Topic: Enter the Clay Warrior King : Domination Redefined / 7 RG Titles and Counting

[hercules]

what are your own expectations for nadal in 2012 and beyond?

have at it. the floor is wide open and it is at your disposal.

[Alex]

I'm glad to see you  back to this board  . I don't know what to expect regarding Rafa. It's very hard to say. OK, Nole has a momentum right now but it's not given. Rafa is still very young. .

And Babs and other guys here please behave. Herc does tend to be very passionate sometimes but he does love tennis. Show some respect. Last time he has posted on this board you  all have  jumped as if he is a terrorist or something.

[hercules]

good to see you alex.

people seem to have a wrong impression about me. i only tend to fight back and try defend myself against unreasonable attacks.

and for that, i am the one who gets banned.

it is not my style nor is it a style of any warrior to ever attack for the sake of attacking. it is not the way of the warrior.


at any rate, i have this feeling that the clay warrior is going to try to hit back hard in 2012 and let the chips fall where they may.

RG is a difficult proposition for anybody and he is going to try to make sure that it stays that way for starters. he will try to take it from there.

the environmental threats are ver real for the clay warrior now and he fully understands that.

[swish]

Hey CD. I stopped by the castle yesterday and learned of your demise. It's a price that has to be paid now and then.

I just got finished watching the Miami masters. Nadal hit only a few real solid BH's but they were beauties, the point is that his backhand can be a powerful weapon when he wants it to be but he uses it so sparringly in that way.
The problem is that he's seen what I have and hasn't changed anything, it doesn't have to be adding new skills but change of attitude. He has to go for it harder, take more chances and put some more pace on his shots. If it's his day he'll win. Against anyone but Djokovic he can play the same as he is now. The thing is he has to practice pounding the ball now and then to keep it in muscle memory for when he needs it.

I'm not sure about next year, if things go how they are now then Djokovic should have a chance everywhere.
Even RG I have to give him the edge, I know this is a mortal sin saying such things but there's no where Nole can't win. He'll lose some but they will be random losses, not because of any surface.

Now the masters looks like he can clean up too, his domination is over all players.
It's so good there's little for anyone else.

Nadal may get RG or Wimbledon but may get neither also.

[Alex]

I know my friend. I've known you since what, I believe '07 when we used to post on tennis.com.

My biggest disappointment this year is that I wanted to see Nole and Rafa in the final of RG. It was supposed to be best fight ever I think. OK, Roger managed to win against Novak but than I was like meh. I knew that Rafa was going to destroy Federer. I simply don't like their matches because it's so predictable  . I get bored watching their matches.

Rafa needs to improve  his serve, especially his second serve. I' also think that his BH is weak. Djokovic is ruthless when he is returning anybody's serve. I think Rafa was serving much better last year. He also lost his confidence. He just does not look as sharp as back in 2009-10. I actually have this stupid feeling that there is something deeper going on with him. Nole is playing very well but Rafa seems to be a little bit lost. Now. Novak looked to me like a moron for a couple of last few years although he managed to stay #3 for a long time.

On the other hand, Rafa will probably win against anybody not named Djokovic atm. These two titans will battle many battles I think. Rafa still has better h2h.

[Tennis4you]

One can never tell with Nadal.  He needs to get over his mental block against Nole or he is going to have another tough year.  And I agree with Alex, Nole and Rafa should have faced off in the FO finals, it would have been a sweet match for sure!

[hercules]

Hey CD. I stopped by the castle yesterday and learned of your demise. It's a price that has to be paid now and then.

I just got finished watching the Miami masters. Nadal hit only a few real solid BH's but they were beauties, the point is that his backhand can be a powerful weapon when he wants it to be but he uses it so sparringly in that way.
The problem is that he's seen what I have and hasn't changed anything, it doesn't have to be adding new skills but change of attitude. He has to go for it harder, take more chances and put some more pace on his shots. If it's his day he'll win. Against anyone but Djokovic he can play the same as he is now. The thing is he has to practice pounding the ball now and then to keep it in muscle memory for when he needs it.

I'm not sure about next year, if things go how they are now then Djokovic should have a chance everywhere.
Even RG I have to give him the edge, I know this is a mortal sin saying such things but there's no where Nole can't win. He'll lose some but they will be random losses, not because of any surface.

Now the masters looks like he can clean up too, his domination is over all players.
It's so good there's little for anyone else.

Nadal may get RG or Wimbledon but may get neither also.

good to see you swish.  they banned me for 1 month for defending myself. 2 imbeciles have been atacking me around the clock but they get away with it.

no worries. i have friends everywhere. some of the folks here are wonderful and they have a great understanding of what i am all about.


i see nadal`s problem as that of complacency after 2010. he felt he could just cruise from there. a big miscalculation.

and sure enough the rest of the world was more hungry. so he got ambushed. nole had always been better than him on hard courts in the best of 3 sets foremats save for one masters event at indian wells.

now nole proved that he can deal with him in best of 5 sets foremats too on hard courts.

nadal basically even let his fitness slip after 2010. as you saw, he had no energy left at all after that 4th set at the u.s. open. absolutely nothing left in the tank.

since he has suffered heavy casualties on all fronts, i am led to believe that the biggest problem was his own complacency. he did not have enough time to recover from that. nole just kept riding that high wave of confidence. nole just stayed one step ahead of him.

so he wants to be more competitive in 2012 and he says he wants to be, he has to fix his fitness first and foremost.

and then he just has to do what he has always done: dig in and fight. that is all anyone can ask of him and that is all he can ask of himself.

