Lack fundamentals and Babolat killed Nadal

[asifallasleep]

Nadal met the Joker who moves on the court even better than he does. Which is phenomenal considering how well Nadal moves. As is typical with Babolat users, Nadal hits with excessive spin not a lot of plow through. His forehand is late quite a bit and his footwork not fundamentally sound on that wing. For all the hype the Rafa forehand receives, his backhand is the better stroke. It is more fundamentally sound. Years ago the knock on Roddick was that he hit with too much spin and needed to flatten the ball out more and drive through it. Another Babolat user. Light racquet designed for a lot of whippy spin, it's users tend to not be fundamentally sound because to an extent they can get away with sloppy footwork and preparation. Tweener frames. Player's racquets require proper footwork, good preparation, and they allow the player to knock the cover off the ball. Driving through it. The Joker hit through the ball with his player's racquet and through Nadal. Plain and simple. Nadal's flailing topspin couldn't contend with a player who is a fundamental rock hitting through the ball at all times. Congrats to the Joker.

 

[decades]

hahaha that Babalot has won 10 GS for rafa (on every surface). you need to think things through a bit more.

 

[namelessone]

Nadal met the Joker who moves on the court even better than he does. Which is phenomenal considering how well Nadal moves. As is typical with Babolat users, Nadal hits with excessive spin not a lot of plow through. His forehand is late quite a bit and his footwork not fundamentally sound on that wing. For all the hype the Rafa forehand receives, his backhand is the better stroke. It is more fundamentally sound. Years ago the knock on Roddick was that he hit with too much spin and needed to flatten the ball out more and drive through it. Another Babolat user. Light racquet designed for a lot of whippy spin, it's users tend to not be fundamentally sound because to an extent they can get away with sloppy footwork and preparation. Tweener frames. Player's racquets require proper footwork, good preparation, and they allow the player to knock the cover off the ball. Driving through it. The Joker hit through the ball with his player's racquet and through Nadal. Plain and simple. Nadal's flailing topspin couldn't contend with a player who is a fundamental rock hitting through the ball at all times. Congrats to the Joker.

If this were true, Nadal should have NO wins over Djokovic or any player that uses Head

Nadal simply can't beat a bad matchup who is in the form of his life right now, losing only to JesusFed(and he was close to pushing that to five as well).

Djokovic has ONE LOSS so far this year. Take that into consideration.

No one, no matter what racket they were using or what game they were playing could beat Djoko this year. Most had to redline just to win sets.

 

[Sid_Vicious]

 

[Ben Hadd]

It takes skill to play well with any racquet. That being said, with skill you can also play with almost any racquet. Ive got some $20 frames that I can hit amazingly with. For vanities sake, I dont use them very often but

 

[asifallasleep]

hahaha that Babalot has won 10 GS for rafa (on every surface). you need to think things through a bit more.

Now he has to finally contend with someone who moves as well or better than he does. That is a first. The biggest advantage Nadal always had was his movement. His movement allowed him to get away with poor fundamentals on the forehand side. The Joker moves better and thus Nadal's movement edge has neutralised. The weakness of his forehand has been exposed.

 

[asifallasleep]

If this were true, Nadal should have NO wins over Djokovic or any player that uses Head

Nadal simply can't beat a bad matchup who is in the form of his life right now, losing only to JesusFed(and he was close to pushing that to five as well).

Djokovic has ONE LOSS so far this year. Take that into consideration.

No one, no matter what racket they were using or what game they were playing could beat Djoko this year. Most had to redline just to win sets.

I'm not suggesting that Head won the match. The Joker did. Babolat has created a generation of fundamentally unsound players. Nadal's biggest weapon by far in all those slam victories was that he moved better than everyone, by far. The Joker moves better. Nadal's strokes aren't that superior, especially his forehand if his opponent moves better and faster. The Joker does.

 

[Buckethead]

Nadal met the Joker who moves on the court even better than he does. Which is phenomenal considering how well Nadal moves. As is typical with Babolat users, Nadal hits with excessive spin not a lot of plow through. His forehand is late quite a bit and his footwork not fundamentally sound on that wing. For all the hype the Rafa forehand receives, his backhand is the better stroke. It is more fundamentally sound. Years ago the knock on Roddick was that he hit with too much spin and needed to flatten the ball out more and drive through it. Another Babolat user. Light racquet designed for a lot of whippy spin, it's users tend to not be fundamentally sound because to an extent they can get away with sloppy footwork and preparation. Tweener frames. Player's racquets require proper footwork, good preparation, and they allow the player to knock the cover off the ball. Driving through it. The Joker hit through the ball with his player's racquet and through Nadal. Plain and simple. Nadal's flailing topspin couldn't contend with a player who is a fundamental rock hitting through the ball at all times. Congrats to the Joker.

I agree, his game was created around that racket, which isn't a versatile racket and only permits you to play in a certain way, like He does.

His spin is also only effective on certain courts against certain players, specially those who can't hit move well and either have a weak forehand or backhand.

 

[Sentinel]

Nadal met the Joker who moves on the court even better than he does. Which is phenomenal considering how well Nadal moves. As is typical with Babolat users, Nadal hits with excessive spin not a lot of plow through. His forehand is late quite a bit and his footwork not fundamentally sound on that wing. For all the hype the Rafa forehand receives, his backhand is the better stroke. It is more fundamentally sound. Years ago the knock on Roddick was that he hit with too much spin and needed to flatten the ball out more and drive through it. Another Babolat user. Light racquet designed for a lot of whippy spin, it's users tend to not be fundamentally sound because to an extent they can get away with sloppy footwork and preparation. Tweener frames. Player's racquets require proper footwork, good preparation, and they allow the player to knock the cover off the ball. Driving through it. The Joker hit through the ball with his player's racquet and through Nadal. Plain and simple. Nadal's flailing topspin couldn't contend with a player who is a fundamental rock hitting through the ball at all times. Congrats to the Joker.

Well said.

Now he has to finally contend with someone who moves as well or better than he does. That is a first. The biggest advantage Nadal always had was his movement. His movement allowed him to get away with poor fundamentals on the forehand side. The Joker moves better and thus Nadal's movement edge has neutralised. The weakness of his forehand has been exposed.

Quoted for truth

I'm not suggesting that Head won the match. The Joker did. Babolat has created a generation of fundamentally unsound players. Nadal's biggest weapon by far in all those slam victories was that he moved better than everyone, by far. The Joker moves better. Nadal's strokes aren't that superior, especially his forehand if his opponent moves better and faster. The Joker does.

This.

 

[aldeayeah]

Did we all see the same match? When Nadal remembered he had a shot called "backhand", the match was pretty even.

 

[Preacher]