Hi Kim - Not so sad are you?

What do you make of nadal's future? He sounded upbeat....well not that down yesterday.

How do you explain that Djoko and Murray, Stan, even Tsonga are getting stronger at 28+ whereas nadal is not? I cannot see them losing so much form in one year. Is Nadal injured again?

Well, looks like you have not digested it yet!

Here is Pioline's view on Nadal winning a 10th title:

Unikely cause :

1 - Nadal's body seems really fatigued.
2 - The level on tour has considerably progressed since.

https://fr.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/jeu-decisif/roland-garros-nadal-le-jour-dapres-094849868.html

Nadal is certainly not injured, and I haven't seen anyone say otherwise.

I think he is declining, and he's also low on confidence.

I am not sad about the result because I was expecting that to happen, with the exception of the 3rd set (I though that would be 6-4 or something, but Nadal seemed to give up hope).

I wanted Djokovic to win, but it was a hollow victory for me. You want to beat the best at their best. Rafa was a shadow of that.

luvsports! wrote:I wanted Djokovic to win, but it was a hollow victory for me. You want to beat the best at their best. Rafa was a shadow of that.

Maybe, I saaaae maybe, Nole is that good to make Rafa sweat and panic...just sayin'...

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Nadal is certainly not injured, and I haven't seen anyone say otherwise.

I think he is declining, and he's also low on confidence.

I am not sad about the result because I was expecting that to happen, with the exception of the 3rd set (I though that would be 6-4 or something, but Nadal seemed to give up hope).

Yes because as Pioline says he seems tired.

I don;t think he is declining at all. I think he is not as fit as before....and I feel a lot has to do with the fact he is not allowed as much time to recover between points. Just knowing he can't play according to his own rhythm makes his heart beats faster.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/#ooid=15dnRqdTqmg2msweJHZMa_3thhf_245d

Did not realise they have turned clay into grass in Stuttgart. Sad in a way as I would have preferred them to turn some of the HC tournaments into grass...but I like the extra week of grass.

Nadal has a weird complexion nowadays (se clip above). He doesn't look too healthy I must say with his multicolour skin and losing hair.

Kimmy is definitely not going to be sad after THIS...
The two new little Nadals (Toni's sons)  are coming!!!!

Which of those learns to moonball best out of those 2 gets my support.

LOL, Nadal humiliated by another journeyman.

Amritia, don't do anything stupid, it's only tennis.

Do you still think Nadal is the GOAT?

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooool,

Nadal fans are gonna cry themselves to sleep for the next month.

Enjoy the rest of Wimbledon Amritia

Not so funny when your man declines is it Kim?

Forehand more dead than a mouse in a mousetrap

Nadal should take his fishing more seriously, he's embarrassing himself on the tennis stage

TMF wrote:

Amritia, don't do anything stupid, it's only tennis.

I was on centre court and saw the match live, Brown played the better tennis and deserved to win. Nadal was ok, not a disaster, but lacked confidence in big points. Brown's huge serving (even some 130mph second serves!) was a big obstacle.

Also I must note that almost every post you write is to do with me, are you really upset with me or something ?

AceofDeath wrote:
Nadal should take his fishing more seriously, he's embarrassing himself on the tennis stage

Calm it Josiah, you've recommend Nadal take up fishing after every defeat in the past 4 years; if you were his coach the only bloody thing he would do all day was fish.

Hey Kimmy,
don't take it to heart, you are a legend in your own right

noleisthebest wrote:Hey Kimmy,
don't take it to heart, you are a legend in your own right

Thanks nitb

Atleast I'm pleased I got to see Rafa play (and cheer loudly...), but of course I'm not happy at the result; but in many ways I was expecting it especially if Dustin Brown red-lined as he did. Brown can be awful some days and ridiculously good the next.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:...Brown can be awful some days and ridiculously good the next.

As mentioned it depends on who is one the other side of the net.

Tenez wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:...Brown can be awful some days and ridiculously good the next.

As mentioned it depends on who is one the other side of the net.

Well that too, but also a lot of it is to do with motivation... he can get pumped up on centre court in front of a big crowd, but in a challenger with no one watching he loses focus and can be dire.

No crowd woudl have helped him v Federer, Djoko or Murray...or even Kholi honestly.

Exactly Tenez, it's Nadal's ineptitude on a low bouncing grass (relatively speaking of course) court that made Brown look good.

Fed, Novak and Andy would have figured him out in no time.

The 1D Nadal just aint got a plan B.

Kim - Do you see a drop of energy in Nadal's game? or is just confidence? The way he went at teh FO clearly shows a drop of energy to me.

I have seen this type of comment several times now.
Don't know how this biological passport works, but could that be a potential reason?
The timing looks spot on.


"Rafa used PEDs to win titles.
Biological passports in tennis implemented in 2014.
Look at him now."

Tenez wrote:Kim - Do you see a drop of energy in Nadal's game? or is just confidence? The way he went at teh FO clearly shows a drop of energy to me.

I think he's declining in general, and his confidence is also poor.
Will observe energy and stamina if and when he does play a 5 setter; but not much evidence either way on that front.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:

Tenez wrote:Kim - Do you see a drop of energy in Nadal's game? or is just confidence? The way he went at teh FO clearly shows a drop of energy to me.

I think he's declining in general, and his confidence is also poor.
Will observe energy and stamina if and when he does play a 5 setter; but not much evidence either way on that front.

