Roger Federer will continue his Wimbledon campaign on Thursday against tough grass-court opponent Sam Querrey. Roberto Bautista Agut and Benoit Paire are also in action.
Sam Querrey vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Querrey will be squaring off for the third time in their careers and for the first time in more than seven years when they clash in round two of Wimbledon on Thursday. Both of their previous encounters have gone the way of Federer,who cruised 6-4, 6-3 at the 2007 Miami Masters and 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 one season later at Roland Garros. The world No. 2 is still going strong at 33 years old and improved his 2015 record to 35-6 by disposing of Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Querrey made similarly lightning-quick work (one hour and 19 minutes compared to just one hour and seven minutes for Federer) of his first-round opponent, as he blitzed Igor Sijsling 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. The world No. 36 has always been a tough out at the All-England Club and he cemented his status as a dangerous grass-court performer with a runner-up finish last week in Nottingham. Querrey averaged 10 aces per set against Sijsling, so he has every reason to make this competitive as long as he serves well. Still, Federer is fine form at the moment and should score another straight-set win over the American.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 11-14 games
[polldaddy poll=8958385]
Benoit Paire vs. (20) Roberto Bautista Agut
This is nowhere close to reaching Tomas Berdych vs. Kevin Anderson levels, but Bautista Agut has positively owned pair heading into their second-round showdown at Wimbledon. Since dropping the first-ever set they contested against each other in the 2013 Chennai semifinals, Bautista Agut has since won 10 in a row at Paire’s expense. The Spaniard leads the overall head-to-head series 4-0 after getting the job done on three occasions last year–in Auckland, at the Australian Open, and at the French Open.
Paire is a decent 5-4 lifetime in the Wimbledon main draw, but grass does not really suit his game as a result of his elongated, loopy forehand. The 68th-ranked Frenchman played a pair of 250 events on the slick stuff after Roland Garros and lost his opener at both. Nonetheless, Paire got back in gear to trounce an out-of-sorts Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday. Bautista Agut pummeled Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(6) in his opener at the All-England Club. Like Paire, the world No. 20 went 0-2 on grass in between the two most recent majors. Despite showcasing lackluster form of late, Bautista Agut has to be supremely confident based on his past domination of Paire.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
[polldaddy poll=8958393]
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
This is insane. Hope it’s not moderated.
https://twitter.com/SI_Tennis/status/616626573484101632
The pros make it look so easy
I could yet become a fedfan…
😉
I am a fan of how he plays tennis. And almost 34?
Amaaaaazing.
(Still hopes he loses though.)
Even nadline can’t hold a candle to his smugness.
34 is young. Haas is 37.
ditto:
playing: phenomenadal
attitude: apparently phenomenadal, scratch surface: not so smugch
And how has that turned out for Haas.
Proved my point.
just goes to show, as amy, has said that HE is the logos….
yet …
thus amy speaks of the annointed one
the deliverer of the Jewish nation as prophesied in the Old Testament
we now have the minority in those who did not recognise him as the mashiah (and hence became an easy minority to scapegoat for the rest of time, sometimes called rastafarians, sorry, I mean rafans)…
and those who did recognise him as the mashiah (and went on to proselytize to everyone ever since, usually called fedfans, sports journalists, commentators and those who lined their pockets called tournament organizers, media moguls)
were he here among us these days surely he would roleth his eyes
wait, he is here among us, and does not roleth his eyes, what is happening here?
ha ha chloro…not sure if this isn’t blasphemy!
amy, I am not writing about the anointed one of twenty centuries ago, as you know, just about the one of twelve years ago, and about this new anointed one it is _certainly blasphemy, or else I missed my mark entirely 🙂
Rafa will be waiting in the wings now. I hope he’ got ‘colm’.
therein, nadline, lies the _entire_ question of the last _22_ months…
Tiggy says:
Rafael Nadal [10] vs. Dustin Brown
The 102nd-ranked Brown, aka Dreddy Tennis, is one of the very few players who owns a winning record against Nadal. Granted, they’ve played just once, on grass last year in Halle, a few days after Nadal had won his ninth French Open, but Brown ran away with that match in straight sets. Can he do something like that again on the grass inside Centre Court, over three of five sets? Brown is a showman who loves the limelight; if nothing else, he makes you realize just how good Gael Monfils is as a player. As for Rafa, he was OK but not great in his first-round win over Thomaz Bellucci; his forehand still went wonky, and his elbow grew a little heavy at times when he had the lead. But even that should be enough to earn him a win here. Winner: Nadal
Preach it Tiggy. I feel the same way.
not a little pressure on Brown today
Rafa anxious these days but if not too much so today today… no contest
unlike some tennis journos Tiggy has a brain and really writes well.
one of my 3 fave tennis journos along with juan jose vallejo and brian phillips
not familliar with phillips.
writes for grantland on various sports but his tennis pieces on rafa are incredible….really perceptive as well as hilarious..check out ‘metal gods on fire’ which is his piece on rafole at RG 2013……
I agree about Tiggy. Don’t know the other two.
jj vallejo was one of the founders of the changeover but now writes for rolling stone. but i find his rolling stone pieces very disappointing as they are so staid and don’t show his wit and insight….has a great twitter feed…..
used to do great audio pieces with brodie of mind the racket….
The forehand, as pointed out by Tiggy, was wonky! Undoubtedly. I hope he improves it controls the nerves well enough to win.
so nervous about that forehand…..really hope it recovers from its funk today….
I agree. Wonky. Nice term for the forehand just not being consistent in that first match. Rafa really needs his forehand to be firing on all cylinders. That’s the money shot.
The biggest challenge will be nerves. I don’t think playing on center court will get to Brown. He’s got nothing to lose. No pressure for him. He will go out there to try and get the upset.
The Fog lost to Pospisil.
I feel more nervous than Rafa, I’m sure.
The match started less than 5 minutes ago and the commies are already complaining that Rafa took too long during the change-over. That Rafa is trying to ‘disrupt’ the pace. eeeshh people…give it a rest.
espn is better as JMac’s got our guy’s back.
I am watching ESPN 🙂
who is doing commentary then.
must be p-mac.
Brad G and Mike something (?). Don’t recognize the voice.
JMac is on the BBC as well!
JMac likes Rafa. I can handle listening to him.
