to address this problem SOON
Wimbledon is a lost cause. His only hope now in 2015 is a miracle hard-court run like in 2010 and 2013.
do you think he should take on other people into his team ricky?
i want to see him working with an ex-great and probably a sports psychologist
Rhetoric.
Rafa/Marc Lopez defeated M.Raonic M./E. Roger-Vasselin!
Woohoo!
http://www.funny-emoticons.com/smileys/msn-dancing-smileys/disco%20dance.gif
He also has the most twitter and facebook followers too.
Whoopeeeeeeee!!!!!!
i actually think that is part of rafa’s problem…this whole circus of fame has taken him over and it seems to be a machine which in itself is inhibiting of change. the endless photos with him and toni, the family and so on….it all kind of reinforces this ineluctable inability to even look at making changes….
because hey it’s rafa and toni, rafa and whomever and so on…..
No pressure/anxiety in doubles.
And therein lies the difference, for sure, no?
will probably win title
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHpOB6yWIAAzlsM.jpg
(Photo by creamola foam)
A lot of bottles helped Rafa and Marc
(Photo by creamola foam)
The photo that is missing from the previous post (at 7:21 pm):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHpGWMqWwAE7avP.jpg
nny, just leaving you a post in case you come on here later. i think you may have left me some replies and i didn’t respond…..have kind of lost track of who posted what and where…
just to say anyway that i hope you are not feeling too down about today…..at least now we know the scale of the problem and facing it is better than denial and evasion….
amy,
You are so kind. It’s totally fine if you don’t respond! These topic threads go on and on and it’s easy to lose track of who said what. I just briefly came back on here to read the conversation. Sometimes it helps to talk about it.
Life does intrude. There were things that I postponed to watch Rafa and then I had to try to get it all done after he lost. It also kept me busy enough so that I didn’t dwell on what happened. I am just sad that I won’t get to see Rafa play live this week. 🙁
I have to go out again. So focusing on life helps to try and put the bad feelings aside.
You don’t ever have to explain if you don’t respond! Thanks for your thoughts! 🙂
nny, ok!! glad you are not feeling too low! i won’t write at any length here given that you are going out again….we’ll talk tomorrow, no?!
Sadly, I do not feel very upset anymore when Rafa loses early these days because I have come to expect these losses I guess.
Ah well. I can look forward to Wimby without angst. Rafa is not a contender after all.
SkySports, June 16, 2015: ¤¤ Rafael Nadal tries to stay upbeat despite early exit at Queen’s Club .
“The good thing is that I am positive mentally,” said Nadal, who last won the prestigious tournament in 2008. “I’m playing well and I hope to have some more good days of practice here and then some good days at home,” he said.
“I’m going to come back strong and get a good week of training before Wimbledon and I hope to be 100 per cent fit to play at Wimbledon. Today was a good motivation for me.
“Dolgopolov’s serve was huge today and his second serve was so difficult to return. I was not able to read much but I was fighting every point.
“I played with the right concentration and the right motivation. I never gave up when I had tough moments and I’m not happy.
“I lost today when I had the chance to win, but that’s it, that’s tennis on grass.”
…
[Dolgopolov says]:
“Nadal is serving better for me, much more aggressive, and I was more comfortable on the return when we last played at Indian Wells than the matches before.
“He’s improved his serve and playing more aggressive because this is grass-court tennis. ¤¤
http://www1.skysports.com/tennis/news/12110/9886895/rafael-nadal-tries-to-stay-upbeat-despite-early-exit-at-queens-club
So 2 in a row for Dog, Fog and Nando.
A real murderer’s row that bunch.
oh sod off filter…you really are a crashing bore….
there are better places for you to ply your trade filter…a sewage works would be ideal…..
How much do you guys worry, goodness!! Just relax and chill!! It is just a tennis game and anything you say or do here will have zero effect on Rafa. Why are you all causing so much pain to yourselves?
Reiterating again – Do not expect much, get used to the consistent ups and downs. You will not get a 2008, 2010, 2013 again. You will get some good weeks like last week , some above average weeks like MC, Madrid, Rome and some bad weeks like Barcelona, Queens, Miami . This is going to be the norm going forth.
Rafa will do relatively better in 2nd half than 1st half of this year – I maintain that.
