Nadal determined to recover 'mental strength'
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Nathaniel_Near
Guest
Great interview!
"This will be a year for bettering myself internally. Not for beating Djokovic or anything like that. It is a question of going beyond myself personally, all the rest is secondary. The problem is internal, it is about personally wanting to take a step further, again."
This line stands out to me.
"This will be a year for bettering myself internally. Not for beating Djokovic or anything like that. It is a question of going beyond myself personally, all the rest is secondary. The problem is internal, it is about personally wanting to take a step further, again."
This line stands out to me.
tusharlovesrafa
Hall of Fame
Great interview indeed...
Lsmkenpo
Hall of Fame
Nadal is naive, firstly regarding his tactics against Djokovic, Boris Becker is spot on, Nadal kept getting killed going to Djokovic's backhand far too much. This was evident in their first few meetings of the seasons, not seeing it as a tactical flaw at that time is why he never changed and lost every match against him last year. I wonder how many matches he needs to lose to finally believe Djokovic's backhand is now up to the challenge of Nadal's short overspun forehand strokes. Mental toughness doesn't do squat when djokovic is blasting BH winners crosscourt.
Secondly Nadal is clueless when it comes to the business of tennis, Federer knows better. Nadal frequently speaks out about things the company that represents himself and also Federer(IMG) is controlling, apparently unbeknownst to him. That is why they hired Carlos Costa to handle and manipulate him to keep him from screwing up their business and shooting himself in the foot. You notice how often Nadal says something stupid and than nothing more is heard about it and he goes on to makes decisions that don't correspond with his opinions of the tour.
Secondly Nadal is clueless when it comes to the business of tennis, Federer knows better. Nadal frequently speaks out about things the company that represents himself and also Federer(IMG) is controlling, apparently unbeknownst to him. That is why they hired Carlos Costa to handle and manipulate him to keep him from screwing up their business and shooting himself in the foot. You notice how often Nadal says something stupid and than nothing more is heard about it and he goes on to makes decisions that don't correspond with his opinions of the tour.
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D
Deleted member 77403
Guest
Getting bludgeoned repeatedly by Djokovic's backhands would be enough to drain anyone mental strength. Nadal was a prime example of getting burned by that weapon, and his mental strength got burned also.
passive_aggressive
Banned
Lol, Nadal should keep using his lefty spin to the backhand. He should change the tactic just cuz he's facing Djokovic!? Lol, no.
Just hit more topspin. The backhand WILL break down.
Tennis is not a thinking-man's game - Nadal needs no change in tactics, just needs to hit more spin.
aphex
Banned
Fortunately there's no tactic, no gameplan, no strategy Ralph can use to beat Djokovic. Djokovic 2.0 is simply an intrinsically superior player.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Eye of the tiger Rafa, how bad do you WANT IT again? He basically says in the interview he lost it, and needs to see if he can go to that place again.
D
Deleted member 77403
Guest
Eye of the tiger Rafa, how bad do you WANT IT again? He basically says in the interview he lost it, and needs to see if he can go to that place again.
Stallone was extremely ripped in Rocky III. He was also very light, because he wanted Thunderlips to look like a monster. He said the perfect weight was Rocky IV, he was fuller and looked more muscular.
MariaRafael
Banned
Most probably Djokovic is done. His frail body couldn't bear the strain and stress of 1 year of success. Next year he'll have to defend all his points which will break his poor nerves to bits and pieces.
Nadal has been at the top for 7 years. Djokovic - for 1 year. ANd the age difference is less than a year. Sapienti sat.
Nadal has been at the top for 7 years. Djokovic - for 1 year. ANd the age difference is less than a year. Sapienti sat.
aphex
Banned
OddJack
G.O.A.T.
N
Nathaniel_Near
Guest
Nadal will win at least 1 Major next year, I really think so but then again that's not much of a prediction, is it.
If there is anything in this statement that I would question it is the problem with his knees. I don't think that Rafa could keep going the same as in 2008 winning as much as he did without a break beforehand. I think his knees must be more of a problem than he will admit and he will come back next year, the Olympic year, and we will see the old Rafa. Up until now he has been winning one year putting the breaks on the next year. Its becoming a sort of pattern. Anyway until we see what happens next year nobody can predict what will happen. Thank God he isn't retiring and at least is having a go at getting some of the passion back we saw in the Davis cup
He said in the interview that Boris Becker is wrong, he doesn't just hit to the backhand. He said in an interview with McEnroe after the USO 2010 (It's been taken down now) that his tactic against Djokovic is to hit the ball high to his backhand and wait for a short ball.