This guy Brown looks like he’s come out ready to rumble.
Rafa held his serve!
Come on Rafa!
GREat game rafa!!!!
WOW! Rafa’s ROS is on! The ESPN commentators say he’s come out with a game plan. Some great play to get the early break!
You show him, Rafa!
Now hold your serve!
wow break rafa
scoreboard watching
PMac is the problem because he’s an obsessed Fed fan. JMac clearly loves Rafa. If it was PMac, then I would have to mute the sound.
So is JMac commentating on both ESPN and the BBC?
oh shit….stay colm rafa…
3-3 and I’m already annoyed by DB.
rafa missed an easy forehand to go 30-40 on brown’s service game before last and have break point…since then it’s all gone downhill……
Oh no. Rafa gives up the break. Brown will take full advantage. He’s come out to play today.
Why does this always happen to Rafa?
Now watching..how did rafa lose serve?
Brown was jumping all over him and Rafa just didn’t play well enough. The guy has come out guns blazing as I thought.
Once he got the break back, he’s held serve easily. Huge mistake for Rafa to lose his serve after getting the early break.
Now Rafa is trying to hold to send it to a tb.
Brown is playing out of his skin.
horror-show…..didn’t help that rafa dumped that routine forehand into net to set up 15-40
Set Brown
crowd is getting behind brown..this is bad…..
Yes, it’s my worst nightmare.
This guy Brown has a look in his eye, like he is going for it in this match. He hit an unbelievable ROS that either hit Rafa or his racket to win the first set.
Why Rafa???????????????????? Everyone is so inspired to play him.
These days Rafa enables their inspiration. Top players extinguish it (just like Rafa used to do.
Yes, but they haven’t been sidelined for 13 months out of the last 3 years with injury and Rafa is the one who changes lives with a victory over him.
brown hit 20 winners that set…..rafa shouldn’t have let him back in the set….after missing the easy forehand to go 30-40 with chances for the double break he seemed to lose it a bit….
I agree. Insane winners from Brown in that set.
I think that ROS from Brown hit Rafa’s racket and then he hit his leg. I hope he’s okay. This guy Brown is cocky as all get out.
also my heart sank when he elected to receive….is dangerous strategy when your nerves aren’t great and you have to serve to stay in …..
Rafa always elects to receive.
the first set curse is over…hope Rafa plays with more calm now…
Vamos Rafa!
The ESPN commies are talking about how when Brown’s ROS hit Rafa’s racket, then Rafa hit himself in the leg because of the force of the shot.
Keep calm everybody, Pleeeeeeze.
I am trying. Believe me, I am trying. I am repeating a mantra over and over – this is a best of five set match.
rafa MUST start lobbing more…..
SHIT!
Rafa is the underdog now unless he wins this set. Brown is not as big a server as Kyrgios is but he can get lots of free points. Rafa will have chances to break Brown’s serve… he MUST keep holding his own serve though!
why does rafa keep sending passing shots which brown can volley when he can lob!
brown is right on top of the net…..
he has to put doubts in his mind……
I hope rafa breaks before those scary games in the end because he is serving secodn again
yes….the curse of serving second…
Rafa shouldn’t serve out wide, he should serve down the line all the time.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!
now effing hold………!
Rafa breaks. Please hold on to your serve from now on, please, Rafa.
remember, the out-wide serve in the ad-court is a higher percentage serve ..you don’t want brown to have too many second serve returns ,right?
Yes! Rafa has to serve smart!
Rafa can’t serve down the line all the time, it’s too predictable. He has to mix it up.
Okay, that’s more like it!
I noticed in this last game that Brown wasn’t making his first serves. Although on ESPN, they are saying that his second serve is wicked fast. He’s been hitting second serves at 114, 118, just crazy.
Rafa did well to get the break. All I have to say now to Rafa is – HOLD YOUR SERVE!
Impressive Returning !! COME ON! rafa read brown’s serve really well… I TOLD YA,, he will have opportunities to break brown’s serve. Brown is not that big a server… Rafa must stay firm on his service games and he will win…
Brown is CRAZY!
He approached the net 24 times in set 1 !!
Brown has been really going for it when Rafa has to hit a second serve. Teeing off on them.
yes, but playing like this he can play great games but will also have mad ones….you would think anyway….
if rafa serves well then he will be ok…..
Agree. Already Brown is making more errors in this set. I don’t think he can keep it up. His style is go for broke.
Rafa must hold his serve!
If Rafa gets through this match the rest will be a cakewalk.
I agree…
Thank god for Johnny Mac. Whenever Casrle opens his mouth out comes garbage.
good game by rafa….body serve jamming brown is good tactic….
absolutely! it was really smart serving….
WOAH big return winner from rafa….
4-3 now….DON”T lose serve rafa
@amy, rafa hit a lob in the last game…was not successful but at least he is thinking out there…
Good serving in this game…40-0
Brown is a joke. He is hitting his forehands at mach speed and 90 percent of them find the net..
so important that rafa serves well……mustn’t allow brown back in……
Brown has this swing for the fences, go for broke style of play. But I have to believe that Rafa can get the better of him in this best of five match.
The ESPN commies made an interesting observation after Rafa got the break. They said that they noticed a spring in his step, his body language was much better.
It’s all in the mind!
Come on Rafa! You have the tennis smarts to beat this guy!
Yes, Rafa used the body serve in the first set, too. As I said previously here, he must mix it up and serve smart.
No breaks of serve Rafa!
Compare lst set statistics with those so far in set 2. Bodes well if he goes on like this.
Brown is making more errors in this set. So I don’t see him playing lights out the way he did in the first set.
Brown’s backhand return is much more solid than his forehand return… on the ad court, He hits full-blooded returns on his backhand side and mostly chips the ball back with his forehand return
VAMOSSSS!! AWESOME forehand CC in response to brown’s flat return…well done rafa! 40-30
phewwwwww
COME ONNNN!!! world class backhand down the line passing shot….BREAK RAFAAAAA
WOHOOOO !! now the forehand!!
so good he will be serving first!
YEEEEESSSS!!! what a game by rafa! rafa is back! fantastic passing shots!
now he serves first next set…..
So Rafa was able to break him twice inthe 2nd set. That’s very encouraging.