I’m skipping the beginning of Wimby all together this year.. want to spare myself the pain.. I’ll just watch semis and final, I hope Stan can win another slam
Wimby is lost long time ago…it’s our fault that we still have some unfounded expectations…we are being blind…I felt relaxed during Stuttgart and Rafa won it to my big surprise…my expectations raised and it got back to me…how to avoid feeling disappointed? I wish I could skip Rafa’s matches in Wimby knowing that it would hurt again…but I can’t…and I won’t….unfortunately…
After his least successful 12 months since he won the first of his 66 singles titles 11 years ago, Rafael Nadal has revealed that he had set himself modest targets for the rest of 2015.
The Spaniard said that his main aims were to stay fit and healthy and to qualify for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Having missed most of the second half of last year because of a wrist injury and appendicitis, Nadal has struggled to rediscover his best form. He lost his French ..
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47700774.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
“14 Grand Slams is enough”…sad to learn Rafa is content with his current status and has rather low expectations for the rest of his career…I guess we his fans will have to learn to live with that…
Rafa staying in doubles makes me feeling indifferent…so what is his goal now? Win as many doubles matches?! I feel empty…
not sure that this means very much natashao…..he seems to be vacillating constantly in what he says and i wouldn’t read too much into it.
as for the doubles, yes I agree, who cares!!??
to think that this is the guy described over and over as the greatest fighter/warrior in the history of the sport.
PS i think he’s also trying to take the pressure off himself
I only mention that the article is based on Rafa’s PRE-tournament press conference, not yesterday’s.
really? that’s actually very reassuring…..
amy (at 12:05 pm),
The full pre-tournament press conference transcript:
AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 15, 2015
Rafael Nadal
http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=110313
thanks a lot augusta!!
it’s like his comments yesterday about fed nearly losing in halle… well fed won didn’t he!!
the rafa of old wouldn’t have made what sound suspiciously like excuses and over the last few months he has made a number of comments of this kind. they’re really an externalisation of the fact that he doesn’t have a clue as to how to fix his mental problems so he’s just reaching for words as a kind of get-out. so i don’t think you can read anything very much into what he says right now….
Well, people will read his statements looking for answers for reassurance…how to ignore it? His statement about Fed was rather stupid and sounded as lousy excuse…the guy is so much older than Rafa and is still considered a man to beat…how on earth can that be comforting for Rafa?!
yes i know….and it is hard not to feel really quite pissed off listening to some of this…but he is obviously really struggling, doesn’t know how to fix it, and someone in that state of mind doesn’t speak or think clearly. i wish he would see that using sport psychologists is a sign not of weakness but of strength.
I’m so sad that Rafa lost, I can’t explain.
no, doesn’t feel great nadline….
I don’t have any hopes at all for the rest of the season, thankfully he can’t loose any more points so his ranking shouldn’t be greatly affected. Come next season, let us see what frame of mind he brings. If it’s the same then I’ll just pay less attention to tennis. No biggie, I like football (the real one not american football), snooker and moto gp too 🙂
I think Rafa fans should accept that Rafa is now past 29. Fed and Sampras won just 1 slam after 29.
Stan saved the day at RG. Will Stan or some other savior keep Djoker fans in check?
I hope Rafa wins Wimbledon…
hey Mary, your last sentence equals the meaning of: I hope Rafa flies to the moon…hmm, when I come to think of it flying to the moon seems more likely…
I’m not holding my breath on seeing rafa seek the kind of help many of us think is the clear answer. I’d be very surprised if he did, alas.
But if he did, I think there would be ZERO judgement from people around the world, except for haters who will hate any number of things about him regardless of anything. ZERO re adding an ex champ to his team. ZERO too! re enlisting the help of a sports psychologist.
Even more so as today this sport is even more demanding than it was in, say, Borg’s time. Physically most matches turn out to be more demanding with the changes to rackets, balls, somewhat slower courts, new technologies to train athletes and the super physique most of them have build themselves up to. Physically also because of so many more tournaments, more continents regularly played at, AO now no longer ‘optional’. More demanding because so many more players enabled by so many more countries with families and organisations with resources, and the global culture inspiring young ones. More demanding mentally / psychologically because because of so many sports channels and the internet with easily 10 times more fans world wide and the scrutiny of everything about top players.
Finally, more demanding mentally / psychologically because the above change, esp the number of players prepared so professionally to compete against… like John Mac said recently he think he’d be easily defeated by today’s players… he doesn’t know how they keep up. Of course, had he been a young player today he’d train up to this level as well so we would probably do very well too, with his talent… but his point remains true: today’s top tennis player’s demands and stresses are ENORMOUS.
