Feeling contemplative ...

That's me by the way, and not Rafa.

I've been away for most of the week celebrating my birthday, so last night's match was the first entire match I've seen of the week. Some suck a bit more than others, right? However, there's lots of good things to take out from it though. It's much better tennis than he was playing in South America; still lots of positive things to see in his game; it's still about the process of recovery. The trouble is, when he had all those break points in the second set and held 3 match points, you expect a better outcome. When he never faced a break point in that final set and had bad luck to go points down in the final service game, you still curse what happened. But if I'm being completely honest, his game isn't perhaps quite where it should be to beat the likes of Smugley, and rather he take what he can from this tournament so far than a defeat at the hands of that individual and the media frenzy that would go with it.

If I want for one thing and one thing alone in Miami, it's that he gets his break-through over a top 10 player because I think that's what his confidence needs right now. Close, but not quite there yet.

Anyhow, speaking of the media, I hope they're all very happy today as they got the upset they were looking for and can now cream over the marvel that is Fed as Raonic will no doubt totally roll over for him, and the UK commies can wet their pants like the over-excited schoolboys they are as they watch "multi-Slam winner" Murray play the robotic Djokovic. Sarcastic, me?? 

In the UK, we have the "pleasure" of having individuals occupy the studio and commentate on matches who have never in a million years played the sport at any decent level. Not even close. They might have had the luxury of playing the game as a job for a while - lucky them - but they have no idea what it's like to hold their nerve to win a Slam title, or even a Masters, or even a 250 series for God's sake. They have never known the rigour and stamina that it takes to win match after match to take them to a final. They didn't even win in places like Nottingham. They got wild cards for entry into Wimbledon and usually wilted quickly on outside courts. However, these are the "experts" of the game that our ears are subjected to as we go about following tennis on TV - or more to the point, the player - that we love.

These individuals never made it as top players in their own right, and instead now vicariously live their lives through the tennis players they support whilst eking out a living speaking about the game they have the fortune of still being involved in. Their bias isn't even well hidden. And sadly because Rafa is so often the fly in the ointment that takes out their favourite player, commentary has now become all about what player X or Y needs to do to beat him, rather than calling a match fairly on what both players are doing on the court. Shame that none of them have ever decided to nail their colours to Rafa's mast, but there you go. There's a whole army of Rafa's fans out there watching and the best we can hope for for any non-bias is Peter Fleming - quite.

I'm having my mini-rant because I feel that from the studio to the commentary booth last night, they were all on the edge of their seats hoping to witness some sort of upset. They know Rafa's game isn't where it has been right now, and even when it is, it's always about putting the focus on the other player to defeat Rafa. Before Rafa defeats the favourite that is theirs ...

I say that I would very much like to see Rafa take out that top 10 player in Miami because I'd like him to take that forward to the clay - and the confidence thereof. The clay is all about the tennis media sitting back and talking about who is/can/could/should defeat Rafa on the surface. It's not about revelling in the fantastic victories and extraordinary records that Rafa has/can/could achieve. It's about who beats him. Chris Evert has declared publicly to Novak Djokovic that "we want you to win the French Open". No - you do Chrissie. For obvious reasons. So I think I'd better cheer Rafa on in Miami to do the best he can and gird my loins for what is to come over the Spring months. Because if they're beefing up a potential upset against a guy like Raonic, then there's sure to be a whole host of further annoyance to come ...