Vamos Rafa! Two to go..
EXCELLENT backhand returns on the deuce court… 6-3!
He now has the adv of serving first
Rafa snaps Brown’s 3-0 set record vs Rafa.
Fans are everywhere…
https://twitter.com/antoniobanderas/status/616638558699393024
Do we all feel better now 🙂
yes 🙂 I can crawl out from under the covers 🙂
Very punny….
https://twitter.com/cbfowler/status/616659121182539776
Okay, rafa’s weakest return on fast surface is the forehand return on the deuce court. Big , flat serves in the corner to his forehand is a very tough return for rafa. Brown has had good success on that serve so far but he has gone down the middle to rafa’s backhand …I hope he keeps going more to rafa’s backhand on the deuce court….
fast surfaces*
Yes! Don’t tell me you knew it all along! 🙂
The way you break down Brown’s game of rushing to the net is with great passing shots. Rafa showed us that in that last game.
Well done Rafa!
Brown’s not making as many first serves and there are more errors creeping into his game.
Keep it up Rafa! No letdowns now!
yup! brown’s level has dropped but that has a lot to do that rafa’s improvements too!
What a beautiful angle on that out wide serve!ace… he needs to get that angle and he may sacrifice some pace to do that…
Troicki through to the third round.
Brown’s first serves are fairly predictable… thankfully, he does not have a deadly out wide slice serve…
Oh no rafa missed that 30-30 passing shot :/
Again, brown having success with that flat serve to rafa”s forehand on the Ad court…. I am sorry I wrote deuce court by mistake..it is the big serve to rafa’s forehand on the AD COURT…close to the body or close to the corner…both tough!
meanwhile, love game! vamos! now get the break..
Coric out.
brown’s average first serve speed is 122…he is not really a big server! plus, the variety on his first serve is not too great either…. Rafa is returning well so he should have enough chances to break…
He must be very fast to get to the net on so many S&Vs then.
THAT forehand miss to lose the point for 30-30 …is inexplicable
yeah….and it fires up his opponents when it happens..every time….
PHEWWWWW deuce
2 double faults…oh no….
two double faults in a row …. come on rafa, relax….relax…
rafa threw that game away…..that was all nerves….
OMG…what was that???
Unbelievable! What on earth was that? Two double faults in a row? That’s just handing it to Brown. This is not okay.
nasty volley from brown but rafa just gift wrapped the return… wow..
Now what? 🙁
that one missed forehand to go 30-30 and the rot set in….
rafa has to get a grip on his nerves fast!
Is it okay if I don’t calm down now?
that miss on 30-40….
am starting to hate dreddy….
Body serves and serves to rafa’s forehand in the deuce court is having A LOT of success… and now brown is serving them more often! keep an eye on that rafa.
I am very tense now .
*AD court!! I am losing my mind
I can’t believe how many times Castle has mentioned Rosol……..
As if we are not panicked enough
This is going from bad to worse. 🙁
Hold here rafa, HOLD! you can break back….
Unvle T is biting his nails. Not a good sign.
Rafa, when you go home (hopefully not today) please think calmly and long, and consider getting treatment for anxiety disorder.
What a save
oh thank the lord. please let dreddy lose it now…rafa needs help….
Keep it up JMac. He still believe in Rafa. Unlike the wretched Castle.
Excellent serve and volley by rafa! now please get that break back,…
Brown is such a …… he will lose in the next round we all know that!! Don’t do this to my man :/
Rosol was up a break in the third set against rafa last year and rafa broke back in the game rosol for serving for the set! …i hope he breaks right here..
rafa’s game has definitely dropped since he imploded in that service game…
i officially hate dumbo dustin…
somehow I cannot get the feeling rafa will win this. There is so much negativity out there 🙁
yes….feels bad….we need brown to go berserk and give rafa hope..
I am starting to get sick watching this.
Why does Brown not play like this all the time. He saves it all for Rafa. Pathetic!
No, Rafa allows it to happen.
#RafaVsRafa
He got some help from Rafa when he double faulted twice in that game to lose his serve. Brown didn’t have to do very much.
the difference between these two is Brown believes that he can win and Rafa believes that he can lose…
The two are closely related (started by the latter).
this is just shit. rafa has just lost his level since that service game. it’s not about brown but about rafa just losing it.
If Brown hits winners off all of Rafa’s serve then it does affect his serve.
if i have to see any more shots of dreddy fistpumping i am going to vomit….
he’ll lose next round if he goes through….
Yup. beat rafa and lose in the next round.
Rafa could do with some luck all round.
Top players make their own luck.
There are no excuses here. This guy Brown isn’t doing anything unique or special. All it took was one break for Rafa to lose the third set. And he gave away that break!
Brown can hit all the winners he wants off Rafa’ serve, but if Rafa is going to help him along by donating two points due to double faults, then it’s about Rafa.
that forehand error to bring up 30-30 was what began it…rafa was in control before that…
he has no faith in his forehand and the minute it malfunctions he goes to pieces….
rafa is playing best when he’s at net because then it’s instinctual….
what a forehand miss at 40-40….
Never thought I would live to see Rafa unravel like this.
another mad forehand miss…..about 10 feet out! his game has gone to pieces…
OK. Can’t watch this any longer. Going to pick blackcurrants for jam making.
hey toni this is why they call it a mental game!
Rafa is no longer the rafa we know. He is out of this. Severe anxiety issues. Not the first time this is happening but the level of pain is the same.
Look at brown’s body language now. Rafa looks totally subdued
yes. if toni can’t see it and have the humility to make changes then it is actually a disgrace….
He is done and dusted. End of Rafa
Done and DUSTINED
not a very kind time to pun, ricky
I am really at a loss for words right now. To see Rafa just lose his forehand when he’s got wide open shots, is too much.
I can’t bear it any longer. 🙁
OMG…this is terrible. WHY??? why does Rafa keep getting these players that play lights-out tennis in the early rounds of W? ugh. I can’t watch anymore.
Rafa used to play lights out tennis when he was himself.
I miss that Rafa so much. 🙁
Dustin Brown will never win against Murray or Djokovic or Federer with this level. It’s all about Rafa. This is not lights-out tennis I must say.
come on rafa just hang on and dreddy may go bonkers…it’s the only hope…..
