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]
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.