Rafa doesn’t have to get help and make it public. I don’t know why anyone would assume that he would have to make an announcement. He can privately get some assistance and the word doesn’t have to be any the wiser.
I don’t think any possible judgment from the world should even be a consideration.
Yesterday’s press conference.
The full post-match press conference transcript:
AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 16, 2015
Rafael Nadal
http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=110348
Q. Would Jose Mourinho be someone who would ever give you advice? If so, what would he say?
RAFAEL NADAL: He’s a football manager. He’s one of the best of the world. And I have my team. I will not give him never an advice of football and probably he will not giving me never advice of tennis.
isn’t this statement somewhat answering all of your questions regarding Rafa bringing someone new to his team…
Jose Mourinho doesn’t give advice, but he says that he is Rafa’s friend and because of that he is honest.
https://twitter.com/RafaNadalFANS/status/610838737581424640/photo/1
Well that kind of says it all. This is coming from Rafa’s friend. I just wish that he could give him some advice about getting help. Even he can see that something is terribly wrong.
2 things that stand out for me
Has Rafa lost the killer instinct? Statements like 14 slams is enough, even when he looses making statements like ‘I played well, I played parts of match well ‘ etc somehow convey that sense.
Is he not wanting to push himself or rather is he willing to push himself?
Yes, I think that is the case. It’s not only the statement that 14 slams is enough. Rafa has been saying things all year that indicate a different mindset. I remember him saying back in February, that he was resigned to his ranking going down. He hasn’t seemed that upset by his losses now, when he would take them so hard in the past. ‘
There is a quality that is gone now in Rafa. The fierce will to win, fighting to the last point. He’s not doing that now.
I mean no one wins a slam without really desiring to win it or wanting it real bad. The only players who come to mind in recent past are Cilic in USO and Stan in AO who probably never went into the tournament wanting or win it and definitely did not expect to win it , however things clicked as combo of playing well and luck going their way.
you are right. And surely Cilic and Stan, by the time they got to the semi and again when they got to the final did connect strongly with their desiring it and wanting it badly enough… regardless of what odds they might have thought they had. E.g. Stan against Rafa at AO 2014 prior to the back injury starting … would have thought, I might as well do my best, you just never know.
i am honestly not sure that we can read too much into what rafa says at the moment in terms of its really reflecting on his aims and desires. he’s said a lot of very un-rafa things recently including making excuses for himself in a way he never would have done in the past. this last, which is not to do with desire or the will to win makes me think that he’s just reaching for words as a get-out because he doesn’t really know what’s going on inside his head, or rather he does, but he doesn’t know how to deal with it.
for me it’s still all about the nerves and his not dealing with them and then not being able to deal with talking about it again so he comes up with these bizarre statements which are frankly out of character.
amy,
Nice to read the discussion here today. I think you may be right. It makes sense that Rafa would just say anything simply because he’s expected to do so. He must go through the required post-match interviews.
I don’t think Rafa has a clue how to deal with what is going on in his head. Not at all.
I am not that sad anymore. Unfortunately, I am more resigned to the reality with Rafa now.
nny, no I am afraid you are right. my post below regarding toni and his comments about solving anxiety through work and reflection just about says it all….or some of it anyway…
i am so irritated by this endless sub-text about loyalty to toni and defending him unconsciously which is kind of wrapping itself around the anxiety issue and actually becoming synonymous with it.
When people use words like ‘unconscious bias’ (which we all have towards all sorts of things), or ‘unconcious motivations’ or ‘unconscious forces at play’… what comes to your mind?
Do you think, there we go again with the psycho mumbo-jumbo, who needs it?
Do you think, who is this person trying to impress?
Do you think, yes, the unconscious part of any person’s mind is VASTLY bigger than the tiny sliver of consciousness, it is easy to forget this, I forget this on a daily basis, and few things in people’s complex lives can be understood properly when we forget this. And it’s a shame that not much of this is EVEN MORE part of common sense culture, something studied in school, and discussed clearly, simply, lucidly in the media any time it is relevant.
If the first of the two answers… then I think Rafa’s predicament will seem a little harder to understand.
And no, I am truly not trying to impress anyone with anything… I just think along the lines of the third answer.
yes chloro, we are on the same page with all this…….
amy, I know you think in these terms, and so do some others who post here, but generally I think it is not that common a way to understand things (alas), which is why I posted it. At the risk of being thought all kinds of things about :-)… you know what they say: ah well…
It’s just that with only looking at what a person is clearly conscious of… you miss so much that a lot of what we experience (and decide) seems an utter mystery and rather random.