Rsfa is done and dusted I feel. I dont see him getting back..forget this match but in general..He does not have the fight in him any more
Done and Dustined
Uncle Toni:
He just needs to practice more and win more. It’s just a game. Rafa is nothing special. Rafa needs no other help.
Ugh,
yeah absolutely….toni said recently that tennis wasn’t a mental game and was about the arm and leg…oh yeah toni….
on your bike…..
it is toni who has done this to rafa….if they had made changes and sought help like everyone else all of this need not have happened
toni talks about humility but his ego is massive…..
i am just angry watching this….angry….
Brown is fearless now ans serving better than ever! Now i am going to say it as well..this is very similar to the fifth set against rosol! Rafa looking subdued brown looking fearless.
I hope brown gets reckless and donates a break. Pleaseeeeee
Players’ careers have ended in various ways.
Have there been players that ended their careers unraveling in endless matches like this? Getting older, etc,,and winning less is an ok way to end your career. But not this way.
I am NOT saying rafa’s career is over etc. Only that if he’d like to end his career playing and winning / losing _differently_ than he is at the moment… and long may he still play on the ATP circuit… then he needs to serious _differences_ in his life… such as get his anxiety treated normally, like a normal person might.
IF rafa does not get his anxiety treated properly and ends playing this way for a long time … it will only make his anxiety worse… does one of the fiercest tennis players in history want to have the last part of his career remembered for this?
well he is being controlled by toni and the whole family thing.
toni should exercise humility and not let his massive ego get in the way of change….
We will have plenty of time to discuss his future if he goes out 🙁 for now, just pray!! I hope a miracle happens
I know, vr,
but I fear that even if a miracle happens it will just postpone the inevitable by another 2 days or 4… sorry if that sounds overly pessimistic… Rafa is in no mental-strength/calmness state to reach close to the finals of a slam. We kind of knew it all along, no?
You are right. I just want him to get at least ONE win like this where he looks down and out! Pleaseeeeee
Yes, we did know it all along.
It looks impossible for rafa to beat these players now! And they think of rafa as a player from the challenger circuit
one forehand error was all it took! dreddy saw rafa panic and he upped his game and then rafa double-faulted twice…since then his game has just gone down the pan…..
Sadly, Brown will lose in the next round after depriving Rafa from progressing.
Match pnts saved. Miracle plz plz plz plz
I am in shock even though rafa has had a terrible year. Get ready for all the mockery, hate from trolls all over the net….articles about rafa being finished..
just don’t read them…..who cares…!
but there have to be changes now
We all knew this day was going to happen…Rafa losing in the early rounds, but I thought this would happen in 2020!! When Rafa reached 35 or older…this is too soon and too painful to watch.
Rafa looks like he hasn’t given up yet.
Vamos
Nadline, i hope you got to see how lethal nadal’s forehand is!
Oh, and some here were predicting rafa to win wimbledon…right…. the rest who are discussing different things are fair weather fans…… height of delusion! Well, everyone is entitled to their ‘opinions’..right…
vamosrafa,
Right on! We have had to hear too much of this prattle in the days leading up to yet another dismal loss. That forehand lethal? It was MIA! Rafa had wide open shots on his forehand and repeatedly missed them. He had the momentum early in that third set when he inexplicably played a horrendous service game, double faulting not once, but twice to give away the break to Brown. All he had to do was stand at the other end of the net and watch Rafa dissemble.
Those of us who were discussing the very real issues with Rafa, were yet again one more time branded as fair weather fans.! Well, this fair weather fan stayed home to watch this match, postponing important things that had to be done. I rearranged my whole schedule today to be at home to watch the match and cheer for Rafa. I have done this countless times in the past, stayed up to insane hours in the wee hours of the morning to cheer on Rafa. My life has revolved so much around him.
I am entitled to say what I think when I give that kind of commitment to my favorite player.
Ok that was horrible…really horrible…..
ok, now retirement chorus will get really loud
go toni go go go…
go toni go go go….
(or at least have the decency to bring others in )
I kinda sensed this would happen after he played Bellucci 1st round. I feared repeat of 2012 and I said it here too and my fears came true.
I frankly have zero hopes from Rafa
Rafa didn’t play badly at all. Brown just went all out and it worked.
Rafa did not play badly at all? My God!!!!!
Yeah, rafa has not played bad the whole year. It is just bad luck and it will go away….right..
you have to be nearly insane to say that, nadline, and really mean it
I mean _insanely_ deluded about what’s in front of your eyes on the tv/computer screen
You think that’s a surprise? We have been hearing it all year. Oh this wasn’t Rafa’s fault, his opponent just played great, oh it’s so unfair that Rafa keeps getting these opponents who have the nerve to play a great match. As though they should lay down for Rafa so he can win!
That makes me even more upset than watching Rafa endure another horrible loss.
I repeat – Rafa beat both Petz and Haase who were both up two sets to one and played insanely great tennis with I forget how many aces! That Rafa didn’t cave or lose it. He stayed in the fight. He won!
That Rafa is gone.
If some want to live in a world of denial, then so be it. I live in the real world.
Even a much less skilled rafa on grass came back to from 2 sets to love down against big serving robert kendrick in 2006 to win he match!
Rafa lost a set agaisnt an on-fire gulbis in 2008 wimby second round but found a way to win!
Rafa winning titles has not been entirely linked to how well he is playing, it has been very much linked with how well he plays under pressure! nobody dared to challenge him in that department. He now looks subdued in those moments and his opponents crush him!
🙁
Rafa played badly. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling himself/herself.
he just fell apart that service game and then his game left him completely…..
it wasn’t to do with brown…rafa was in control of the match before that point….
Unfortunately, there are some who are fooling himself/herself! All Brown had to do was hold his serve after Rafa donated the break at 2-2 in the third set. He kept it together and let Rafa fall apart. Which he did.
The ESPN commies were also talking about Rafa’s low second serve points won percentage.
Rafa lost this match. Brown didn’t have to do anything special, except keep his nerves under control.
nny, yes. that was a spectacular implosion by rafa…absolutely spectacular….i thought that this might go wrong but he had no game in him once he chucked that service game away…..
Yes! Brown did NOT play a special match! It is ALWAYS like this against big servers and go for broke players on grass! Keep holding your serve and get a break or win a tie break!