[hercules]

One can never tell with Nadal.  He needs to get over his mental block against Nole or he is going to have another tough year.  And I agree with Alex, Nole and Rafa should have faced off in the FO finals, it would have been a sweet match for sure!

you may get to see that battle in 2012.

just remember one thing: clay warrior has lost just 1 best of 5 sets foremat match on the red clay in 7 years.

i think he will take care of his turf.

so my bet is on the clay warrior. he is 6 for 6 in the finals there. until that changes, it is difficult to believe anything different.

[Avatar]

im predicting that nadal will finally beat djokovic again in 2012. this massive streak he's on now will end sooner or later and i think itll be sooner rather then later. i think djokovic will have another great year in 2012 but it wont be anywhere near as good as 2011. nadal will somehow get over this mental thing he has with djokovic and will beat him in a slam final, or two. im picking (no pun intended) nadal to win RG again, and reach at least the final of wimbledon again. the AO and US maybe the semis?

[Emma]

I'm glad to see you  back to this board  . I don't know what to expect regarding Rafa. It's very hard to say. OK, Nole has a momentum right now but it's not given. Rafa is still very young. .

And Babs and other guys here please behave. Herc does tend to be very passionate sometimes but he does love tennis. Show some respect. Last time he has posted on this board you  all have  jumped as if he is a terrorist or something.

But our dearest herc is only here when he is banned from MTF. That's not showing much respect to us either, now is it?

But I like herc regardless.

[Emma]

It's quite possible Nole will let Nadal beat him in a lesser tournament just to get the monkey off the back. Where it counts, I am sure he'll give his all. He does have a ton to defend starting with AO, so it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds next year for everyone. I think it will all come down to who wants what at that moment. Eventually one solution of the said problem will take care of the other.

[Tennis4you]

I'm glad to see you  back to this board  . I don't know what to expect regarding Rafa. It's very hard to say. OK, Nole has a momentum right now but it's not given. Rafa is still very young. .

And Babs and other guys here please behave. Herc does tend to be very passionate sometimes but he does love tennis. Show some respect. Last time he has posted on this board you  all have  jumped as if he is a terrorist or something.

But our dearest herc is only here when he is banned from MTF. That's not showing much respect to us either, now is it?

But I like herc regardless.

Well let's do our best to get him addicted to T4U over the next 4 weeks. : )

[Alex]

I'm glad to see you  back to this board  . I don't know what to expect regarding Rafa. It's very hard to say. OK, Nole has a momentum right now but it's not given. Rafa is still very young. .

And Babs and other guys here please behave. Herc does tend to be very passionate sometimes but he does love tennis. Show some respect. Last time he has posted on this board you  all have  jumped as if he is a terrorist or something.

But our dearest herc is only here when he is banned from MTF. That's not showing much respect to us either, now is it?

But I like herc regardless.

Who cares? He used to post here regularly before you even joined our little community. I think he had over 10,000 posts. He used a different nick name (Hercules). That's why I still call him Herc.

[hercules]

i will always post here from time to time as long as i am welcome.

i believe we have some great folks here starting with the founder of this site.


so now to get back on topic, in which areas does nadal need the most improvement as far as you can see?

i firmly believe he has let his supreme fitness slip. sure he was born with this amazing vo2 max but at some point it starts to decline unless you put in the hard yards.

in other words, he could outlast them all before pretty much on his natural gifts from the gods. all that was required was some work on the fitness front and lots of court time.

that 5 hour 15 match against verdasco did not affect him for his 4 hour 15 minute final against fed in 2009. in fact he actually needed that work on the court to be properly prepared for the final.

[swish]

Usually this time of the year Nadal has slready played so much, this year was no exception.
Nadal was tired after the third set at the USO. it may have been a drop in fitness at least some but chasing the balls by Djokovic was very tiring.

Djokovic has been putting the ball back in play like never before and many rallies were long. Djokovic makes few errors from the baseline, he's become patient and will not try to make the points short.
His endurance will allow him to play this way and now he's one guy that no one wants to take to a fifth set.

At RG next year Nadal will have to make quick work of Djokovic, the five sets isn't in his favor unless he increases his endurance. The USO was only four sets and Nadal looked worn out.

He can work on endurance but he may have to drop a few tournaments in the clay swing to keep his endurance at the highest level.

Scheduling was never Nadal's strong point to say the least but he may have to take a serious look at it now.

If he goes into RG with so many clay tournaments already played next year is a huge mistake.

He got the message by now.

[euroka1]

Hullo herc, good to see you here again  . Please stay around. I always enjoy your postings even when I don't agree with them.

[hercules]

good to see you mate.

and thanks for the welcome.

[Alex]

Of course you are welcome. You know that I post on MTF too but I love this board because people are more mature and respectful. I'd say that guys and gals here are also more knowledgeable. Even when we disagree here, nobody  will call you a mug or an idiot or whatever.

[Tennis4you]

Of course you are welcome. You know that I post on MTF too but I love this board because people are more mature and respectful. I'd say that guys and gals here are also more knowledgeable. Even when we disagree here, nobody  will call you a mug or an idiot or whatever.

Whatever you mug!

Get some of the good MTF posters here yos!

[Alex]

Of course you are welcome. You know that I post on MTF too but I love this board because people are more mature and respectful. I'd say that guys and gals here are also more knowledgeable. Even when we disagree here, nobody  will call you a mug or an idiot or whatever.

Whatever you mug!

Get some of the good MTF posters here yos!

I know I'm a mug, lol. Dr. Emma will confirm that I'm a mug  .