Roddick85
Hall of Fame
Been a while since I've had this topic of discussion in my head, finally got the time today to post about it.
Looking back at Nadal's career on grass, he's made 5 Wimbledon Finals, won 2. In the two 250 events before Wimbledon, he never made the final in Halle, made and won 1 final in Queens in 2008 (beating Djokovic), the same year he won his first Wimbledon against Federer. Now it might be because I associate grass court tennis to big serving and a rather offensive game, but how did Nadal manage to have a rather successful grass record in the first half of his career, when he was as defensive as ever, when now that he's finally a bit more agressive in his strategy, he can't make it past the 1st week at Wimbledon? How can a player who succeeds on clay, the slowest surface on the tour win Wimbledon 2 times on the fastest surface?
If you go all the way back to 2005-2006, it's obvious that Nadal is a great defender, especially on clay. He run's every balls, never gives up. However, it still puzzles me how he was able to have success on grass, a surface that theoretically shouldn't play in his favor. If anything, he should of succeeded on hard before grass as hard courts (AO & USO) are still a bit slower than Wimbledon, even thought grass was slowed down in the mid-2000's, it's still a faster surface. While I believe his serve is underrated, it's never really been up there with some of the best servers of all time like Sampras/Federer or even Roddick. He also doesn't really come to the net for volley's save for the easy put away. Those 2 aspects are usually asssociated with great grass players.
Then you got those last couple of years, where he's picking up early exits at Wimbledon. Yes, he's more at ease in the 2nd week because it's basically half clay/half grass, but he's made 5 finals there, he should be able to manage this. He went from making the final in 2011, to losing in the 2nd round in 2012, and in the 1st round in 2013. He did reach the 4th round this year, but it wouldn't of taken much for him to lose in the first 3 rounds as he looked shaky at best. Now I can accept he got upset in 2012, it happens to all of them, but seeing his results in the following years, it's clear that it wasn't an upset but a new trend for him on grass. As he said himself this year, the knee is better than ever with the new treatment, so why has his form on grass slipped so much?
So yeah if I look back at Nadal's career on grass, it's still a puzzle for me. I don't understand how he was able to have so much success on grass early on in his career, only to pretty much fade away in the 2nd half. Something's not right.
Thoughts?
Looking back at Nadal's career on grass, he's made 5 Wimbledon Finals, won 2. In the two 250 events before Wimbledon, he never made the final in Halle, made and won 1 final in Queens in 2008 (beating Djokovic), the same year he won his first Wimbledon against Federer. Now it might be because I associate grass court tennis to big serving and a rather offensive game, but how did Nadal manage to have a rather successful grass record in the first half of his career, when he was as defensive as ever, when now that he's finally a bit more agressive in his strategy, he can't make it past the 1st week at Wimbledon? How can a player who succeeds on clay, the slowest surface on the tour win Wimbledon 2 times on the fastest surface?
If you go all the way back to 2005-2006, it's obvious that Nadal is a great defender, especially on clay. He run's every balls, never gives up. However, it still puzzles me how he was able to have success on grass, a surface that theoretically shouldn't play in his favor. If anything, he should of succeeded on hard before grass as hard courts (AO & USO) are still a bit slower than Wimbledon, even thought grass was slowed down in the mid-2000's, it's still a faster surface. While I believe his serve is underrated, it's never really been up there with some of the best servers of all time like Sampras/Federer or even Roddick. He also doesn't really come to the net for volley's save for the easy put away. Those 2 aspects are usually asssociated with great grass players.
Then you got those last couple of years, where he's picking up early exits at Wimbledon. Yes, he's more at ease in the 2nd week because it's basically half clay/half grass, but he's made 5 finals there, he should be able to manage this. He went from making the final in 2011, to losing in the 2nd round in 2012, and in the 1st round in 2013. He did reach the 4th round this year, but it wouldn't of taken much for him to lose in the first 3 rounds as he looked shaky at best. Now I can accept he got upset in 2012, it happens to all of them, but seeing his results in the following years, it's clear that it wasn't an upset but a new trend for him on grass. As he said himself this year, the knee is better than ever with the new treatment, so why has his form on grass slipped so much?
So yeah if I look back at Nadal's career on grass, it's still a puzzle for me. I don't understand how he was able to have so much success on grass early on in his career, only to pretty much fade away in the 2nd half. Something's not right.
Thoughts?
