ARTICLES:
- Qualifier Brown sends Nadal crashing out (via Wimbledon)
Lukas Rosol was ranked 100 when he beat the Spaniard in the second round in 2012; Steve Darcis was No.135 in the opening round a year later; in the last 16 just 12 months ago, Nick Kyrgios was No.144; and now Nadal’s string of defeats has reached a new low. Never before in any Grand Slam has Nadal been beaten by a qualifier – until the second round of Wimbledon 2015.
- Nadal Vows To Change “That Dynamic” (via ATP World Tour)
“I don’t have [any] more work here in London, so… If you want to use the house, [it’s] going to be free tomorrow,” he told the media with a laugh.
In good spirits despite the loss, Nadal maintains that he still has the motivation to improve his level and looks at the big picture when it comes to his relationship with the grass at Wimbledon.
“[It’s] going to be in my heart and in my memories forever, the 2008 final. That was probably one of the most important moments of my career, and [it] was here.
- The Unified Theory of Rafa (via tennis.com)
The game evolves, and it will evolve past Nadal one day. Maybe Rafa is starting to see that or feel that, and finding it harder to combat it with the weapons he has, and the strokes he learned 20 years ago.
For my own part, I still believe Nadal has more major titles in him, and another run up the rankings—he has slumped before and recovered. But this was the first time I’ve seen a healthy Rafa take a very bad loss, and thought that we should have seen it coming.
- On Centre Court, Paths Increasingly Diverge for Federer and Nadal (via New York Times)
“Rafa has too many highs and lows for the moment,” said Toni Nadal, his uncle and coach. “And so he doesn’t have the right feeling with the racket in his hand. Changing rackets is a possibility. We’ll see. We’ll do some testing.”
Nadal was asked what he would do if he could not get his career back on the upswing. Would he be prepared to play on with a low ranking?
“I’m not going to deceive you; I don’t know,” he said. “I think today it’s early for us, but hey, if it lasts for two years or more, then of course we will see what happens.”
Tim Henman, former four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist: “Rafael Nadal has struggled with confidence. When you have won 14 Grand Slams and 60-odd tour titles, it amazes me how fragile his confidence is.”
John McEnroe, three-time Wimbledon champion: “Rafa admitting publicly he was struggling for confidence – maybe that inspired players in the locker room. But I still believe he will win a few majors.”
Marion Bartoli, the 2013 Wimbledon women’s champion: “Rafa Nadal is too much of a champion to not come back to the level he played. He needs to find a reason why his forehand is not working. You can’t write him off.”
- Rafael Nadal told by John McEnroe to axe Uncle Toni and “get a new damn coach” (via The Telegraph)
Speaking on his BBC Radio Five Six-Love-Six programme: “Rafael Nadal is one of the great champions – a class act. He plays with a lot of effort and energy but, dare we say, is it time for some fresh blood in the Nadal camp? Can we say that? Uncle Toni’s going to be upset.
“I know that he has had other people – Carlos Costa, Francisco Roig, but athey have tried to gently persuade Uncle Toni – who has done a magnificent job since he was a little kid and told him it was a good thing to go left-handed – but clearly at this stage it would appear that some fresh ideas would be in order.”
After being told he was being diplomatic by co-presenter Tim Henman, McEnroe replied: “I’m saying get a new damn coach!”
PHOTOS:
- Rafael Nadal loses in Wimbledon’s second round
- Upset on Center Court: Brown defeats Nadal (via Wimbledon)
- Wimbledon 2015: Rafael Nadal speaks after his defeat
VIDEOS:
Check Rafa’s hard working response to his latest debacle: chilling at the beach…..
Don’t worry. After his beach vacation, Rafa’s headed straight to the nearest golf course to work on his wedge shot, and after that, straight to the nearest poker tournament for more fun and games. He’s got it all covered. Except tennis. Uncle Toni is taking care of that by finding him a new racquet. That will fix everything. NOT!!!
It’s obvious that this man is no longer interested in Tennis.
He should just take a graceful bow, before Djokovic destroys all of his legacies!
With current Richard Gasquet’s form , I don’t think Nadal can even whip Gasquet anymore. Even minors like Gasquet and Steve Johnson would fancy their chances against Nadal these days!
Time for Nadal to exit and focus on Sky diving, poker and golf. Who kows, maybe he’s the next Tiger Woods!
The way things are going for Rafa, it won’t be long before his only public appearances will be “competing” on the Seniors’ circuit with all the other old-timers, and his occasional appearance at slams sitting in the front row applauding Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Wawrinka, Cilic, Nishikori, etc… as they battle each other for the next slam trophy. That day may come a lot sooner than many of his fans think, if Rafa doesn’t get his act together. PRONTO.
THE BIG QUESTION IS: DOES NADAL BELIEVE IN HIMSELF????
IF NADAL DOES NOT BELIEVE IN HIMSELF, THEN HOW DO WE BELIEVE IN HIM????