He's not declining. He should be at his peak. he got beaten yesterday by an older player. Stop with this excuse. That doesn't make sense. Well he is not playing as well....but nothing to do with age.

He may have lost some energy. he is not whipping the ball as he used to, it seems. But here I am not so much referring to Wimby - where he actually always struggled in the first week as he can't quite cope with the skidding balls - but more about his clay season.

The stamina is another issue but not that important here. It's the lack of power. What was his first serve average from 2008 to 2013? Has that dropped?

Tenez wrote:
He's not declining.

He is, he peaked early and now is declining early. I don't think he can back to his dominating best; but if he improves his confidence I do think he can become a contender for Slams again.

.

noleisthebest wrote:And how do you think Nadal can improve his confidence?

Very difficult to say, everyone's mind is different so it's not possible for anyone apart from Rafa himself to know.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:

Tenez wrote:
He's not declining.

He is, he peaked early and now is declining early. I don't think he can back to his dominating best; but if he improves his confidence I do think he can become a contender for Slams again.

You'll never learn will you? A true fan!

His dominating best would simply not be good enough nowadays. he did extremely well to achieve as much with a one trick poney (his topspin). But as the game moves on, one needs to improve....and he isn't! If anything he may have lost some power....at a time he should start his peak!

Borg realised that at 27. he knew his long rallying were not hurting anymore. Nadal is understanding that too now.

If Nadal had still that energy, he woudl still be hard to beat.....but he woudl be beaten much more often now than then.

But without that energy...he is going to be what I have always said a top 50...at best!

noleisthebest wrote:I have seen this type of comment several times now.
Don't know how this biological passport works, but could that be a potential reason?
The timing looks spot on.


"Rafa used PEDs to win titles.
Biological passports in tennis implemented in 2014.
Look at him now."

I don't believe in this theory because there are too many workarounds to avoid triggering a Biological Passport case. Maybe he can't go full retard anymore though and this is enough to cause his downfall.

It's also ridiculously difficult to charge someone for such a a case, the evidence must be rock-solid because these natural limits are so difficult to determine. In cycling abnormal blood profiles led to target testing, I wouldn't put much trust in ITF testing though.

I am not very hopeful any top athletes will be exposed...it's against the money logic.
The passport can be a deterrent or a stick to beat them with...maybe.

Nadal is too smart to be rocking the boat like Armstrong did.

But I can dream....

Also, too many things happen behind closed doors.
But the bottom line is - money talks.

Autumnleaf wrote:
I don't believe in this theory because there are too many workarounds to avoid triggering a Biological Passport case. Maybe he can't go full retard anymore though and this is enough to cause his downfall.

It's also ridiculously difficult to charge someone for such a a case, the evidence must be rock-solid because these natural limits are so difficult to determine. In cycling abnormal blood profiles led to target testing, I wouldn't put much trust in ITF testing though.

Yes agree! The passport is actually a passport to dope as you can set the "natural" limits very high..and then you are almost safe for the rest of your career.

Apparently Martina Navratilova says he is "smaller" than before, meaning by that thinner I guess. It's so difficult to see on TV.

yes I read that.

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, in this court especially, you meet players that don't want to play from the baseline sometimes. This opponent is one of these ones. You cannot have mistakes against a player like him with that big serve. You know, nothing to lose. Serving first and second almost the same speed.
Without having rhythm at all. I didn't hit three balls in a row the same way.

BUT THIS WAS GRASS TENNIS FOR DECADES RAFA!!!! This why you should have never won Wimbledon!

Then when you need to hit that ball, extra ball, you don't have the confidence to do it. So that's what happened.
First game of fourth set was terrible for me. A very disappointing moment. Two forehands that I should not mistake. I did not play that forehand during the whole match. Arrive at that one, you lose confidence, you miss another. Then I fighted at the end, but no chance at all on the return. That's it, you know.
This court give the possibility to these kind of players to play like this, with chances of success.

WELCOME TO REAL TENNIS AGAIN RAFA! It used to be a time when it was all about seizing your chance..not about hard work and sweat but FLAIR and REAL GUTS!

I didn't serve enough good.

You never did really. Neither could you return anywhere but clay....before they made huge balls to help you ! You shoudl have lost to young Querrey back in 06, or Youzhny or Petchner or Haase, you name it. You have been very lucky in the past. It's however getting harder nowadays.

As you he says he should be very happy to have made 5 finals and won it twice!

I hate the way Nadal says 'these kind of players'.

As if they are an aberration, an insult to the game. The guy has no respect for any game style other than his own defensive moonballing. Remember how he dismissed the likes of Sampras ?

Brown played some excellent tennis full of flair and guts, as Tenez so aptly put it.

The kind of tennis that Nadal has NEVER produced, not even for five minutes in his entire career.

The fans of Nadal are not real tennis fans; they don't understand tennis. If they did actually appreciate the nuance of tennis they would never put Nadal in the same talent bracket as Federer. Anyone who has played tennis to any decent standard can see that Federer is so much more a versatile and all round player than Nadal.

Nadal fans are fans of a personality - that's all.

TMF wrote:I hate the way Nadal says 'these kind of players'.

I did not notice in the interview he was upset by "those kind of players" but certainly during the match, I felt he was really upset to see someone with such a low ranking beating him. He felt robbed by an opportunistic player. We remember his shoulder bump versus Rosol 3 years ago and yesterday he would have done the same if no-one else was watching. He smashed right at Brown on one occasion and seems gutted that some could win without all the effort he put in.

I guess he feels Brown is cheating by winning without sweating!