Fate Archer
Hall of Fame
That won't happen as much as he would like to give him any edge in the matchup against the improved Novak.
What I've seen in multiple Rafa interviews on the other hand is that he himself admits that there is no very defined, "bread and butter" strategy when playing Novak.
And that's why he's such a tough matchup against Rafa now. It's more about how he neutralizes Rafa's strenghts and plays his own mostly unbothered.
DjokovicForTheWin
Banned
This is a joke. I can't believe people can't see thru the crap. Perhaps even he can't. The bottom line is this - HAD he not lost all of those matches to Djoker, there would be no question of mental strength, passion in his strokes only when he faced Djoker, etc, etc. All of these excuses arise precisely because he lost to Djoker. So what he says about in 2011 him generally lacking mental strength is a total farce and him changing these things for his general well being is a total lie. Everything is about beating Djoker now. He is blinded if he does not really see this deep down within him.
Nadal will be in for a rude awakening in 2012 when it finally dawns upon him that it had nothing to do with passion in 2011 and going beyond himself next year. Djoker was simply better than Nadal at his best, and that of course would naturally yet falsely make one question one's passion. Do you think other players questioned their passion for losing to Djoker? No, Djoker is simply better than them, they accept it. This whole response it simply due to Nadal's non-acceptance of the facts yet. Hence the upcoming rude awakening.
Nadal will be in for a rude awakening in 2012 when it finally dawns upon him that it had nothing to do with passion in 2011 and going beyond himself next year. Djoker was simply better than Nadal at his best, and that of course would naturally yet falsely make one question one's passion. Do you think other players questioned their passion for losing to Djoker? No, Djoker is simply better than them, they accept it. This whole response it simply due to Nadal's non-acceptance of the facts yet. Hence the upcoming rude awakening.
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He never gets the short ball against Djokovic, that's the problem. For most players the high backhand is their worst shot and achilles heel, for Djokovic it's arguably the strongest shot in tennis. Nadal is setting Djokovic's backhand up and Djokovic is teeing off.
He needs to snap out of this passive mindset (waiting for an opportunity to attack), and shift into aggressive baseliner mode, as he did in the third set of the USO, because the opportunity to attack won't be handed to him on a silver platter.
Look at the players who have bagelled Nadal and you have a list of the best backhands in tennis: Gaudio (Stuttgart 2005), Nalbandian (2007), Youzhny (Chennai) - and now Djokovic. (Davydenko has a winning record against him as well).
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Nadal won the 2005 Stuttgart final against Gaudio by the score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Gaudio bagelled Nadal earlier that year in Buenos Aires, winning 0-6, 6-0, 6-1 in their quarter final. It must be mentioned, however, that Gaudio was ranked 40 places above Nadal in the world rankings (8 vs. 48 ) at the time of their 2005 Buenos Aires match.
passive_aggressive
Banned
Lol, wot, Youzhny has a 1hbh. And a conservative grip (no extreme eastern) on that 1hbh as well, so they must have been playing on ice or something for that to happen.
Nadal does not need to adjust his tactics to beat Djokovic. That would be giving Djokovic far too much credit.
Nadal has a winning strategy (high to the backhand, wait for short ball, then pounce) and he should not alter it for ANYONE. Just hit higher and harder and more spin to Djokovic's backhand. It will break down - of course it will. Especially now Djoker is injured. Don't overcomplicate things - just execute better.
SLD76
G.O.A.T.
thats the dumbest post of the day. Rafa didnt put on the 'breaks' this year. if not for Djoker he'd have had one of the best seasons of all time, with all the finals and tournaments he'd have made and won.
dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.
You obviously haven't been watching tennis long, Youzhny has one of the best backhands in the game. Lots of players with conservative gripped one handed backhands have no problem with the high ball, not least Almagro for example. Or James Blake.
He was destroying Nadal in the quarter final of Wimbledon too, until he hurt his back. He has never recovered from that injury.
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Nadal was as good as he ever was in 2005. By the end of clay court season his ranking was very good indeed. His game on clay has actually declined since then (well since 2008 ), although the adjustments he has made have made him a better all surface player.
Gaudio was just an incredible claycourter,defending French Open champion, he went 42-8 or something ridiculous in 2005.
I think Keurten would have been a HUGE problem for Nadal on clay with his backhand.
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
No no DFTW, you are reacting based on a poor translation of what the nadal said in Spanish.
Nadal actually said that he lost the illusion in 2011, and he is determined to get back the illusion in 2012.
mandy01
G.O.A.T.
You have clearly not faced Breakpoint 2.0 yet.
beast of mallorca
G.O.A.T.