The bizarre thing is that one thing uncle toni is not is not educated or not deep-thinking. I think he must also take into consideration this unconscious side of things. But that doesn’t prevent him from going on about more practice and a bit of self-reflection… We all have our blind spots, no? Especially some deeply ingrained ones, and that includes the stronger cultural patterns. Machoism, for example, as hawkeye mentioned.
chloro, well who knows the mindset of toni? plus the extended nadal family….
but it’s always manifested towards rafa in the same ways, achievement through rising above difficulties, rising above suffering. his endless taunting of rafa as a child as a ‘mummy’s boy’ which is a kind of code to kick out the feminine side and be male at the level of fighting your way through things not seeking help.
i’ve said it many times but what rafa himself referenced about toni having also created insecurities in him by constantly emphasising that at any moment he could be beaten by a lowly ranked player seems to me to be central to the problem. if you are forced to idealise weaker players by this thinking, seeing them as this huge threat then that is what they become and you lose proportion. rafa said that had left him vulnerable in the early rounds before but now that vulnerability to upset is endemic. this is what happens when you create compulsive fear-based thinking.
and it’s ridiculous….the idealisation of the far weaker player…seeing yourself only as good as a result of hard work, not intrinsic talent…..just ridiculous…
amy says:
June 17, 2015 at 3:42 pm,
—his endless taunting of rafa as a child as a ‘mummy’s boy’ which is a kind of code to kick out the feminine side…—
=======================================
This Mummy has been a powerful woman at home. 🙂 She has said that she hasn’t allowed to talk about tennis at home, because Rafa has to rest at home.
maybe might have been better if her voice and influence had been heard more….!
amy (at 3:59 pm)
One of many interviews with Rafa’s mother:
http://www.rafaholics.com/2010/12/rafa-nadals-mother-ana-maria-parera.html
amy, this is what comes to mind reading your words ‘.the idealisation of the far weaker player…seeing yourself only as good as a result of hard work, not intrinsic talent…..just ridiculous…
‘if you look at other professionals who perform in front of an audience, say opera singers, actors, and so on… when they get very good at what they do… they have a solid confidence… at least while on stage… that is hard to shake…
In group sports it works more or less that way too… and you can afford down days. In pure speed sports, e.g. track and field… there is a mental component but the down days perhaps are less of a factor. Golf and tennis are tougher this way… the mental component is huge.
BUT, the difference between Roger having some harder years in his later years, shanking balls… was in part from getting slower etc… while what we are seeing with Rafa is a bigger, deeper problem… it is very uncommon to see an athlete who has been the best of his fields at times and one of the top 3 for a decade… have his basic confidence break down this much repeatedly.
With Rafa’s more-or-less innate talent and with all the work to have it be realised at such a high level of ability…. this deep breakdown of confidence should not be happening. Burning-out, yes, that happens to some, but not this. Not commonly. I don’t know how much of it comes from Toni’e endlessly repeated views we are talking about… but it must have been important… how much comes from Rafa’s ‘born-with?’ tendancy towards worrying and anxiety (many people are like that), but this too must have been important… and who know what else, besides the tennis circuit being very demanding.
I don’t see how just practicing hard, winning matches, and self-reflection on his own will get Rafa out of this.
About 5 years ago I gave a talk called Humble Warrior to a group of people. Guess who the talk was about 🙂 ? Now I am less happy with the level of humility bequeathed by Toni.
June 17, 2015 at 4:37 pm,
But Toni says that PEOPLE exaggerate the humility of Rafa. He thinks it’s more a sense of place: you know who you are, you know that the world won’t stop without you.