Missing mid court forehands on big pnts, serving 2 dble faults ina row at deuce , is not playing bad at all!
Clap clap clap….
vr, surely you agree now that change has to come..??
ok toni can stay, if he must, but rafa needs serious help….
Nadal again goes out of Wimbledon very early
i am furious that toni is leaving rafa exposed like this, absolutely furious….
he’s a reactionary dinosaur….
expect the usual trolls to come back here for a day or two
don’t care,
except as a sign of what’s ailing rafa
toni has just published a book about how you make a player mentally strong….
he’s looking a bit silly right now…
I don’t care about the trolls. I care about Rafa. This was beyond a nightmare.
yes. and the changes have to come now. stop all the talk about family being more important than tennis. that is ridiculous! it’s not a contest between the 2 or an either/or….
everyone can see that rafa needs change…everyone…
toni can stay on if he likes but there must be new people….
what upsets me most is how rafa is being exposed and caused so much pain by this situation…it’s him who is taking the fall, no-one else…
I would love to be a fly on the wall in conversations in rafa’s family and team on this very subject: what does he need to start doing differently, what help might he need, what can help with the anxiety rising over the years, what is the big white elephant in the room?
i fear that it is rafa’s family who are making him come up with these strange statements about family being more important than tennis as if it were an either/or….part of rafa not being rafa feels like he is going along with s.th which he knows deep down isn’t working..
and toni’s talk is just so naive…
saying that tennis isn’t a mental game was categorically disproved out on that court today and countless times these last months…..
I found myself thinking about the Rafa who fought against Petz and Haase, who were both big serving guys who played the matches of their lives against him in the 2010 Wimbledon. But that Rafa fought back from two sets down to win both matches in five sets!
Where is that Rafa now? It’s not like he has never been able to beat big serving guys at Wimbledon! Le’ts be real here! He used to be able to beat them. He also beat Sod in the quarterfinals that year at Wimbledon after being down 1-5 and losing that first set. But he fought back and won it in four.
If some persist in telling fairytales to make excuses by pretending that this guy Brown came out and played the most scintillating tennis ever, then they are not living in the real world. This was the kind of match that the real Rafa would have won any day of the week.
Something is QUITE wrong with Rafa!! QUITE!! He needs to leave tennis for the rest of the year and return next year when he is fuly composed, and no pressure. This is beyond rediculous now……….Rafa has a major problem and he must now realise that he needs to address it rather than continue to lose matches he should win with his eyes closed, and not run the risk of damaging his self-esteem forever!!!
Rafa needs a new coach and a new approach!!! NOTHING else will do! This is really really sad, really, really and incomprehensible!!! What a hearbreaking fall from grace!!
Does toni have the humility to see that change is needed?!
or is he going to sacrifice rafa on the altar of his own ego.
that’s what is going on.
toni bangs on and on about humility and being humble but his own ego is massive..
Toni has done wonderful things for rafa… he turned rafa into thr fiercest competitor of this generation and rafa was called arguably the strongest player mentally in the world of sports. Massive credot to Toni…he trained rafa A-Z ! To be fair to Toni, rafa made the greatest comeback ever in 2013 and he did that under Toni’s tutelage!
however, some elements of his mentoring seemed to have backfired! Nobody knows what exactly is plaguing rafa but he cannot handle anxiety…may be he needs some of fed’s ego on the court!
There is no harm in trying! How many coaches has federer changed! Look at novak who added a new member into his team!
I was reading an interview of Toni and he said he believes the attitude of blaming coaches is very wrong in today’s generation..he said he has always taught rafa to take responsibility and blame himself first! May be this mentality is really putting enormous pressure on rafa now that he is facing so much tension.
May be needs a former great to come to him and say ‘hey, you are rafael nadal.winner of 14 slams! There is nothing to fear out there’
But given rafa’s attitude to this in the past, hiring a new member into his team seems very , very unlikely
vr, i absolutely believe that this mentalityis killing him….rafa always is saying that losses are his responsibility, his fault. but he has a team, and they are there to help him. if he loses it’s their fault as well. look at how exposed and isolated rafa looks on court like a rabbit in the headlights…that is part of this mentality.
i have said before that i want a former great to remind him of how great he is and build his confidence and take the strain off his shoulders. i am sure it would work.
look at the strength rafa takes from norman….rafa isn’t taking that from toni.
rafa is way too sweet and loyal to break from this cycle it needs toni to step up to the plate and initiate change himself. as if!
what are his girlfriend and sister saying?? don’t they have voices? can’t they see what is going on….?
look at what magnus norman has done for stan.
look at how changes have helped murray…
and rafa is a way way greater player than either of them….think what change could do for him and how much he could win…..!
My concern is that Rafa doesn’t have an endless amount of time to right the ship. He is wasting precious time in his career, doing the same thing over and over and having the same end result.
Rafa used to fight and fight and never quit. That was his trademark. Where was that fight today? He turned the match around and had the momentum. Then he gave it right back to his opponent.
I don’t know how his team can let him keep going out there and suffer like this. Something is clearly wrong.
true 🙁 he is losing precious time. Soon his movement will be slower and game will decline. He does not have much time to sort this out.
Sometimes, even the strongest of people cannot handle all the burden themselves. They need help. From wherever that helps come, I hope it comes in fast!
This decline is 10 times more dangerous than those caused by injuries! The toughest one to deal with..
i really really hope that we are not going to be treated with another round of toni-isms….
rafa was unlucky…
all we need to do is practice…
toni you talk a good game about responsibility but you don’t walk the walk when it comes to taking it yourself…..
how about manning up and taking it upon your own shoulders for once….
oh and stop making rafa into your parrot who has to come up with this lame garbage.