Whatever did he do to get the B ?
Crisstti
Legend
Amazing interview. Thanks for posting 
.
I don't see where has he said why he wants the two year ranking system though. If he has I've not seen it...
Couldn't agree more
.I don't see where has he said why he wants the two year ranking system though. If he has I've not seen it...
Couldn't agree more
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
Do you mean he's injured, or very tired.
I haven't seen him for some time. Will he come back guns blazing in mid-Jan. I'm ready for him, I never take rest. Always in peak-prime shape am I.
Crisstti
Legend
Well, I was waiting for someone to come up with that...
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
"That is too simple. I think it is not like that. I have not been up to it sometimes this year, and against him, I have not played at the level at which I played at other times, that is the reality."
Nor did Djokovic play you at the level in the past which he was capable of either, Rafa! :lol:
Nadal was losing to baby Djokovic all the way back to 2007. Djokovic always had the game to crush Nadal but never the mental strength.
Nor did Djokovic play you at the level in the past which he was capable of either, Rafa! :lol:
Nadal was losing to baby Djokovic all the way back to 2007. Djokovic always had the game to crush Nadal but never the mental strength.
dudeski
Hall of Fame
Great post. I hope you didn't get banned for long. I guess the truth hurts and someone couldn't handle it.
TTMR
Hall of Fame
Indeed. As we all know, everything Nadal does or says is wrong. He is the worst person in the history of the human race. In fact, he is subhuman, so he can't even be included among the typical 'worst man in history' lists with usual suspects Stalin, Hitler and Djokovic.
dudeski
Hall of Fame
TTMR
Hall of Fame
My skills would be greatly improved if only I possessed the treasured ability to copy and paste jpeg witticisms from google images.
AhmedD
Semi-Pro
Boris Becker, and probably most of the people that play tennis will disagree, tennis is a thinking man's game. Why do you think Federer was able to dominate for extended periods of time, same goes for Djokovic dominating the season with an iron fist. Murray also is a great tactitian. You'll see all the top 4 being great tennis tacticians, including Nadal to some extent, as he is capable of changing it up and employing successful tactics. However the thing about Nadal is that his topspin is enough to overwhelm most of the backhands on tour, except save for maybe Djokovic and Murray, so he never needed to change it up that much, but I still think he's capable, he's a very smart player instinctively.
Regarding your second statement, I don't think it's possible at this point, on the contrary, I believe if he really wants to draw a weak response from Djokovic's backhand he has to flatten it out. He already has so much on it, and ever if he manages to get his forehands deep enough, Djokovic still manages somehow. The flattened forehand is the way to go, since it would draw somewhat of weak response from Djokovic and give Rafa more options from the offensive standpoint. He could possibly overwhelm Dojokvic's forehand, since it generally breaks down to pressure more so than the backhand. I've noticed that if Rafa can manage to work his forehand down the line after opening the court with the cross court forehand, he generally is able to dictate play. His inside out forehand wasn't there since he FO, which is a shot he'll probably need against Djokovic's to hook him out of the court.
If you can't present an intelligent argument why bother to contribute?
SLD76
G.O.A.T.
I did present the argument. The man made 5 or 6 finals in a row, all at Master series events, he made the finals of 3 slams.
If not for Djoker he'd have won the most masters in a single season and won 3 slams in a year twice in a row.
How the hell is that a season where he 'puts on the breaks'?
get it now???
Thus, your post was just stupid. This year was nothing like 09 where he physically collapsed after an extended stretch of great play in 08. This year he was great again, just not good enough to beat djoker.
Clarky21
Banned
I think that once your passion and desire to win is gone it's gone,and there's no getting it back. It's been very noticable all year long that Nadal is burned out,and looks like he would rather be anywhere else but on a tennis court. Next year is going to be even worse since he still seems miserable and sounds as if he hates tennis. Pulling a Borg might be the smartest thing for him to do at this point before things spiral completely down the sh*tter.
SLD76
G.O.A.T.
lets go get a beer.
Clarky21
Banned
Crisstti
Legend
I thought maybe he meant that that isn't what needs to be changed in his tactic, not that he doesn't do it?.
Have you missed all the times Rafa has said how well Novak is playing?.
Have you thought that maybe Novak playing better than before and Rafa not playing as well as before could co-exist?.
cc0509
Talk Tennis Guru
True, but in Nadal's case he is probably going through a temporary blip. He may just need a recharge. It can't be all sunshine and rainbows for him after so many years grinding on the tour. I am sure every player has his ups and downs. Hopefully Nadal's lack of passion is temporary because if it is not, he is screwed!
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