I just watched Nadal Murray and was pretty impressed, once again, with Nadal's relentlessness. I consider "relentlessness" to fall under the category of mental toughness, which is one of the three aspects of the game of singles tennis, the other two aspects being technique and strategy. In my opinion, Nadal's relentlessness (therefore his mental toughness) is his biggest weapon; it's what makes his footwork and defense so elite, and it's the pop behind those wing-shots. As you've probably often heard and read, "Nadal is the ultimate competitor." He doesn't choke or even really lapse. You HAVE to beat him, and he reminds me of Sampras this way.
Watching Murray get lulled into baseline points today, I found myself wondering what this match would look like if Pete opposed Nadal, both in their prime. In terms of mental toughness, Pete and Nadal are very similar; neither of whom seem to posses a "panic button." Neither of whom seem to listen to narratives of "should win / shouldn't win." Both seem to be able to play out during the most crucial, tense points. I'm not sure I would classify Sampras as "relentless," maybe the serve, but in terms of mental toughness I think Sampras and Nadal are similar and elite and maybe have no peers.
Let's look at the other aspects of the game within this rivalry. Technique: Sampras is much more broad and round, here, but because of the dramatically different strategy (get to that in a minute) I'm not sure if technique has a lot of impact on this match-up.
Strategy: Of course a player's strategy depends on their technique, their strokes, tools, gifts. Both Pete and Rafa are fairly one-dimensional in terms of strategy. Pete's going to press, press, press, and Rafa's going to track it all down and counter-punch with unlikely angles and wicked passes. Their dramatically different strategies make the rivalry potentially epic.
Here are some questions that linger: Would Pete's aces be thumping the backdrop or is Nadal FAST and therefore a better returner than even Agassi was? Would Pete's short game, the likes of which Nadal has never faced (Federer, too, gets lulled into baseline points against Nadal) speed up the points too much for Nadal? Has Pete ever seen movement and wing-shots like those of Nadal's? Would Nadal's passing shots eventually de-spirit Pete as Pete's serve so often de-spirited his opponents?
Watching Murray get lulled into baseline points today, I found myself wondering what this match would look like if Pete opposed Nadal, both in their prime. In terms of mental toughness, Pete and Nadal are very similar; neither of whom seem to posses a "panic button." Neither of whom seem to listen to narratives of "should win / shouldn't win." Both seem to be able to play out during the most crucial, tense points. I'm not sure I would classify Sampras as "relentless," maybe the serve, but in terms of mental toughness I think Sampras and Nadal are similar and elite and maybe have no peers.
Let's look at the other aspects of the game within this rivalry. Technique: Sampras is much more broad and round, here, but because of the dramatically different strategy (get to that in a minute) I'm not sure if technique has a lot of impact on this match-up.
Strategy: Of course a player's strategy depends on their technique, their strokes, tools, gifts. Both Pete and Rafa are fairly one-dimensional in terms of strategy. Pete's going to press, press, press, and Rafa's going to track it all down and counter-punch with unlikely angles and wicked passes. Their dramatically different strategies make the rivalry potentially epic.
Here are some questions that linger: Would Pete's aces be thumping the backdrop or is Nadal FAST and therefore a better returner than even Agassi was? Would Pete's short game, the likes of which Nadal has never faced (Federer, too, gets lulled into baseline points against Nadal) speed up the points too much for Nadal? Has Pete ever seen movement and wing-shots like those of Nadal's? Would Nadal's passing shots eventually de-spirit Pete as Pete's serve so often de-spirited his opponents?