As we discussed here ad nauseum…
it would do rafa a lot of good to get good talks from a former champion… and perhaps that is one ingredient that is a must here (perhaps not)…
BUT
the other thing he needs that most other players do not necessarily need is help of a more professional nature for his anxiety disorder and whatever has come along with it… this is a disposition he’s had regardless of tennis… and which his ultra-achieving career in tennis has exasperated further and further these last years…
for this the good talks from former champions can’t help much… they’d be like small band-aids that can’t hold back blood gushing from a great wound
I mean, think of it as two wounds, one on each arm (or leg if you prefer). The wounds are of very different kinds, even though they aggravate each other. The one that definitely needs the right kind of help, i.e. professional from the psychological / medical professions (including probably prescription medicine) is an anxiety disorder or something that sure looks entirely like a full-blown anxiety disorder. There is NO shame seeking help for it. Just as there is no shame in using physiotherapists, massages, PRP treatments if they work, icebaths, etc. Some players have received such help but most do not suffer from an actual condition. Treatment is well-known and can include talk therapy, perhaps some medication, simple training in simple mindfulness/meditation and the like.
My wife reminded me again the other week that if Rafa does not treat this sooner it will only get worse and could cause havoc as he grows older. This is entirely preventable.
The other wound is on the other hand (leg) and of another kind… not in particular related to the anxiety disorder but aggravated by it. Here there is a set of beliefs that say that he is solely responsible for his wins / losses (such BS), here is also where his confidence might have been unrealistically high (never the case with Rafa) or unrealistically low (often now)… and where a former champion’s talks could do a world of good…… IF the other wound gets treated properly.
chloro, i agree with you! have been saying for ages now that he should have an ex great and a sports psychologist of some kind (don’t care what)
sorry, i thought you would realise i meant that……
sports psychologist…. esp if besides talk therapy they teach him those good techniques… and make sure he gets prescription medicine for anxiety if that turns out to be needed
I cannot believe this 🙁 When I saw the draw, I thought it was a very good one but then I saw Brown’s name and I was nervous! I was hoping brown would lose to Lu but the match took place . Even the best of five format and a title under his belt could not help rafa beat brown!
This is a very very very big challenge for rafa.
I read a statement from Billi Jean king after RG and she said it would take rafa at least si months to recover and reach his top level. She was of the opinion that rafa needs to tell himself how good he is and have more belief. Practicing with this attitude and winning matches will help him get back…
People were writing about rafa’s decline after rafa lost to Darcis in straight sets but then he won everything on hard courts ! BUT, that rafa was a warrior. This rafa needs a massive boost. I don’t know what is best for him. But changes MUST be made! some kind of changes!
I thought Rafa had such a good chance to make the QF…he needs to fix his anxiety or whatever it is that ails him. SOON.
i was very nervous about this match. after RG and rafa’s mental collapse in the 3rd set i thought that experience would be very damaging to him. i have never seen rafa lose it in a slam match like that before.
the collapse against dolgo was just reinforcement of this.
rafa’s relationship with his forehand has become toxic! he now doubts it so much that one miss can push him into a spiral of anxiety where he implodes completely.
toni’s remedies of constant practice are really pretty hopeless and he has the kind of character which does not lend itself to these situations anyway.
what i fear is that it will be more of the same for the rest of the year and then maybe they will admit that change has to come….but hey rafa could get another injury if they wait that long…
they are playing dice with his career and future….
vr,
putting tennis analysis and confidence boosting analysis aside,
what do you think about what is different about rafa compared to, say, novak and roger?
I mean rafa’s disposition to anxiety as in an actual condition. To repeat: there is no shame in having it, talking about it, having it treated, or us noticing it.
with roger he’s obviously not had this sort of condition. In his relatively weaker years trying coaches and tweaks and just keep going were enough
with novak the changes he introduced in 2010 / 2011 obviously worked very well: diet, coaching including mental techniques of relaxation visualization, self-talk etc. and since then he’s also tried new coaches when it seemed useful. Novak too did not have an anxiety condition, just needed to find ways to get mentally consistent to match his talent, and to find a dietary aid to his fitness issues.
with rafa it is clearly more than just confidence boosting (and winning matches) that he needs.
I do no really know what exactly is causing this but we can infer. I think you are right that federer and djokovic have never faced this type of anxiety before in their careers. This is something different. Common sense says that it is not wise to keep repeating the same things over and over. Rafa said he was not feeling the nerves that badly in Stuttgart but the issue is now worse than ever so basically no progress over the last six months!
I am not expert but as your sister says, this will get worse!
There is ABSOLUTELY no shame in getting it and I don’t think he even needs to make that public. He can do that once it is a thing of the past!
However, given both rafa’s and toni’s viewpoints toward sports psychologists and all , it seems highly unlikely they will ever do that.
Toni insists tennis is a very simple game and one can fix things etc….
Right now, they must start thinking about making a change? that would be the first step! they now have ample time … they will only find out what works best when they start trial and error..
May be , may be, rafa can eventually figure out his problems on his own but that likelihood seems quite low given the progress over the last six months,,,
you are right, vr
also regarding king’s statement that rafa needs to be telling himself how good he is….
he needs someone else to be telling him this, someone with calm and authority.
look how other players make changes and their mindset suddenly becomes positive because that is what is being fed in them.
look at how bouchard has collapsed without the positivity of saviano..
what norman has brought to stan….
think how rafa could rebound back and start winning big!!
amy,
I was going to say exactly the same thing, but you said it already and very well. He does need someone else to be telling good things, someone who has some gravitas and status and would have Rafa’s respect and attention. Positive reinforcement is a great tool to deal with lack of confidence and/or anxiety.
You gave a few good examples of players who made a change it benefited them greatly. Look at what Norman Magnus has done for Stan. He always had the game to challenge the top four, but never had the belief. He said those very words about not believing in his post-RG victory interview on court. Norman made him believe that he could do it and now he is doing it!
Players are using various relaxation and meditations techniques, sometimes on court during the changeovers to help them keep focused. This is 2015 and there is much to offer players so that they can deal with the pressure and also realize their potential. It’s a shame not to try to look into some of these methods.
I listened to Rafa’s press conference. They showed it on ESPN. So I have to correct myself. Rafa double faulted three times in that game when he was broken. He also said that his forehand wasn’t good, that he needed to serve well enough and hold his serve. Big servers put a lot of pressure on the opponent. You must hold your serve! Rafa knows this. He’s beaten guys like Karlovic and Isner and Sod and Tsonga and even Raonic until earlier this year. He knows the recipe for beating them. At least he used to know.
Rafa said he wasn’t good enough. Note that he did not say that it was his bad luck to meet a guy who came out and played to win! He gave credit to Brown for playing well. He did not play well enough. So even Rafa’s supposedly most devout fans should listen to his own words.
