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]
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?