[Google translation]
Interview: Sometimes people overdo with the humility of Nadal», elcorreo.com, 10 October 2010:
Toni Nadal: “Everyone should know their place in the world. And the world is large enough so that you do not feel great. Sometimes people exaggerate on this topic of humility. I think it’s more a sense of place: you know who you are, you know that the world will follow exactly the same without you … Do not give more importance than it has.”
http://www.elcorreo.com/alava/v/20101010/deportes/mas-deporte/veces-gente-exagera-humildad-20101010.html
gussie,
I understand Toni’s point in this quote. But what point are you trying to make? Let me know… because it is not clear how this quote addresses the few posts above…
chloro, well it is a mixture of toni’s influence as we have described it and rafa’s own temperament, no? but this need not have happened ie in terms of this happening in relation to rafa’s own temperament…..ie if he had other influences. (and i really am convinced that it is toni at work in relation to the idealisation and anxiety with much weaker players making him vulnerable). i remember when rafa was struggling against novak and courier made a very perceptive comment along the lines of ‘rafa seems to think that it is work that has made him what he is, not talent….i do hope that he realises that isn’t so’ a very good remark i thought and shows how the ex greats can see the problems at work. ie the excess of humility, the internalisation of toni’s messages at the negative level…..
i had forgotten that as a child rafa believed that toni was a kind of magician with supernatural powers and the rest of the family would play along with this saying they couldn’t see him so that rafa believed he(toni) could make himself invisible so that only he could see him. I mean what a legacy!
what is happening to rafa should not be happening….if it were burn out that would be one thing but it’s way more complex than that.
amy ( at 5:11 pm)
—i had forgotten that as a child rafa believed that toni was a kind of magician…—
===============
You shouldn’t take jokes seriously! 🙂
amy,
before people start to think that I (and perhaps you too) are putting TOO much blame at uncle Toni’s feet…. let me just say that yes his verbal influence wrt to ‘keeping rafa humble’ does seem ill-advised, too strong, etc and very likely contributed to some problems…. AND… if rafa was predisposed to worries and anxieties, e.g. a lot of worrying about his family, fear of sleeping in the dark and so on … that is in itself not a BAD thing, nor ABNORMAL…. many people are like that and that is one of the reasons we have survived as societies, because there were enough worriers among us. The problem with rafa’s personality working through his tough pro career … and many injuries… has intensified, brought to a high pitch level the tendency to anxiety… nothing unusual about that… and Uncle Toni’s less-than-encouraging words just made it worse…
in the end the bigger problem is none of these: not Rafa’s anxious/worrisome ways, not even Toni’s words, or the toughness of the pro tennis years… the only big problem is the apparent inability for Rafa and his team to look for new ways to address his crisis… ways that, as you said, are not that difficult to find, apply and that can make a big difference possibly in a matter of weeks and months
at least that’s how I understand it, arm-chair psychologist and all 🙂
yes absolutely. but i am partly seeing toni in a negative light in relation to the past because it seems that he is the biggest obstacle and block to the changes which are needed now. so serpent-like present and past are combining.
tbh, i am irritated out of my mind that there is so much procrastination and delay over what are actually very basic and commonsense changes. i mean andy murray is no great intellectual, but he is seeing a psychologist….was ready to look for new coaches….
this is the common currency and parlance of sport so the avoidance of it to the point of wilfulness makes one look under the surface….
the biggest reason why i am so down on toni atm, is that i fear that this situation will just go on and on…..that rafa is placing himself in a passive position and that it is just such a horrible, horrible waste of a huge talent.
thank you augusta!
chloro (at 5:10 pm),
—But what point are you trying to make?–
=================
Nothing. Forget it. Period.
chloro, gussie doesn’t need to have a point. A vague unsubstantiated criticism generalizing your statement into an absolute is all that is required.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHCNmTIVAAArEI_.jpg:small
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHCNmTIVAAArEI_.jpg
I got used to this:
Often, right after one of us here writes some bit of less comfortable reality about the king of clay gussie seems to need to post something to avert the eyes from it.
That is her right, we are all free to post here. At the same time, sometimes those posts do what you write above here and Dilbert shows.
#LoveDilbert
Yep. I’m gonna simply ignore it henceforth. At least I gonna try. We will see, no?
#RandomNoise
#PDFTT
Ditto, will try, will see.
#DoYou?
#OrDon’tYou?
Troll-like and constantly aggressive behavior thrives (June 18, 2015 at 1:56 pm, at 1:57 pm, at 2:04 pm). Nothing new.
i am more and more convinced that toni is central to rafa’s problems.
rafa said in his autobiography that whenever toni was around the whole team became more tense, that’s not exactly helpful in terms of the problems with nerves that rafa is facing. earlier in the season, toni said that rafa’s problems with nerves would be solved by work and reflection – so here we go again with the endless toni solution of practice and more practice plus a little solo thinking. that’s really not going to help anyone in the grips of major anxiety is it?
