Can anyone stop Nadal?-Article

bolo · May 21, 2009

Decent read.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2009-05-20-rafael-nadal-roland-garros_N.htm

Gilbert thinks nadal will dominate RG for the next 9 years.

matchmaker · May 21, 2009

Interesting article, thanks for sharing.

bolo · May 21, 2009

matchmaker said:
Interesting article, thanks for sharing.

some interesting serving and breakpoint stats. Barely any change in serving % since 2005 and his service game win % has shot up from 77% to 88%.

tennis_hand · May 21, 2009

answer is yes. u just sit back and wait.

IvanAndreevich · May 21, 2009

How arrogant of Nadal!

Only recently did Nadal trade in his $20,000 Kia sport-utility vehicle for a $270,000 Aston Martin — even though far more luxurious vehicles he has won at tournaments have gathered dust in his family's garage for years.

He's not the simple guy anymore. He's becoming a spoiled brat like Federer :lol:

Pwned · May 21, 2009

I doubt anyone is going to stop him for his 5th. But all it really takes is someone to have one of those career days where everything goes in. Over a 5 set match that is less likely to happen. Eventually someone is going to have a decent plan that works fairly well. Djokovic seemed to play Nadal well at Madrid. But the courts are different and Djokovic kept the rallies way too long which obviously favored Nadal. Federer did a good job going for his shots and hitting a lot of them. High risk tennis though is hard to keep up over a long match. I guess we'll find out.

IvanAndreevich · May 21, 2009

Pwned said:
I doubt anyone is going to stop him for his 5th. But all it really takes is someone to have one of those career days where everything goes in. Over a 5 set match that is less likely to happen. Eventually someone is going to have a decent plan that works fairly well. Djokovic seemed to play Nadal well at Madrid. But the courts are different and Djokovic kept the rallies way too long which obviously favored Nadal. Federer did a good job going for his shots and hitting a lot of them. High risk tennis though is hard to keep up over a long match. I guess we'll find out.

Federer + Djokovic backhand = win

ttbrowne · May 21, 2009

For the next 9 years??? I don't think that will happen.

TheTruth · May 21, 2009

Pwned said:
I doubt anyone is going to stop him for his 5th. But all it really takes is someone to have one of those career days where everything goes in. Over a 5 set match that is less likely to happen. Eventually someone is going to have a decent plan that works fairly well. Djokovic seemed to play Nadal well at Madrid. But the courts are different and Djokovic kept the rallies way too long which obviously favored Nadal. Federer did a good job going for his shots and hitting a lot of them. High risk tennis though is hard to keep up over a long match. I guess we'll find out.

Nice post.

bolo · May 21, 2009

Pwned said:
I doubt anyone is going to stop him for his 5th. But all it really takes is someone to have one of those career days where everything goes in. Over a 5 set match that is less likely to happen. Eventually someone is going to have a decent plan that works fairly well. Djokovic seemed to play Nadal well at Madrid. But the courts are different and Djokovic kept the rallies way too long which obviously favored Nadal. Federer did a good job going for his shots and hitting a lot of them. High risk tennis though is hard to keep up over a long match. I guess we'll find out.

I don't think high risk tennis will work. Imo in the end the guy who beats nadal on clay will be someone in like nadal, hewitt, murray, maybe nishikori. Imo nadal will not lose to a high risk high reward style at RG.

TheTruth · May 21, 2009

My favorite quote of the article.

Great article, thanks for posting it!

"I know (I am going to lose) one day or the other," says Nadal, who responded to questions by e-mail through an interpreter. "Since I know it will happen, I am not worried about it. That's life, the sport and the difficulty of tennis. However, I am right now only thinking about the first match. This is the way it is. Match after match."

IvanAndreevich · May 21, 2009

bolo said:
I don't think high risk tennis will work. Imo in the end the guy who beats nadal on clay will be someone in like nadal, hewitt, murray, maybe nishikori. Imo nadal will not lose to a high risk high reward style at RG.

If Nadal leaves balls as short as he did in Madrid and Rome, all of a sudden being aggressive is far from being a low percentage play. You just have to be able to take advantage of it.

Pwned · May 21, 2009

bolo said:
I don't think high risk tennis will work. Imo in the end the guy who beats nadal on clay will be someone in like nadal, hewitt, murray, maybe nishikori. Imo nadal will not lose to a high risk high reward style at RG.

Due to it being too high risk and failing over the course of the match or Nadal stopping it?

TheTruth · May 21, 2009

ttbrowne said:
For the next 9 years??? I don't think that will happen.

Really? Can't you just see it, Nadal, graying at the temples, slight potbelly, having lost a half a step and still dominating?

Oh ye of little faith!

bolo · May 21, 2009

IvanAndreevich said:
If Nadal leaves balls as short as he did in Madrid and Rome, all of a sudden being aggressive is far from being a low percentage play. You just have to be able to take advantage of it.

I will agree with that. But on a good day from nadal, he will be tough to beat with that style.

bolo · May 21, 2009

Pwned said:
Due to it being too high risk and failing over the course of the match or Nadal stopping it?

Both and now nadal can also be aggressive as well. The margins are too low imo.

