Zverev is the only one who can beat Nadal at Roland Garros

RoS

Rookie
It's a fact, Zverev has always been a nightmarish match-up for Nadal. Big serve who give him plenty of free points. His height allow him to handle Nadal's topspin better than anyone, his backhand is Djokovic like. He moves very well. He is in Nadal's head now. He knows how to play him. He bring always his peak tennis against him, no matter how he fares against the others (he lost to Ivashka in Munich)
He just won the last 3 matchs against Nadal, the first on clay and don't forget that Zverev had a match point against him in Indian Wells 2016 (but choked), was leading 2-1 in sets in AO 2017, was a break up in Rome 2018. He could have 6-2 in their H2H.

I really think if Zverev summons his Madrid form that he will be the 2021 Soderling. Maybe Sinner made the hard work for Rafa in the last FO by removing Zverev.

No the others :

Karatsev is too inconsistant

Djokovic is done challenging Nadal on clay. Sadly 2011 Djokovic is no more

Thiem and Tsitsipas with their OHB on Bo5 ? No way

Rublev will not have the stamina on Bo5
 
Last edited:

ZanderGoga

Semi-Pro
The OHBH is objectively superior in all meaningful ways to the two handed. Your reasoning is flawed.

Nadal doesn't win by exploiting technical weakness. He wins because his deal with the ATP means he is guaranteed to be objectively greater in endurance than anyone else can be, until such time as a new chosen one emerges and gets the same freedom from monitoring.
 
T

TheNachoMan

Guest
I still think he had the best chance of beating him last year too
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Zverev does match up well with Nadal, but if Nadal's playing poorly enough to lose to Zverev at a slam, I would think there's a few other guys who could take him out too (Djokovic, Thiem, Tsitsipas, for starters).
Djokovic can't defeat Nadal at RG anymore. Nadal destroyed him in the last RG final and Djokovic lost to nobodies on clay such as Evans and Karatsev for starters.
 

tudwell

Legend
Djokovic can't defeat Nadal at RG anymore. Nadal destroyed him in the last RG final and Djokovic lost to nobodies on clay such as Evans and Karatsev for starters.
Lol that's just like reverse StrongRule-ing. If Nadal's playing at a level where Zverev could take him out at Roland Garros (and note I'm not saying he will play at that level), then I would absolutely favor Novak to do the same.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Rublev will not have the stamina on Bo5
What makes you think Zverev has the stamina to hang with Rafa in BO5 on Chatrier? He was clearly utterly gassed in the USO final (so was Thiem for that matter). He also choked massively while serving for the USO, shanking easy balls and clearly terrified. But he'll suddenly grow a pair and be able to beat Rafa at RG? If he can't beat slamless Thiem in a slam final, he's going to defeat Rafa!?
 

StrongRule

Talk Tennis Guru
What makes you think Zverev has the stamina to hang with Rafa in BO5 on Chatrier? He was clearly utterly gassed in the USO final (so was Thiem for that matter). He also choked massively while serving for the USO, shanking easy balls and clearly terrified. But he'll suddenly grow a pair and be able to beat Rafa at RG?
Yes, somehow Zverev always brings his best against Nadal. He can be a total mug against others, but against Nadal he somehow always serves perfectly.
 

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
The OHBH is objectively superior in all meaningful ways to the two handed. Your reasoning is flawed.
Maybe if you’re trying to develop your game overall, but the best BH in modern era (Djokovic) is a 2H…

Also the clear weakness of the 1HBH, against a player like Rafa on clay, is that hitting it over and over at shoulder height is fatiguing as **** and leads to errors more often than not. So no, it is not objectively superior in all ways,I’d rather have a 2HBH on high bouncing balls with topspin (I wonder who plays like that?)

Zverev’s height moreso than his 2HBH mitigates this, but it’s still a factor.
 

RoS

Rookie
What makes you think Zverev has the stamina to hang with Rafa in BO5 on Chatrier? He was clearly utterly gassed in the USO final (so was Thiem for that matter). He also choked massively while serving for the USO, shanking easy balls and clearly terrified. But he'll suddenly grow a pair and be able to beat Rafa at RG? If he can't beat slamless Thiem in a slam final, he's going to defeat Rafa!?
It's a question of match-up. Zverev is confident when playing Nadal and has the tools to dismantle his game even on clay. If he meets him in the FO, he will be the underdog and will play with no pressure, unlike the 2020 USO Final. Nadal is 35, he is not a Terminator T-800 or Superman. He is human and the Father Time cannot be defeated. Federer declined, Nadal is declining and Djokovic will soon starting to decline too. The Big 3 will know its funeral rites, it's inevitable...

And Zverev is (or was) a specialist of the 5 sets. He know how to win a lot of them.
 