A qualifier, Dustin Brown, without a coach actually played and defeated Nadal !!!
What a shame!!!!
Nadal should exit immediately and move over to playing Poker anf golf with Uncle Tony.
Grigor Dimitrov has been in poor form recently and sacked his Coach today!….. Just saying?!
Very good point about Dimitrov. He did the right thing by sacking Rasheed, as did Radwanska when she sacked Navratilova in late-April after 4 months of poor results under her tutelage. It doesn’t mean that Rasheed & Navratilova are bad coaches. It just means that they are no longer the right coach for those 2 players. The same is true with Rafa & Uncle Toni. It’s time for a change. And has been for quite a few years now. But unfortunately for us fans, it appears that Uncle Toni’s career is their top priority, not Rafa’s.
Rafa, I watched Djokovic play Alexander early hours of this morning. Kevin ran circles around Novak n won the first 2 Sets. In my opinion, Novak was shell shocked n really worried n kept looking at BB. Unfortunately, Kevin seemed to slacken off in the 3rd Set n Novak took advantage n won It! I went to bed hoping Kevin would get back his concentration. I think Lady Luck was on ND’s side when the game was stopped for bad light! There’s a story in this Rafa, Novak could have been beaten but luck was on his side n he came back fighting, like you used to. With a few changes in your Camp n your old way of thinking ……. “Rafa always came back fighting n WON – like the Spanish Bull”, you can beat them all once again! You won, won, won Rafa n became a legend at a very young age. We love you Rafa n want to see you play at top level for many more years. Vamos Rafa. May God be with you. Love your Aussie Abuela. 😀😄😃
Ola Dear Rafa, Best wishes on your brief break at home ….vamos sweetheart & wish you & your amazing team nice time w lots of fun getting ready for the US OPEN!!!! !!! : ) God bless you!!! : )
Come on rafa..champion 🏆 will come back to world number 1.
Rafa my dear boy, I have read all the above comments, n I can see that your faithful fans, like myself, plus retired Tennis Champions are feeling your pain n have offered genuine advice as everyone wants to see many more years of you back to No.l ATP ranking. You are a legend n still so young to let your game slip away, unfortunately partly due to injuries n ill health. I have great respect for Uncle Tony n I know how you feel as he taught you so much in tennis, but you would not be letting him down if you took on another Coach to work side by side with Tony. Roger F., Djokovic, Murray n so many others changed or engaged an extra Coach n their games have improved considerably. Do think about it Rafa. Tennis is not the same without you n I tend to lose interest in watching Wimbledon! I am an old lady n I love to watch you play. I will always barrack for you Rafa. Keep smiling n don’t feel sad. God bless you. Vamos Rafa. Love your Aussie Abeula. 😀😄😃
I have always been a die hard Rafa fan. I absolutely love him, but one has to face facts. Some of his comments right up to this Wimbledon make me wonder what he wants. One has to talk positive at all times, think and believe it. His play has gone down since 3-4 years. Astrologically, his stars are very bad so he needs to come to terms with that and change something. His style, approach, shots need a change. An additional coach – Borg or McKenroe could be added.
Maybe Rafa could take a break – regroup and get stronger in every way and then return.
I hope he comes back, strong and gives us all a thrill to watch him again. Honestly, I could not bear to see him playing brown – was bewildered and shocked – wanted to cry.
Of course in the end it matters what he wants.
Vamps!!!
My personal preference for Rafa’s new coach would be Paul Annacone. His analysis on Tennis Channel of Rafa’s current problems are spot on, IMHO. But there are many other excellent options to choose from: Mats Wilander, Darren Cahill, Brad Gilbert and Larry Stefanki, just to name a few.
If Rafa wants a Spanish-speaking coach, there are numerous great options to choose from as well: Jose Higueras, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Emilio Sanchez, Alberto Montano, and Fernando Gonzalez, just to name a few. Even old pal Carlos Moya would be far better than the current set-up.
If Rafa insists on keeping Uncle Toni around with the new coach, a good choice might be US Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez – who speaks Spanish BTW – and whom I think would mesh well with the current team because they wouldn’t feel as threatened by a female coach as they would by a male coach. Mary Joe has the type of personality that gets along with everyone. This would also put to rest the rapidly spreading misconception that Rafa is chauvinistic and/or misogynistic.
With all due respect, I love Bjorn Borg – he and Rafa are my two favorite players of all-time – but he’s been away from the pro tour in any capacity for far too long to be an effective coach right now for Rafa or any other top player. And I don’t think McEnroe has the time or patience to be an effective coach either. His one-year stint as US Davis Cup captain was a total debacle.
VAMOS!!!
Oops. My bad. I meant to recommend former French Open Champion & Spanish Davis Cup captain Albert Costa – NOT Alberto Montano – as a possible new coach for Rafa. Montano is a retired Ecuadorian soccer player who knows even less about pro tennis than Uncle Toni does. I always get those Spanish names mixed up. LOL.