tennis_hack
Banned
Sure, he's 0-9 against Nadal, but he's 0-15 against Ferrer.
I think this actually goes some way to dispel the myth that Almagro loses against Nadal because he has a 1hbh. In some of the matches I've seen them play, Almagro is cracking unthinkable winners off Nadal's forehand with his backhand from shoulder high balls.
Do you guys really think that Ferrer's backhand is technically superior to Almagro's, hence he is beating him all the time? I actually think Almagro has more firepower than Ferrer on forehand and backhand, and also has slightly more overall firepower from the baseline (when averaging forehand and backhand) than Nadal.
I don't think backhand is why Almagro loses, against Ferrer and even against Nadal. He just cannot mentally compete with the top guys, or physically last long enough to win. He's held 5 match points on his serve against Nadal and could not win, and has served for the match three times in a match against Ferrer and could not win.
Also, it may have something to do with his exceptionally poor volleying skills. Very often his huge groundstrokes will cough up a reply that guys like Nadal would love to come to the net on and easily put away, but Almagro just cannot volley. He is afraid of the net and has to let that reply float onto the baseline, restarting the point from neutral again until he can actually hit a clean winner from the baseline. The times when I saw him at the net, he immediately lost the initiative of the point with his first volley. So he is scared of the net for good reason.
Do you guys think Almagro will ever beat Nadal, or, more pressingly, Ferrer? What are the reasons why he cannot win against these guys?
I think this actually goes some way to dispel the myth that Almagro loses against Nadal because he has a 1hbh. In some of the matches I've seen them play, Almagro is cracking unthinkable winners off Nadal's forehand with his backhand from shoulder high balls.
Do you guys really think that Ferrer's backhand is technically superior to Almagro's, hence he is beating him all the time? I actually think Almagro has more firepower than Ferrer on forehand and backhand, and also has slightly more overall firepower from the baseline (when averaging forehand and backhand) than Nadal.
I don't think backhand is why Almagro loses, against Ferrer and even against Nadal. He just cannot mentally compete with the top guys, or physically last long enough to win. He's held 5 match points on his serve against Nadal and could not win, and has served for the match three times in a match against Ferrer and could not win.
Also, it may have something to do with his exceptionally poor volleying skills. Very often his huge groundstrokes will cough up a reply that guys like Nadal would love to come to the net on and easily put away, but Almagro just cannot volley. He is afraid of the net and has to let that reply float onto the baseline, restarting the point from neutral again until he can actually hit a clean winner from the baseline. The times when I saw him at the net, he immediately lost the initiative of the point with his first volley. So he is scared of the net for good reason.
Do you guys think Almagro will ever beat Nadal, or, more pressingly, Ferrer? What are the reasons why he cannot win against these guys?