But have you noticed Toni is not really giving negative statements to the media? He has also changed his tone. When Rafa was playing well, he always used to grudgingly give him credit and kinda run him down or say things to the effect that he is not doing anything great. He barely does that now, I have read multiple statements in the past few months that Rafa is playing decent/well.
So its not just Rafa but Toni also who is being out of character and not subscribing to his own norm of talking.
sanju,
I repeat what I have written. Toni has always said the same. It has depended on journalists (and a zillion Internet commentators) what they have chosen to emphasize, twist or take out of context.
yes sanju i have noticed that and i think that is why rafa is saying the same thing. for whatever reason, he is just going along with toni’s talk, toni’s rhetoric which is frankly utterly unconvincing. i suppose really he is defending his relationship with his uncle and that is what is being externalised. everything is ok really, everything is getting better….meaning he and toni know what they are doing when in fact they quite evidently don’t…..
sanju,
I noticed that too…I thought he was doing it on purpose to encourage Rafa and honestly I did not like the change of tone…that seemed to me as admitting that Rafa has serious issues…
Good observation sanju. Toni it seems is always playing the contrarian.
amy, Rafa is an adult now he should care what Toni thinks or says. He has, in fact, said that Toni doesn’t tell him what to do anymore. Rafa should just get a grip.
^^^’shouldn’t care’
easier said than done, no? toni is clearly hugely influential in his (rafa’s) thinking….he is his coach afterall…look at how stan kept looking over at norman at critical moments in the final……
Awesome psychological advice. I joke with my sig. other that if I had to deal with patients, I’d just tell them to get over it.
But, then again, I was joking.
I guess Rafa is not the only mental case on tour…Stan-the-clay-master just lost the easiest point in the tie-break and then went on to lose the match…well, at least he should be loaded with confidence, shouldn’t he?he should not have any doubts… Some of you even proclaimed him the future Wimby champ… yet he missed an easy point that he would have otherwise hit with his eyes closed…strange that is…
I always thought he is due for a letdown after winning RG just like NOvak had last year after Wimby running into US Open series.
Any player can lose to a giant servebot like Anderson on any given day. Especially in best of three.
yep, but Stan missed the opportunity on 11:10 serving for the set, having the easiest possible shot…that is so unusual…he saved match points with huge serves and then made such an error…you should have heard the loud sighs of the crowd…crazy thing…
…and especially on grass where it’s next to impossible to break serve. One more reason why grass is my least favorite surface.
I was not proclaiming Stan the winner of Wimbledon. In fact, I said that many seem to be jumping on the bandwagon now that he won RG. I am not shocked that he lost early now. There can be letdowns. Also, Stan has not shown that he can back up his slam wins. He wasn’t able to do much after he “won” the 2014 AO. So it’s not at all surprising that he had a bit of a letdown. I do not consider him even one of the favorites at Wimbledon.
I do believe that winning titles instills confidence. That has always been so for Rafa. Winning breeds winning. Stan losing early in a warm up tournament doesn’t mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. It remains to be seen if he can do something at Wimbledon after winning RG. But history tells us that it’s very difficult to win the channel slam. Borg did it three consecutive years. Rafa has done it three times, but not in consecutive years. If it was easy then more would have done it. Fed did it in 2009. So I don’t expect Stan to win Wimbledon. But that doesn’t mean that he won’t do anything else this year. He’s back to #4 in the world. That in itself, is an accomplishment.
What happened to Stan has precisely nothing to do with what is going on with Rafa.
Rafa’s loss doesn’t look so bad now. I’m still hurting though, especially as Rafa would eaten Garcia-Lopez for dinner.
true indeed…it does hurt a lot…I’ve no idea why…it’s not that we are not used to it… 🙁
I’m personally very down about Rafa’s chances from here on. If he were constantly on a downhill path then it would be, in a way, easier to accept; a normal decline.
But, this playing brilliantly one match, serving many aces even, and then melting down in another is very disheartening. If he’s only going to win the matches where he feels comfortable then he might as well retire and play shows… I know I’m being very negative (as usual) but it’s hard to be otherwise these days.
Stan’s loss today makes Rafa loss yesterday even more heartbreaking. He would have had a great chance to make the final. Dolgopolov didn’t win the match. Rafa lost it. That is what I am having a hard time reconciling. Rafa did not get blown off the court or got outplayed. He choked. It used to be that his confidence and ability to close matches was one of his strengths. I miss that Rafa.
spot on!
