Q. Any idea why you didn't play well?It sounds like something that could've been taken from David's press conference after his last match at Miami. This way of putting his poor performance down to having had a bad day and almost making it sound like fate, like something he couldn't have changed, no matter what... David said those words after his catastrophic first-round loss at Wimbledon, last year. Not that it makes much of a difference. After terrible matches, David invariably as well as exclusively talks, if he talks at all, about bad days and opponents that played well (even if they didn't, really), neatly evading any attempts by the journalists to make him explain in more detail what exactly he thinks he did wrong. And leaving it to the press and his fans to come up with their own explanations.
David: You have that kind of day sometimes. I tried. Every shot I miss, I miss by close. Important shots, important points are all gone.
Still, if there's one thing David cannot be accused of this season then it's not cooperating with the press. At least, if it's the press from his home country and the subject isn't necessarily tennis... After last year's Davis Cup final David's relationship with the Argentine journalists, somewhat strained because of what they perceived to be a lack of cooperation on his side, collapsed in an avalanche of spiteful articles, blaming him for the defeat. David's reaction was to set up a press conference during which he admitted that the communication between him and the Argentine press could use improving. And since the start of the current season, David has indeed adopted a more forthcoming and amicable stance in dealing with the press. He hired a press officer and avoided (until Miami at least) making controversial statements in connection with the Davis Cup. And he agreed to doing more interviews than before. Interviews in which he talked candidly and at length about a variety of things...
Maybe I would like to be not recognized quite as much to be able to have a more normal life. Because this is a very strange career to have, short and intense. Sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, watching the football match at a bar with some friends, those are things I cannot do. Those are simple things that would be good to experience without being troubled. ("Tengo que ganar como sea", Clarin.com)
My friends always tell me, "you'd be a mess if you weren't a tennis player." And they're not too wrong about that. But no, I always say I try to enjoy doing the things I like. And because you're famous it gets used against you. For example, who doesn't like to go to the carnival and have fun with friends? But if you're there and you're famous, you get in trouble for it. What can athletes do if they want to have fun? Just go to the movies and that's it? I see nothing wrong with it or that it's different for me than it is for anybody else. Because at the end of the day, the tennis player, just like any other athlete, is a person with a career that will be over at some point and a plan for the life that'll lie ahead of him then. And to enjoy simple things like that, is that wrong? No... Or I don't see it that way.While the last quote shows that he still doesn't really trust them, David has made the decision to talk to Argentine press more frequently and also more openly, perhaps also to have better control of what gets written about him and not leave quite as much ground to the journalists and their "speculations".
Q: Why is so little known about your other face, the Nalbandian who's not a tennis player?
David: Whenever I'm not playing, I just want to go back to my home, relax, and I don't want to be bothered by anybody. Not by anybody!! That's how I manage to relax.
Q: I can see that it bothers you, talking about yourself.
David: Look, as long as you're telling the truth everything is all right. The problem is when you're spicing things up, or say something just for the sake of saying something. If you tell the truth and you have a critical opinion about what actually happens, I have no problem with that because it's understandable that if you're a public figure you're in the news all the time. But until then I'd be happy if those who write about me would concern themselves more with what I do and base their opinions about me on what I do and not on speculations. ("David, es ahora o nunca", Clarin.com)
But when it comes to talking about his matches, and especially the really bad ones, nothing has changed. I used to think that David's famously minimalist press conferences in English came, to some degree at least, from not really being able to convey his thoughts in another language. But the truth is that he doesn't talk about his matches in any more detail when he's able to speak Spanish. It's not a question of language, it's obviously a choice that he makes. And one that I find rather frustrating, to be honest. Because whenever David has played a horrible match like the last one against Troicki, I'd like to be given the impression that he has at least some idea of what went wrong, of why he played as poorly as he did. I'd like to hear him talk about those matches as something that can be analysed and hopefully learned from instead of something that just happens and has to be accepted.
But while David might be blamed for taking the easy way out when talking about bad matches, what's definitely not his fault are the questions he gets confronted with during his interviews and press conferences. This season, perhaps more than ever before, I've been struck by the unimaginative, standardized questions David has had to face. In some cases over and over again (like the good old "what are your goals for this season?"). While I found myself hoping for answers to entirely different questions...
For example, why despite saying that he adapts his training before a match depending on who he's playing against, David obviously doesn't do any research about his opponents.
Or why he so rarely shows any real emotions on court these days.
I'd like to know whether during a match like the last one at Miami he truly believes until the very last point that he can still win it. And win it without making any adjustments to his game, e.g. playing with more topspin.