DIMI_D

Hall of Fame
Nadal was out to sorts today a really off day he hasn’t found his best form yet. I can tell he is in a general decline overall but I still expect him to elevate when it comes to RG. Conditions just suit him so much there I still can’t see anyone taking him out just yet..
 

SinneGOAT

Hall of Fame
300px-You_Are_Not_a_Clown._You_Are_The_Entire_Circus.jpg
 

Keizer

Hall of Fame
The OHBH is objectively superior in all meaningful ways to the two handed. Your reasoning is flawed.

Nadal doesn't win by exploiting technical weakness. He wins because his deal with the ATP means he is guaranteed to be objectively greater in endurance than anyone else can be, until such time as a new chosen one emerges and gets the same freedom from monitoring.

 
Last edited:

StrongRule

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal was out to sorts today a really off day he hasn’t found his best form yet. I can tell he is in a general decline overall but I still expect him to elevate when it comes to RG. Conditions just suit him so much there I still can’t see anyone taking him out just yet..
Conditions don't suit him anymore, when there are roof and night sessions now. It is not RG anymore, it is DO.
 

DIMI_D

Hall of Fame
Conditions don't suit him anymore, when there are roof and night sessions now. It is not RG anymore, it is DO.
The conditions were heavier last year players couldn’t hit through him which still made it suitable.. this year will be more of what we are use to from RG yes we have night matches but he won under a roof before on clay. The bigger issue is just his game isn’t clicking like it should be and can yet. He has to elevate up his game a few more gears to win if he can bring that level the field can’t beat him still at RG.
 

DIMI_D

Hall of Fame
Nadal will improve immensely before RG and during, saying that he isn’t as invincible as he once was but still the overwhelming favourite. I’m saying that the gap is narrowing every yr. Can this be the yr an upset happens after the 4 peat for sure we are getting closer every yr to the end of it. Father Time is undefeated but nonetheless until proven otherwise he is still the King of clay and yet to be dethroned! Long live the King
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
It's a question of match-up. Zverev is confident when playing Nadal and has the tools to dismantle his game even on clay. If he meets him in the FO, he will be the underdog and will play with no pressure, unlike the 2020 USO Final. Nadal is 35, he is not a Terminator T-800 or Superman. He is human and the Father Time cannot be defeated. Federer declined, Nadal is declining and Djokovic will soon starting to decline too. The Big 3 will know its funeral rites, it's inevitable...

And Zverev is (or was) a specialist of the 5 sets. He know how to win a lot of them.
There is no such thing as "match-up". Zverev has defeated Nadal in the last 3 meetings because 2 of them were on indoor hard (Nadal's worst condition) and the other one in Madrid (Nadal's worst clay toournament).

The last time Zverev faced Nadal in favorable conditions for the Spaniard (outdoor slow clay with big court dimensions), Nadal destroyed him.

 

StrongRule

Talk Tennis Guru
Yep, how many more times do people need to be taught this lesson.
Zverev owns this matchup for 3 years now. Nadal doesn't have anything in his game which can hurt Zverev. Just a nightmare matchup. It will not be different in RG. Pretty sure Zverev was going to destroy Nadal in the 1/4 finals last year, especially given the late night session. Lucky for Nadal, Sinner took Zverev out.
 

Sunny014

Legend
Last year Nadal lucky that Stefanos stretched Djokovic to 5 sets in the semis and this enabled the straight sets win or else there was no way he would have won the final so easily.
 

StrongRule

Talk Tennis Guru
There is no such thing as "match-up". Zverev has defeated Nadal in the last 3 meetings because 2 of them were on indoor hard (Nadal's worst condition) and the other one in Madrid (Nadal's worst clay toournament).

The last time Zverev faced Nadal in favorable conditions for the Spaniard (outdoor slow clay with big court dimensions), Nadal destroyed him.

LMAO, this match was in 2018. Now Zverev simply owns Nadal, why not just admit it? Nadal's game just doesn't hurt Zverev at all.
 

Hitman

Bionic Poster
Zverev owns this matchup for 3 years now. Nadal doesn't have anything in his game which can hurt Zverev. Just a nightmare matchup. It will not be different in RG. Pretty sure Zverev was going to destroy Nadal in the 1/4 finals last year, especially given the late night session. Lucky for Nadal, Sinner took Zverev out.

The match up hasn't happened at any slam since then, and certainly hasn't happened at RG. At RG we go by Rafa's rules, forget everything else you know before stepping foot in Paris.
 

StrongRule

Talk Tennis Guru
The match up hasn't happened at any slam since then, and certainly hasn't happened at RG. At RG we go by Rafa's rules, forget everything else you know before stepping foot in Paris.
Read the OP, he writes everything correctly. Even before that Zverev was troubling Nadal a lot, including in a slam meeting in AO 2017. This is truly a nightmare matchup.
 
Top