Utterly subjective and doubtful. Thomas Muster grinded as much or more and his matches were even longer than Nadal. Murray's up there too, as well as Djokovic, though I think Rafa edges them out on "strain on the body."
Also, just off the top of my head, tennis is the only sport in the world that’s played on asphalt and concrete. That’s also bad for the body, especially for such an explosive athlete like RAFA. Hard courts are by far the most abundant surface on tour right now. They’re also the least forgiving since less energy is being absorbed by the court unlike clay and grass due to how firm they are. It’s Newton’s 3rd law of motion at work. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. RAFA generates so much force into his strokes and movement and a hard court sends more of that energy back at him. Since less energy is being absorbed by the court, the body has to absorb it instead. The fact that he’s come back from so many injuries just makes his longevity even more impressive. Considering a lot of people were saying he’d be done by Borg’s age
I think a big reason HC are the most used surface, is because they are the least expensive surface to maintain. At the end of the day, tennis is a business. There’s a reason most grass court tourneys are gone or converted to HC. The higher ups want as much money as possible. The less people needed to maintain a court saves a lot of pennies in the long run. Turf would be an interesting idea, but even that wears out faster than a HC.
While I agree that muster does have quite the grinding style not many will agree with you. Nadal has played many more matches that Muster on HC (around 600 to 220) which is the hardest surface to play a grinding style on. So many more matches will of course lead to more injuries. Muster was primarily a clay courter and did not subject his body anywhere near to what nadal has done. I have watched muster matches and I do love his playing style but to put Muster ahead of Nadal, or even Murray, Novak or even Ferrer is unreasonable. Also the style is much different now than compared to muster's era and having to play a defensive style now is much more difficult. But I understand that as a Fed fan you must take this position
I think this is partly the reason why more people prefer Federer's style. More offensive, smoother and less wear and tear. No matter if Nadal wins the Slam race, people will still much prefer Federer's style as opposed to Nadal's or Djokovic's style.
Its not just about his playing style causing strain on the body, its the fact he was a prodigy, and won Roland Garros in 2005.....and even before then was beating guys like Federer in 2004
So he wasn't easing himself into the tour, he was testing the best at a very young age, and having longevity with such physical tennis was always going to bring injuries in spades.
And even in his 30s when he's shortening points and running less, his groundstrokes are very athletically produced, very brutal on the body.
You can't really moan and whine about anything when you're getting offered a million dollars just to show up for an exhibition. LOL
