Nadalgaenger
G.O.A.T.
This is becoming one of the great mysteries in recent years.
How did a guy as dominant as Nadal, playing near his absolute peak, lose to a guy that he had destroyed 6-1, 6-0 just weeks before in Rome?
Most of us would agree that no single factor could explain an anomaly of this magnitude. A confluence of things had to come together, including a drop in Rafa's form (due to some injury that also kept him out of Wimbledon), Nadal's potential overconfidence going into the match, Nadal's mental state (recent divorce of parents), weather conditions (Nadal play's better in the bright sun and it was very overcast that day), and Soderling achieving God mode and achieving genuine self-belief after the first set.
But what was the single most plausible reason among these various factors?
How did a guy as dominant as Nadal, playing near his absolute peak, lose to a guy that he had destroyed 6-1, 6-0 just weeks before in Rome?
Most of us would agree that no single factor could explain an anomaly of this magnitude. A confluence of things had to come together, including a drop in Rafa's form (due to some injury that also kept him out of Wimbledon), Nadal's potential overconfidence going into the match, Nadal's mental state (recent divorce of parents), weather conditions (Nadal play's better in the bright sun and it was very overcast that day), and Soderling achieving God mode and achieving genuine self-belief after the first set.
But what was the single most plausible reason among these various factors?