Nadal's better than Federer on hard-courts? What a laugh. I guess that explains why Nadal won the AO without losing a set. Oh, wait, that was Federer.
And the AO was supposed to favor Nadal's game. Guess the guy just can't hack it in the slams outside of the FO.
Too bad you missed last year's Wimbledon final. ;-)
Nadal had mediocre results last fall and early this year. He wasn't playing badly, but he wasn't playing particularly well. He started playing well in Dubai (that's when he started "feeling his forehand"), and he's had some decent results since then, especially winning Indian Wells. And even though he won all the clay events he entered last year, his level of tennis is much higher this year.
If he keeps his current confidence and level of play heading into the summer, I think he'll give himself more chances on hardcourts than he has in the past. And even then he wasn't doing that badly, with five hardcourt titles, three of them at Masters Series events. He can play on hardcourts; his development is just lagging behind his claycourt play. But given the improvements he has made, particularly with his serve, backhand and volleys, I don't think we are going to see him "disppear" as many here predict. That's what everyone said after RG last year, and then he got to the Wimbledon final. Like it or not, he's going to be a factor on every surface and at every event his plays, if for no other reason than sheer stubborness. He hates to lose.
