general huntingyou what is your take on the clay warrior? what is going on with him? some say that he may have lost his competitive fire? what do you think?
Rafa's body is paying the checks. You were always right, after what happened in 2009; he continued to insist playing all mandatory HC tournaments. The knee can only take so much.
As far as competitive fire? I don't think so, the guy is playing for history and he knows his place very well. Having said that, it's likely the believe in himself to make a successful comeback is not there. The field is strong! MC will answer all the questions. We'll see. If he plays IW and Miami......forget about it, stick the fork in him.
i am not very happy with him. he had them install an indoor hard court for him in mallorca a couple of years back just so he could wreck his knee year around.
just take this last experience: he was not able to get on the courts for 6 months and then when he can start hitting the ball a little bit, he went right back to his indoor hard courts.
so there were actual sightings of him sitting right in the middle of the court during practice because the knee was hurting so much. he was seen depressed and he wasseen rubbing his knee countless times. or holding it while sitting down. so he was in clear and obvious pain.
tony did not look very happy either.
so he is just dying to end his damn career.
he should gone straight to clay and at least give the knee a chance to come around slowly. and he needed to find his his ground game.
so now he still has a messed up knee and absolutely no rhythm off the ground.
somebody is going to beat him acapulco. somebody like nico almagro and ferru can easily take him down right now.
he still does not get it. clay is the wellspring from which he flows. it is clay that keeps him healthy and gives the ground game and the confidence to do well on other surfaces.
and if the knee is shot then you minimize match play and practice on hard courts.