But most of all I'd like to know why failing to serve out sets and/or matches has become what could by now be called the leitmotif of this season. I'd simply like to know what goes on in his head in those situations. Why, with the set or match within reach, it suddenly becomes so very difficult to hold serve - and his nerve.
David's official take on a match he clearly dominated, failed to serve out and then went on to lose looks like this:
I had my opportunities to close out the match in the second set. But the truth is Monaco played a good match and deserved to win. (quoted on Mens ATP Tennis Blog)But I have my own little theory about it. Though it's really more of a hunch. I think that the whole problem could be related to last year's Davis Cup final, to coming so close to achieving his biggest goal, his dream. And then watching it slip away... Back then, suffering my way through the doubles, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that this match would continue to haunt David. The way he blew their lead in the third-set tiebreak. And also how he just couldn't seem to hold serve at crucial stages of the match (including getting broken for it).
I guess if I had the chance I'd like to ask David whether deep down inside he feels it's his fault Argentina lost the doubles and, in a way, the tie. And whether that match has perhaps left some kind of mark, constantly reminding him that even if he's close to winning something, it can all still go terribly wrong...
- Speculations, I know.
But how not to speculate when there are no real answers to be had?
Anyway, these are the questions I'd like to ask David about this season.
What are yours?
(Picture taken from a tennis.tv interview with various players about their favourite holiday location; there's another one with David in it about favourite foods.)
4 comments:
You've raised some interesting points here, Julia. And I think your speculations are pretty realistic.
I've never felt that David's simple answers came down simply to language. It's more to do with a reluctance to analyze. He has, I think, a bit of an anti-intellectual streak. And maybe he just doesn't like to play that game. Though you'd have to wonder what he would ever talk about with a coach.
Me, I would go back deeper than the DC doubles match. I'd be looking at that lost Wimbledon final and a similar lost opportunity in the US Open. Whether these were just bad luck, I can't say, but they seem to have loomed over his career making him an almost-grand-slam-winner, an almost-number-one-ranked player (reaching #3 at one time). I believe he turned to the DC as a last chance to make his name in a firm and historically meaningful way. And it looked within his reach. But then it went the same way as the other goals.
I'd be feeling down and fatalistic myself if I was in his shoes.
I also strongly believe that Delpo's arrival on the scene has shaken him. Delpo has that promising future that David had back at that age ... and which didn't get fully realized. It just emphasizes his predicament all the more.
All this is why I think he needs a good sports psychologist. He really needs to adjust his mental attitude to the game and maybe to life in general.
For the sake of his future happiness, I hope he does something fairly soon in terms of getting the right sort of help.
Yeah I think David's refusal to properly answer questions about his matches, his bad matches is the most frustrating thing reading his interviews.
But this year, I'm getting more of a feeling that he's doing even more explaining away of his losses than usual (and his career in general). Putting a positive spin on all of his losses, and taking all the blame away from himself. For example, I think it's ridiculous that he said that Lu played an extraordinary match.
Giving the impression that there isn't really anything that he's hoping to improve on, or that there were any mistakes to learn from. I think if you were to ask him what his game is like now compared to in the past when he was at his peak, he would probably say that it's about the same and that it's normal to have ups and downs in a career. And maybe even that it's more difficult playing against a younger generation of players. Having said that, he might have an idea about why this is the case on the back of his mind, behind all of those other thoughts that cloud his judgement.
I don't agree that he doesn't ever show any emotion these days, but more that when he does, it seems like more in a panicky way like being afraid of taking on the challenge rather than relishing it. (Though I think that last sentence is exaggerating it to some extent)
Anyway, here are the questions that I would like to ask. I couldn't think of any more.
1) When you see other players (like Murray, Del Potro and Roddick) make a determined effort to improve specific parts of their game and seeing it pay off great rewards, does that ever inspire you to try to do the same thing?
2) How do you react from bad losses? Is it more of a case of trying to stay positive, or is it sometimes better to be frustrated enough to want to learn from your mistakes? For example, if you got fatigued on the final day of Davis Cup, would that make you want to avoid that from happening next time?
3) Having been on the tour for so long, sometimes it can be easy to get stuck in the same routine in terms of training and lifestyle. What do you try to do to keep things fresh and interesting, in terms of training (not leisure)? Do you ever try different methods to see what works and what doesn't rather than following the same kinds of methods every year?
4) How would you say your game has changed from the last few years, from when you were at your peak? Do you feel like there are any particular aspects that have gotten worse, and is there anything you feel you have improved from?
Thanks for those suggestions and questions. :)
Maybe I should compile them, translate them to Spanish and mail them to the contact address at the official site.
Just so we can say that we tried...
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