Are we to expect players to come out and lay down for Rafa so that he won’t lose? Bellucci played like crap and that helped Rafa get the win. But Brown came out with a game plan and for the most part, was successful in executing it. With some big help from Rafa!
There is help out there! Rafa does not have to try to do this alone. He is going through the same motions, saying the same things, practicing, whatever and nothing has changed! I don’t want to see him like this. He’s a great champion and someone needs to remind him of that. He needs some positive reinforcement from whoever, be it a psychologist, former great champion, somebody!
Rafa cannot work this out all by himself.
so rafa himself said this….are you sure NNY? because his forehand was lethal in the lat round!!
it was a pretty average performance against Bellucci who played crap but no, the devout fans insisted he was better than djokovic and murray and all is well!! denial has no limits..
I guess we can all agree now that it is not Rafa’s opponents who play the match of their lives…it’s Rafa allowing them to do so…Rafa does not even need to play bad…he only needs to play a few games badly in which he exposes all of his weaknesses and the opponent is back on track…Rafa’s of 2015 has no shield…no invisibility…no aura…he is like a lamb ready for slaughter and his opponents easily turn into wolfs…
This Rafa disappoints so much…he does no longer posses the fighting spirit, his low confidence is killing him at crucial moments and he loses focus easily…our Rafa makes an easy target for EVERY player not just the likes of Brown/Fog/Dolgo…
even though I feared this would happen it again hurts so bad…The first time in my life I stopped watch Rafa’s match before it was over…After Rafa lost the third set I went running and did not even want to check the score…I knew it was all over for Rafa…
natashao,
This is one of your most eloquent posts ever! You really pinpointed what is happening now with Rafa, especially your very first sentence. That is the essential truth now. His opponents are not playing the match of their lives. Rafa is allowing them to do it! He does only have to play a few games and expose his weaknesses for his opponents to exploit to their own advantage.
Rafa has lost his aura of invincibility. He no longer strikes fear in the hearts of his opponents. It’s no longer a case of them having already lost the match even before they take the court. He is an easy target for any and all players now. He doesn’t have the belief, confidence and most important, that ferocious will to win.
How many times has Rafa won matches that he should have lost? When he really wasn’t playing well that day and his opponent played great, yet in the end Rafa was the winner. Where is that Rafa?
Yes, it does still hurt a lot.
I’ll say it again. Definition of insanity dong the same thing over and over expecting a different result.
Rafa needs to take responsibility for making the changes necessary, not Toni.
It will not get better on its own through repetition. It can only get worse.
actually i agree and i was thinking just that during his very unconvincing match with bellucci.
ie was thinking that rafa is 29 now and has to take responsibility for his own life. not just go along with the family mantras.
i am sympathetic to him of course but i was also getting really cross thinking this is just utterly unnecessary…the remedies are in his own hands…..
🙁
I understand it is extra difficult for rafa to sack Toni because he is his uncle and both share a very close bond. But, he needs to take a step. In my view, he should add someone in his team and have Toni staying in his team. Just like Novak did …
Don’t waste yourself rafa….think about making a change!
Perhaps he will wait till USO and then finally decide to do something…..
Other than Rafa, what tennis great stayed with one coach for 12 years???
#TrickQuestion
Yet the insane Rafans cockily dismissed the RastaMan. Said Rafa would win no worriesI told you all. That’s 2-0 now. Jah has blessed the Jamrock man. Rafa should stop embarrassing himself this way and retire. He was a great champion.
Such a busy and fulfilled life.
(Your trolling attempts speak louder than your false claims.)
Hilarious!!!
🙁
🙁 🙁
🙁 🙁 🙁
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
Well said Annacone. Please forward your resume to Rafa.
https://twitter.com/paul_annacone/status/616699800596013056
Well said Annacone. Please forward your resume to Rafa.
Paul Annacone @paul_annacone
Sorry to see @RafaelNadal out But great does not go away adjust adapt turn the page he will stay at it and climb the mountain #more2come
Give rafa a call, Anacone! :/
btw,, rafa did not even try to change his return position in the match! he used to do it in the past . Nerves have crippled him so badly that….
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/616688624810229764
Noit having fun Rafa? Retire and go fishing.
Exactly! A washed up scrub in other words. The only thing I don’t like is that Roger’s draw plan worked to perfection again. He’s smiling smugly somewhere lighting up a spliff that he and Dustin will share later.
C’mon, at least find some creativity in your trolling.
You spend a lot of time trying to convince anonymous posters that you are not a Federer fan and that you have a busy and fulfilled life.
Your sad attempts at trolling speak louder than your false claims.
oh no….please let that be a beginning of change then. please….
rafa you are still and always will be a great champion, all you need is some help…..
Brown on Nadal: “It’s easy for me to play my game against someone like him…”
Exactly! A washed up scrub in other words. The only thing I don’t like is that Roger’s draw plan worked to perfection again. He’s smiling smugly somewhere lighting up a spliff that he and Dustin will share later.
C’mon, at least find some creativity in your trolling.
You spend a lot of time trying to convince anonymous posters that you are not a Federer fan and that you have a busy and fulfilled life.
Your sad attempts at trolling speak louder than your false claims.
#Yawn
Are you a recording? A bot that posts the same thing over and over again? Can you say anything else, little troll-bot?
I agree. That guy hawkeye posts a million times per day and says the same stuff over and over. What is he gonna do when Rafa retires. Go back to cheering for Roger? Milos perhaps?
https://twitter.com/cbfowler/status/616678854292295682
https://twitter.com/cbfowler/status/616678570979655681
Chris Fowler, please forward your resume to Rafa.
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/616678336111214592
First career loss to a qualifier at a grand slam.
https://twitter.com/jon_wertheim/status/616676419700178945
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/616670154928295937
#DontYou?
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/616668109886345221
I see hawkeye can’t give credit where credit is due. I called the Brown upset days ago. Deal with it. Rafa is finished now. Maybe he needs some weed to treat his anxiety.
For someone with a busy fulfilled life, you sure seem to feel coming here and trolling is pretty important lol.
Check back here when Murray sends the old man packing in the semis, m’kay?
Rafa is finished if he doesn’t make changes.
