THE RAFA RENAISSANCE

http://goo.gl/Mf3O

Rafa:

"If the player wants to do it, the player can do it with any coach."


Obviously, Rafa was holding back in Toronto and Cincy, because his goal is the USO, and as he always does, he is taking his time to get into the h/c season. He wants to arrive in NY in the best possible physical form, and for all we know he may have been trying things out.

Now that the expectations of him winning at Flushing Meadows are low, he can get on with the job of winning his matches without any pressure.

VAMOS!

nadline:

Yes yes yes yes...that is what I have been saying all along!!!!!

I have a feeling that Rafa is going to win USO. Someone sometimes can be able to take two sets from him at a masters tourney but taking three sets from him at a GS is another type of job. Rafa is a far better player than he shows in Cincy.
So, vamos RAFA.....

so .. Same old story is going on with rafa on these fast h/c's

As i posted on the next day of wimby victory(when a rafa fanatics post that "he will conquer the h/c & indoor season") that his annual honeymoon on tour has comes to an end and now tough roads laying ahead.Let alone the conquerness he would have to struggle 2 win a single tournament in tough periods of next 8months.

The Problem is not confidence, these 2 Masters defeat would not disturb his Fort kind of confidence and physically he is in best possible shape for this later part of year but the problem in technic, the game which requires on these h/c's and he is terribly flawed in his game for H/c's.

Just Hope that something miraclous +ve happen with his game and he ables to give me biggest suprise of his career(Till now it's AO-09)

Rafa lost not because of technique. He lost because he couldn't find his backhand. Just compare his performance here and that of AO 09, where he won. Look at his backhand back then, see how lethal it was against all his opponents. Those opponents whom he had beaten then were no sloughs - the likes of Simon, Gonzo, the ridiculously red hot Verdasco and the hard court king Federer. Even during that AO, Rafa did hit his forehand a lot flatter too, only when he met Fed in the final, he revert to the top spin version which was more effective against Fed.

As long as every part of Rafa's game is clicking well at the same time, he has a chance to win; the worry now is can he fix all his problems in time for the USO? We have to wait and see how he plays the first few rounds to have a better gauge of where his game stands against those tough opponents that he may face in the later rounds.

I disagree with Rafa that coaching makes little or no different. He may feel that's so for him, maybe his work ethic is such that he thinks he would be just as committed to work hard for the win. However people like Verdasco, Berdych and Soderling. Have been impacted positively by good coaching. Often a player needs a centering force, a plan and a motivation, and more often than not, a good coach helps provide those things.

The article states that "NADAL" doesn't feel coaching makes a big difference for his game now that he is a mature player. Coaching for others is a different article all together.

Nadal's play in both Toronto and Cincy showed that he was "rusty" in both the backhand and his serve. Since both are key to winning tough matches, I suspect that he will be working hard on improving both and will be ready for the USO.

Sometimes players give their all, sometimes they know that they need to ease into it. I suspect that Nadal would have loved to win at either Toronto or Cincy, but not winning is almost as important. Great players use their loses as a way to gage their game and fine tune it. For top players who find themselves going deep into tournaments, this is a very important process. Look for those players to do their homework/courtwork and come out ready for battle. Nadal will do well and I hope he takes a big bite out in the big apple and the trophy. VAMOS!

grafight - I'm pretty sure that was the short version from Rafa's perspective. He's had the "coach" discussion many, many times now. I'm pretty sure Uncle Toni has been scouting these matches the last couple of weeks. He'll come to NY with plenty of good info for Rafa. This isn't going to be a "o.k., let's see how we can get through this" situation. Rafa wants to win this one, and I'm expecting something special. If the pressure is off of him because of the last two weeks, then all the better.

I love the optimism you guys provide on this sight for Rafa. It's just awesome. Isabeau, any gut feelings or premonitions? I loved your posts prior to Wimbledon.

Maya is right on, Toni will be full of advise for his nephew, Nadal is always open to his team's advise.

I see him going all the way, he is hungry for that last slam to complete his collection!

chopcus, I bet he's ravenous!

Ravenous sounds PERFECT! : )

grafight,
like I said when Murray was having a down time, only he knew why, and only he could fix it and he has. We can all have opinions as to why Rafa wasn't playing his best in Toronto and Cincy, only he knows why, and it would appear by what he said, that it was not to do with technique, he says a player can do it if he wants to, that's why I believe he wasn't pushing himself too much, he was not hungry for those titles so he didn't want to put the USO at risk by going all out to win them.

I hope I am not sounding as if he lost on purpose, he was fairly beaten by Murray and Baghdatis, but we all remember his first few matches at Wimbledon were far from plain sailing, but he really wanted that title, so he would have fought to the death to get it, but I'm not sure the motivation was so much there this time. Let's also not forget that a lot of the guys didn't have a break after Wimbledon, so they were more match fit than the top 4 players.

I have no doubt that Rafa will be ironing out all the creases in his game ready for Flushing Meadows.

