What Nadal needs to do to beat Joker

[dennis10is]

Nadal has to face the fact.

One one player managed to beat Joker this year and that was Fed.

Nadal needs to swithc to a 1bh and use a small head racket. Facts don't lie.

Clearly, only 1bh playing with a small head racket has a chance of beating Joker.

News flash: Babolat to release 85 sq inch racket soon.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

THE HUGEST BRAINCRAMP for Nadal to not have S-Volleyed, he's the better of the two at that, even though today at one time he was 2-7 at the net.

He let Djoko get the initiative by coming to the net. STUPIDEST ERROR of them all.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Nadal has to face the fact.

One one player managed to beat Joker this year and that was Fed.

Nadal needs to swithc to a 1bh and use a small head racket. Facts don't lie.

Clearly, only 1bh playing with a small head racket has a chance of beating Joker.

News flash: Babolat to release 85 sq inch racket soon.

Right on too

 

[Breaker]

THE HUGEST BRAINCRAMP for Nadal to not have S-Volleyed, he's the better of the two at that, even though today at one time he was 2-7 at the net.

He let Djoko get the initiative by coming to the net. STUPIDEST ERROR of them all.

This has to be a joke and I've seen you post it several times now. In order to serve and volley first you need a good, unpredictable serve where any spot in the box is able to be hit consistently and also you need good volleys from any part of the net.

Nadal's serve was predictable enough for Djokovic to stand 3 steps towards his backhand side every time on return games since he knows Nadal can not hit the big one to his forehand with any consistency that would hurt him - Nadal's volleys...well unless it's hit right at him as a floater or he is in position for a stretching drop volley there's not much else he's great at up there.

 

[Mustard]

Nadal needs to be aggressive. He needs to step further into the court and not retreat further behind the baseline. He also needs to cut out the errors during long rallies and be prepared for Djokovic putting everything back into court. Several times today, Nadal thought the point was won only for Djokovic to get the ball back into play.

In short, Nadal is not going to have any sort of comfort zone in beating this Djokovic like he has in beating other players. He has got to go in there and be aggressive throughout. He did this at the 2010 US Open brilliantly. He needs the "Eye of the Tiger".

 

[drakulie]

He needs to start taking more mto's.

 

[jfish]

Nadal has to face the fact.

One one player managed to beat Joker this year and that was Fed.

Nadal needs to swithc to a 1bh and use a small head racket. Facts don't lie.

Clearly, only 1bh playing with a small head racket has a chance of beating Joker.

News flash: Babolat to release 85 sq inch racket soon.

There might be a reason behind the comeback of PS 6 85.

 

[fps]

Nadal played a claycourt match today. He could have used his grass skills more, S&V, creeping in (difficult admittedly as Djoker hits hard off both wings and his slice is very low), slice and rush, forcing the issue, etc. No sign of them, it was baseline all the way.

 

[Homeboy Hotel]

He needs to have a backhand

 

[Fedace]

He needs to win MORE ground stroke RAllies. which is the Stable of his game.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Nadal played a claycourt match today. He could have used his grass skills more, S&V, creeping in

glad to see I am not the only one "joking" about S-Ving

 

[Deleted member 25923]

Early on, Nadal cranked two sick DTL forehands that made me think Djokovic had lossed already. These were the first and third points of the match.

 

[Defcon]

Nadal will never play the match on his own terms against Djoker. He relies on out-grinding baseline rallies and Djoker is simply better at that.

All the other stuff (s/v, slice) is just fluff - neither of them have a plan B and they can't win a match based on that.

 

[Mustard]

Like I said, Nadal needs to be aggressive in the rallies and don't settle into any comfort zone. He has to make sure that he dictates the match. If he just settles into baseline exchanges throughout, he is going to struggle and end up further and further behind the baseline.

 

[Homeboy Hotel]

Like I said, Nadal needs to be aggressive in the rallies and don't settle into any comfort zone. He has to make sure that he dictates the match. If he just settles into baseline exchanges throughout, he is going to struggle and end up further and further behind the baseline.

But he knows that and has tried to be ruthless hitting his forehand as hard as possible time after time, hitting line after line yet Djokovic keeps getting them all back into play.

That's the issue. He needs something else - maybe dare I say it get some inspiration from Murray's game.

 

[norbac]

Djoker's level of play needs to drop a notch or two....

 

[Atherton2003]

Nadal needs to switch to Gluten Free diet and also pick his butt more - he didn't pick it nearly enough in today's match to get a victory.

 

[Defcon]

Like I said, Nadal needs to be aggressive in the rallies and don't settle into any comfort zone. He has to make sure that he dictates the match. If he just settles into baseline exchanges throughout, he is going to struggle and end up further and further behind the baseline.

Its a bad matchup. Nadal can't be aggressive from the baseline the entire match just like Fed can't keep hitting his backhand the entie match - its not their game.

Nadal is beaten by players who expose his forehand and outhit him when they play in the zone - like Delpo, Tsonga, Blake, Soda. But Djoker can stay with him playing his usual game, well within his confort zone. That's a huge danger sign and its not going to go away.

Time and again, when Rafa tries to be aggressive, he will make UE's - he's primarily a defensive player who relies on out-maneovering the other guy, and he can't do that to Djoker.

 

[NamRanger]

Like I said, Nadal needs to be aggressive in the rallies and don't settle into any comfort zone. He has to make sure that he dictates the match. If he just settles into baseline exchanges throughout, he is going to struggle and end up further and further behind the baseline.

He needs to get into net more. His lack of netplay is getting him killed. There are many times where he actually has an advantage in the point but refuses to capitalize on that. Hitting bigger won't help against Djokovic; he needs to really try and rob time from Djokovic away by getting into the net.


That is exactly what Federer did at the FO.

 

[Mustard]

But he knows that and has tried to be ruthless hitting his forehand as hard as possible time after time, hitting line after line yet Djokovic keeps getting them all back into play.

And Nadal would crack first, that's the problem. Nadal was hitting short and making errors at crucial moments. There were some points where Nadal acted like he'd won the point, only to see Djokovic get the ball back. Nadal needs to expect Djokovic to get the ball back from impossible situations, because Djokovic's patience and defensive play have improved immensely in 2011. To combat this, Nadal needs to improve his own patience in the rallies, and improve his attacking play.

 

[Cesc Fabregas]

He needs to stop floating the backhand return back on the deuce side. Take that serve away from Djokovic because Djokovic has been killing him that serve followed by a huge forehand.

 

[ALL IN]

He needs to get into net more. His lack of netplay is getting him killed. There are many times where he actually has an advantage in the point but refuses to capitalize on that. Hitting bigger won't help against Djokovic; he needs to really try and rob time from Djokovic away by getting into the net.


That is exactly what Federer did at the FO.

Federer kept the balls low which gave Nole no angles or strike zone. Nadal can't keep his groundies from bouncing right into Nole's sweet spot.

 

[Sentinel]

Nadal needs lighter balls. Like at the FO.

 

[Rjtennis]

Nadal is most comfortable playing defensive plan and simple. He really only takes a crack at it when he gets a short ball and even then he is just looking to hit a heavy topspin ball to take control of the rally. When he hits that loopy topspin shot he gives novak a chance to track down the ball and get back to nuetral. Imo, rafa will need to stand closer in and flatten out his shots. He als is going to need to learn to hit a much better backhand. If Nole maintains or improves his current level it is going to be very tough for rafa to turn it around. Nole just defends a little better, has a much more versatile and powerful backand and is willing to go for more on the forehand.