Rafa's struggles - Grand Slam edition

Rafa has been through a rough patch, but his #5 ranking is still pretty reasonable.  However, it has been mostly based on his reasonably good performances at Masters 1000 level and below.  His slam performances over the last 12 months have been by comparison abysmal.  The table below ranks players based on how many points they collected in the last four slams.

Here, Rafa is only tied with Feliciano Lopez at #17, and behind guys like Bautista Agut and Goffin.

There is of course a more positive way to look at it.  One can say that the slams are just four tournaments so they can be more heavily impacted by one bad outing, or a bad draw, or an inspired opponent.  The ATP ranking is a better indication of a player's overall level of play.  From this angle, one should expect that Rafa is likely to do far better in slams this year - even if his game does not improve from last year.  Slam SFs, and maybe even a final, are to be expected.  And it might not require all that much improvement to even sneak a slam title maybe - especially if Novak slips somewhere.

		RG	W	USO	AO	Total
1	Djokovic	1200	2000	2000	2000	7200
2	Federer	360	1200	1200	720	3480
3	Wawrinka	2000	360	720	180	3260
4	Murray	720	720	180	1200	2820
5	Tsonga	720	90	360	180	1350
	Cilic	180	360	720	90	1350
7	Gasquet	180	720	360	0	1260
8	Raonic	0	90	90	720	900
	Berdych	180	180	180	360	900
10	Ferrer	360	0	90	360	810
11	Nishikori	360	45	10	360	775
12	Simon	180	360	10	180	730
13	Anderson	90	180	360	10	640
	Monfils	180	90	10	360	640
15	Bautista Agut	45	180	180	180	585
16	Goffin	90	180	90	180	540
17	Nadal	360	90	45	10	505
	Lopez	10	45	360	90	505

The resistance to accepting what is in front of everyone is understandable, but illogical. There are now too many players who will walk into court smelling blood and glory, and with a game plan in mind. A good five rounds minimum of that, one every two days, is too much.

I'm not sure where the resistance is coming from

Not if you read the other thread
Rafa gets wild card for Buenos Aires

Pretty much resigned I would have said

He wasnt very good put simply. What was weird was how his form went down every time he was ahead, it wasn't like he fell off a cliff after a period he just made a mess of every close point. Hes lost IT, that ability to play well where it matters

People are willing to give him more time out of basic respect for who he is and what hes done. Those who don't think much of him are much quicker and eager to be done with him.

If he cant rediscover IT then he wont last much longer, not that it matters a jot