VAMOS!

I trust that Rafa will do his best!.........and for that I will always be proud of him.

VAMOS

luckystar, 8/23/10 4:48 PM,

I completely agree with your comments in this post. It's like you were reading mind.
I did want to comment on another factor that affected Rafa's backhand. In his post-match press conference, he said that the low bounce on the court was causing him to have problems getting the feel for how to hit the backhand. So it's not just about court surface. It's also about whether the ball bounces really or higher. Rafa was struggling to begin with and the low bounce of the ball just made it that much harder for him to get the feel for his backhand.

From what I have heard, the USO hardcourts are somewhere between Toronto and Cincy when it comes to speed. I am not sure about the bounce on those courts.

I have the same concerns as to whether there is enough time for Rafa to work out the kinks in his game and get into really good form before the start of the USO. That is the dilemma. Also, I am sure that Uncle Toni has been watching Rafa's matches and will have some pertinent observations. Rafa has said in the past that he listens to Uncle Toni and sometimes they agree and sometimes they don't, but that in the end, he is the one who decides what needs to be done.

I also agree that the first few rounds will give us a much better idea of where Rafa's game is at. I will be watching his serve closely. If it suddenly starts working better and he gets that first serve in more, then I will know that he was definitely holding back for fear of reinjuring his abdominals.

It's foolish to discount Rafa in any slam, no matter what the surface. With his mental toughness and ferocious will to win, no way should he be written off.

Sorry again for the typos!

I meant to say that it's like you are reading MY mind!

Also, it's about whether the ball bounces really LOW or higher.

Great comments from all.
I do agree that Rafa most certainly knows exactly what's working and what isn't with his game. You can tell by the interviews. You can't be #1 in the world without some serious knowledge of the game and your own strengths and weaknesses. But of course knowing that you need a backhand capable of beating the best players on the planet on HC, and a serve to match, and getting them are very different things.
But of course if someone can do it, Rafa can.

Non of the top 4 players was in great form, although I think Rafa was the most rusty. I don't know about Roger because he hardly played any matches to get to the SF. Rafa knows that he needs match play to get his rythm, so maybe he won't sit around for 4 weeks next summer before the American swing if he wants to win the Masters.



VAMOS!

Wow Nadline - Your a little harsh on your boy. A couple of those weeks were spent healing the knees and then he was back at it. Personally, I think Rafa would love to win the Masters events, but more importantly is getting the match play for the open.
Remember, he held back on his serve in Toronto so as not to risk injury. I'm sure he knew he had little chance of winning the tournament without a strong serve, but a small price to pay if it means he goes into the open healthy. Now that he's warmed up he can practice that serve (when it's not raining) till the cows come home. I don't know that Rafa will ever again play all out at Toronto or Cinci if it means the possibility of injury just before the USO. This is the sort of planning that he and his team will have to consider as he continues with his career.

Nadline. The physicality of Rafa's style is key to his game. And we know what happens if this is compromised. He only has two gears - flat out or turbo-charged. I suspect in an ideal world he would not have played Toronto or Cincy so soon after the knee treatment.

On the other hand Roger has multiple gears and for years was able to win while still in 'cruise control' and only stepped up the pace for crucial matches. The difference between then and now is that he is being called upon to use that top gear more frequently.

Roger had some injury issues earlier this season so if he has been protecting his body for the USO (which he almost certainly has) this would account for the drop in lst serve percentage, the uncharacteristically high UEs, and the impression he is struggling more.

Both Murray and Djokovic have 'head' issues to overcome but both enjoy the big stage and could surprise us all. Adrenalin can work wonders.

We'll know the answers in just over two weeks from now.

ed, I have to qualify your statement about Fed having more gears and Rafa has only two. That only applies on the hard courts, do know that on clay, Rafa is the one with so many gears and most of the time, he doesn't even need to switch to top gear; whilst we see the limitations in Fed's clay court game. He himself admitted that he needed to do adjustment to his own game to adapt to clay and you can see similar style of play by Fed even on clay. Rafa on the other hand, plays differently on clay, grass and hard, as basically he is more aggressive and adjusted his court positions for both grass and hard. Fed's game is less effective on clay than grass/hard, and hence he is more vulnerable on clay, as shown by his defeats
at some of the clay masters at the hands of lesser opponents like Volandri, Stepanek, Gasquet, Gulbis and Montanes.

nadline, I suspect Rafa was forced to sit around this summer, to some extent. He definitely had knee treatments and I am sure this limited his ability to keep up the training schedule that he would otherwise have undergone during the weeks away from competition. I remember he said he would not travel to watch Spain's footballers contest the World Cup final in South Africa the week after Wimbledon, but he was there. This made me think that in the days following Wimbledon the doctors had maybe ordered him off training. He might as well go and watch them, so.

I bet he is training hard this week to catch up to the other guys. A few of the players show signs of coming into form, but nobody has been outstandingly consistent, so he knows he has a great opportunity to win this time.

VAMOSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!