zagor
Bionic Poster
I've never understood why whenever Nadal loses, it's nothing but praise and glory for how wonderful he is; what an athlete; what a fighter; what an ultimate warrior . . .
TTW goes gaga over him like he's some God. It's re-donkulous. Just about every athlete who reaches the apex of his/her sport and stays there for any serious length of time is a fighter, a competitor, an amazing specimen. That's how they got to the top. Poasters here make the mistake of thinking that just because Nadal grunts louder, grimaces more, grinds out rally after rally, screams, yells, and flexes his biceps in his sleeveless tank tops, that somehow he's the epitome of a champion.
Did any of you witness Borg, or Evert, or Sampras at their peaks? How about Martina, or Steffi, or McEnroe or any other long-standing Number 1? Those players were all ruthless. They all had killer instincts. At their peaks, they steamrolled people. They were merciless. Competitive as hell. The only difference is they didn't have to win two-hundred 25-stroke rallies to win. They didn't win by attrition. They didn't have games that necessitated that sort of time or energy. Nadal's own style of play makes him have to earn every point with monumental effort and strain. But that doesn't make him any more of a warrior than anybody else. It doesn't give him a bigger heart, nor does it make him more courageous.
I'm with @nikdom on this one. Why would I want Nadal playing a 30-shot rally to save my life, when I could just have Sampras save me with an ace?
Borg won plenty of attrition wars on clay, playing longer rallies on average than Nadal or anyone else today I'm pretty sure (though of course, modern rallies are more gruelling). Of course, he was also a beast on grass and carpet and had an amazing serve, probably the most adaptable player in history (and one of the most underrated ones).
That said, I agree with your point overall. I think it's just that people have a very one-dimensional approach when it comes to nearly every aspect of tennis, whether it's measuring talent or mental strength. For me, those are complex values that can manifest themselves differently and vary from player to player.
Playing high percentage tennis and running after every ball is not the only way to display mental toughness, in fact I'd say it's wrong one when you're 32. Being the constant aggressor in the match, forcing the issue and going for winners on big points also takes discipline and mental strength just of a different kind, especially sticking to that approach even when you miss a few.
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