Come on filter? (Like all fedfans, no ability to be creative with no sense of humour.)
Fail better.
Roger is losing before the semi.
“I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy, we fought ourselves and the enemy was in us”…
I got tiger blood, man. My brain…fires in a way that is – I don’t know, maybe not from this particular terrestrial realm.
#Winning
Even after another tough loss at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal could find a bit of humor in his situation.
In his news conference after losing to 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown in the second round Thursday, Nadal was asked if he intended to stay in Wimbledon a bit longer in the house he’s renting with his family, to enjoy the atmosphere.
“I don’t have any more work here in London,” Nadal said. “So, if you want to use the house, it’s going to be free tomorrow.”
“Obviously this is a bad moment for me. I need to accept these kind of things that can happen. I have done that all my career,” he said.
“I’ll keep going – it’s not the end. It’s a sad moment, but life continues. My career too. I have to keep going and working more than ever to try to change that dynamic.
“I know I am going to every tournament with the right motivation, working well. I think I made all the things well to prepare here this tournament.
“In 2012 and 2013 I was not competitive because I had too many problems with my knees.
“Last year and this year there have been no problems at all with my knees. I was ready to compete. I lost.
vamosrafa,
Yes, that is from Rafa’s post-match presser. But in your quoting his words, we cannot see him face. The expression in his eyes said it all. He was feeling so sad and downcast as he said these things.
For one moment, after he said how he lost in 2012 and 2013 because of the knees and then said that he is healthy, I thought just maybe he might have realized that there is something else wrong and it is a big problem. He knows that this is not how he plays.
He’s not ready to compete. His words say one thing that he may truly believe, but his actions on the court do not support that. He is not competing, not forcing his opponents to play well, not doing what he has to do, what he has done so well throughout his career.
All I have to say after having some hours to reflect, is that I honestly did not ever expect it to come to this. I knew that Rafa was getting older and decline would be inevitable. But this? Never. 🙁
Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle and coach, summed up the Centre Court match this way:
“He played really bad. Bad shots. Very bad with his forehand.”
No , Toni. His forehand was lethal and he did not play badly at all!
I hope toni does not go to rafa and tell him that his forehand is really bad right now and he must hit the practice courts and fix that. Thinking of doing something different team nadal! What to do differently depends on you guys!
vamosrafa,
Thanks for quoting Toni’s words. Some people here think we are being tough on Rafa? He summed it up quite succinctly. There is no way to sugarcoast this loss. There are no excuses this year and Team Nadal know it. It’s true that Rafa was having problems with his knees in 2012 and 2013, as he said in his press conference. But not this year. Not this time.
I agree with you that Toni should not go to Rafa and lecture him about how poor his forehand was in the match. Forget about hitting the practice courts! It’s all in the mind.
Toni needs to get a clue. They cannot afford to waste any more time. I say use the time off that Rafa will now have for a good and worthwhile purpose. Get someone on the team to talk to Rafa, get his head straightened out so we can see the real Rafa out on court come the summer hard court season.
I also never thought it would come down to this 🙁
In fact, I always thought rafa’s mental strength would help him fight at the later stages of his career. His mental strength has now become his biggest liability!
Poor rafa ….
NNY, ,I can imagine how sad his face must be while saying this. It is too depressing.
Sorry, another typo in my post above. “Sugarcoast”? I must have been trying to invent a new word. No, I meant sugarcoat!
I’ve just read Tiggy post-Nadal’s defeat article. He discusses three theories about what’s happening. In the few comments so far a couple more are proposed. There seems to be truth to probably all of them: grass, form, slowing down getting older, the evolution of the game/younger quick hard-hitting players, and so on. What surprises me a bit is that unlike Chris Fowler and some others Tiggy has not a word on the inordinately high level of anxiety, that is even visible physically.
I was also thinking back at all this years of tennis… some things are becoming even more clear. Why it is only with another persona so to say that Rafa was able to be the kind of ultra-warrior he’s been for so long (until the last year or two). How he’s said over the years that he is always nervous going to a match and for stretches in a match… the mark of a person with anxiety… every time they are about to do something that is challenging or otherwise might involve some worries they will typically worry and feel some anxiety, no matter how many times they’ve done is before successfully.
Imagine having an anxiety condition. Imagine then choosing a solo sport where the pressures are so high and the mental aspect such a big part. Imagine developing the kind of will to win that makes you chase down every ball like your life depends on it. Then add to it such early success that you are on the ATP circuit at 15 playing men with mature bodies and years more of experience and stroke-honing. Run around the world doing this for 14 years. A proper recipe to aggravate the anxiety more and more.
I feel sorry for Rafa for not having met answers to this earlier in his life. I do hope he does soon. In the shoes of any of his personal friends I’d try very hard to get through to him on this.
Doubts started with back injury AO 2014 and he was tentative on clay but got his game back for FO. Injured wrist before summer, followed by appendicitis in the fall. Really has killed his confidence. That whole year other than the French was one thing after another and has buried him in a very deep anxiety hole this year he can’t climb out of mentally.
It’s going to take some big changes. I’m not sure he’s willing to make those changes.
Will have to wait and see.
I cannot still understand how can Rafa disintegrate so rapidly.
Rafa was mentally the strongest player on the tour. You give him a short ball and he used to crush it for a winner. Today and from past 1 year, open mid court FH are dumped into the net or sent out. It is shocking to see. Its an entire year of severe under-performance.
Either Rafa does not have it in him to fight or his body is not coping or he is mentally torn into pieces or all the 3.
It is very sad to see Rafa perform so abysmally. Every incredible champion should go out on a high.
Will he come back? Frankly, if this is to continue, he should take a bow. If he wants to turn it around and fight, he should continue. However clearly he is not doing the right things. Just practising long hours on court is not working, different methods are needed, maybe different voice, different advises, different strategies.
Why not try the new stick rightaway? Why wait till YE. You anyway are crapping with your current stick. Atleast you will get good 6 months of practise.
Please stop blaming Toni. Rafa is playing out there. Rafa is an adult and is responsible for his actions. If Toni is not working for him, get someone else. There will be millions wanting to touch you and help you.
Write this year off Rafans. This is Fed 2013 for Rafa.
sacking Toni would only compound the problem
I completely agree…