IvanAndreevich · May 21, 2009

bolo said:
I will agree with that. But on a good day from nadal, he will be tough to beat with that style.

On a good day he won't be leaving the balls short. At that point it's pretty much hopeless. He will outgrind every single person in the world.

However, he can also have bad days. On those days some people having a good day can get him in trouble. E.g. Verdasco can play another epic match against him. Nadal always gets stupidly defensive when playing Nando, waiting for the error.

I am not saying Verdasco can beat Nadal, but I think he can do better than last year :lol:

Tennis_Bum · May 21, 2009

bolo said:
Decent read.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2009-05-20-rafael-nadal-roland-garros_N.htm

Gilbert thinks nadal will dominate RG for the next 9 years.

Gilbert is an idiot motor mouth. I don't even think Nadal can last the next 5 years, let alone dominates RG for the next 9 years. Gilbert is pretty much unemployed right now, except for a few stints with ESPN during slam. Why isn't he employed right now, with all of his great tennis mind? My guess is that people who hired him had him figured out. The guy is a motor mouth who loves to hear himself talk.

Nadal will be great at RG, but for the next 9 years? Be realistic Gilbert with your prediction.

Tennis_Bum · May 21, 2009

IvanAndreevich said:
On a good day he won't be leaving the balls short. At that point it's pretty much hopeless. He will outgrind every single person in the world.

However, he can also have bad days. On those days some people having a good day can get him in trouble. E.g. Verdasco can play another epic match against him. Nadal always gets stupidly defensive when playing Nando, waiting for the error.

I am not saying Verdasco can beat Nadal, but I think he can do better than last year :lol:

I would bet the house that Verdasco can do better than 08 RG. The score was hideous.

sh@de · May 21, 2009

IvanAndreevich said:
Federer + Djokovic backhand = win

Haha imagine combining the best bits of the both of them. Do you think that would be able to beat Nadal?

I think Nadal's gonna be formidable at RG for many more years to come, but I'm not sure about 9 years which Brad Gilbert said... seems a bit too long

. He'll be pretty old by then.

DarthMaul · May 21, 2009

IvanAndreevich said:
Federer + Djokovic backhand = win

Federer avoiding backhand=win

IvanAndreevich · May 21, 2009

DarthMaul said:
Federer avoiding backhand=win

Virtually impossible. To be fair, his backhand has been VERY solid lately. So solid, in fact, that in Madrid Nadal even wasn't attacking it as much as he usually would IMO.

joeri888 · May 21, 2009

Don't call me a *******, because I thought the Simon Reed article about Nadal being vulnerable at RG was ridiculous, but this one is a stretch as well.. It's completely backed up by absolutely nothing and nine more years would make that 13 slams in a row.. Sorry but I don't buy that.

bolo · May 21, 2009

joeri888 said:
Don't call me a *******, because I thought the Simon Reed article about Nadal being vulnerable at RG was ridiculous, but this one is a stretch as well.. It's completely backed up by absolutely nothing and nine more years would make that 13 slams in a row.. Sorry but I don't buy that.

Don't take the gilbert quote seriously. He has been consistently making bold claims which turn out to be incorrect for at least a couple of years now. But he has nadal's racquet from the wimbledon 08 final, so he must be doing something right.

bolo · May 21, 2009

TheTruth said:
My favorite quote of the article.

Great article, thanks for posting it!

"I know (I am going to lose) one day or the other," says Nadal, who responded to questions by e-mail through an interpreter. "Since I know it will happen, I am not worried about it. That's life, the sport and the difficulty of tennis. However, I am right now only thinking about the first match. This is the way it is. Match after match."

Another great quote from nadal. This and the stats. were the best parts of the article imo.

Dutch-Guy · May 22, 2009

Djokovic in the semis + Fed in the finals can stop him.

aphex · May 22, 2009

"Only recently did Nadal trade in his $20,000 Kia sport-utility vehicle for a $270,000 Aston Martin"

what an arrogant b*stard!

eh veroniquem?

THESEXPISTOL · May 22, 2009

IvanAndreevich said:
He's not the simple guy anymore. He's becoming a spoiled brat like Federer :lol:

i know plenty of people who buy cars like these and still mantain their respect and stay humble with others and are the same persons that they were before

l_gonzalez · May 22, 2009

the most important and relevant stat there is that he has won all 47 best of 5 set matches he has played on clay.

that pretty much sums it all up.

fps · May 22, 2009

just like federer was going to dominate into his thirties....

P_Agony · May 22, 2009

Brad Gilbert is the ultimate *******.

bolo · May 22, 2009

P_Agony said:
Brad Gilbert is the ultimate *******.

You have to give him some credit, he jumped off the fed. bandwagon onto nadal's very early. IIRC he switched to nadal at wimbledon as early as 2006, think he picked nadal in the final. Only 2 years too early but better than some who still haven't gotten there.

bolo · May 22, 2009

fps said:
just like federer was going to dominate into his thirties....

That was fed. fan boys although fed. IIRC said he would play into his mid 30s. Toni or Nadal I think has said nadal will likely be done by his late 20s. lol.

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