^+1 This! So well said! Yes, Rafa’s draw would have opened up. Another lost opportunity.
You said what I am feeling. I would be okay if Rafa lost fighting to the end and playing his best. That is a loss that I could accept. But to choke it away, give it away in the end, that is what I cannot accept.
I also miss that Rafa a lot.
I want to clarify that my post @ 3:40 pm was in response to Jeu Nadal.
I think it’s normal to feel negative now. Fans are human, too. We have emotions. I do think that this rollercoaster ride of ups and downs is harder than a straightforward downhill decline.
Rafa’s consistency has kept him at the top in this sport. But that quality is now missing. There is reason to be concerned and reason to feel down about it.
I also take no solace any time another player loses early in a tournament. Stan will be fine because he just won RG for the first time. He had a mental blip and that cost him. When he starts doing it on a regular basis or has a lot of ups and downs, then he can start to worry. He and Rafa are not in the same situation at all.
If we are to derive some comfort from the losses of other players, that really says it all about where we are now.
TBH nothing can comfort me right now…and I really do not care if other players are losing…I have enough to worry about with Rafa…
I am concerned about the social identity…we all tend to take personal pride or offense for the accomplishments of Rafa thus these emotional reactions to his failures…I personally do not know how much longer I can take this…it is really depressing…and then we read Rafa’s statement: I played well…I was not lucky, etc…such a bummer…
It’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Rafa was up a break in the final set and ended up losing the match. That hardly ever happened before. The nerves are still there and he wasn’t confident enough to play attacking tennis after he broke Dolgo and Dolgo went for it and won.
I hope we see happy days again but right now, I’m a little bit dubious as to when that will be. Too many letdowns and too many highs and lows.
It’s nightmarish for us fans trying to figure out how Rafa can come from winning a tournament, win the 2nd set against Dolgo and when everything is going his way in the deciding 3rd start having doubts again. Had he done badly at Stuttgart then it would have been very normal to choke but it wasn’t the case. logic suggests that he would have been able to convincing close out the match without any nagging doubts but whatever is suppressed in there isn’t going away…
Yes, this is true. I absolutely felt that with the win at Stuttgart, Rafa would come into Queens with more confidence and belief. Finally another title! But that was not the case. The title did not cure his problems.
Whatever it is appears to be deep seated. It is definitely not going away. That’s why I have no expectations for Wimbledon. I have no idea what will happen with Rafa when he is at Wimbledon.
I thought Ross Hutchinson was appointed Tournament Director last year; now Stephen is the new Tournament Director.
a propos of nothing:
Oestridae
^Ross Hutchins is now Vice President of the ATP Player Relations.
It is sad to see some Rafa fans disrespect Rafa so much. Is Rafa such an idiot that he is content to lose and find excuses for his losses? He obviously has real issues with his FH. A back or a wrist issue can never be taken lightly. Back issues ended Lendl and Agassi’s careers, wrist injuries are threatening to end Delpo’s. Real physical issues cannot magically disappear by changing the coach or seeking psychological help. I trust Rafa’s wisdom and honesty.
you may not agree with some our views about ‘deeper’ issues rafa has, but I haven’t seen any posts here at tt that disrespect rafa. It might appear to some we are disrespecting, but believe me, that is not the case.
No, better trust God Mary…
Rafa and Marc are trailing a set and break down
Rafa/Marc lost 67 46 🙁
Good. Now Rafa can go back home to Mallorca, get some much needed R & R and come back re-juvenated for Wimby………….
Another game for Daniel!!!
#GoCanada
Andrew Castle has a man crush on Rafa.
So do I.
Ditto 🙂
Lol
Andrew Castle says when Rafa is on court he is so attractive it’s impossible to take your eyes off him. That coming from a hetro. man is quite something. Is it that bad with you hawkeye? 🙂
No comment.
A hetro man will never make such a comment :-). What is shown may not necessarily always be true 🙂
Many hetros find members of the same sex attractive but it doesn’t mean they are sexually attracted to them. Hetro women emulate other women they admire by trying to dress and be like them.
Nice to see that we have man crushes on Rafa here! Not surprising! 🙂
wasn’t it obvious from the unending river of words we’ve been typing here and on pre-tenngrand over the years ? 🙂
Yes! Absolutely! 🙂
What can I say! Rafa gets both women and man crushes! He’s pretty special! 🙂
Best seats in the house:
https://twitter.com/TheQueensClub/status/611592741408129024/photo/1