Better surface for Nadal-hard courts or grass?

[anointedone]

It is pretty easy to tell Nadal's best surface is clay. He has shown he is excellent though on both hard courts and grass. I guess the question might be which is his 2nd best surface. So what do you think is a better surface for Nadal, hard courts or grass?

 

[Nadal_Freak]

Grass because Nadal is so good at adjusting to uneven bounces with great footwork while his opponents usually aren't. Also the soft and slippery surface is what Nadal is used to. Hard courts give big hitters a better rhythm to attack Nadal with.

 

[Andres]

Grass. Specially because of the footwork.

 

[J-man]

I would have to say grass. But I have a question. Is the grass (Wimbledon or other grass tournments) slower (or just as fast) as the hardcourts (i.e US Open)?

 

[fgzhu88]

today's grass would be more appropriate. but hard courts are going to take a toll on Nadal's health with his extreme style of play. If grass stays this way, medium speed with fairly high bounces, he will be able to continue to go deep in wimbledon

 

[tricky]

But I have a question. Is the grass (Wimbledon or other grass tournments) slower (or just as fast) as the hardcourts (i.e US Open)?

Slower than the fast HCs like the US Open.

It turns out that a ball travels slower post-bounce on grass than almost any other surface, including clay. However, the traditionally low bounce gives you less time before the 2nd bounce (i.e. the ball skids.)

With a higher bounce like today's Wimbledon grass, it definitely give the surface more clay-like characteristics, rather than HC-esque. The ball still falls into Federer's wheelhouse, thus enabling him his full shot arsenal from the BH side. But none of the shots have a lot of pace. For Nadal, whose ideal contact point is waist high, the slower-than-clay speed enables him to hit the ball more out in front, thus opening up the angles (esp. his inside-out shot.)

 

[Char]

Grass better suits his mobility and style. I agree with fgzhu88 that hard courts would beat him up too much over time due to his style of play. He may in the future (few years) need to adjust to hard court play where the opposite is true of many other players.

 

[federer envies me]

grass is slower than hard, making more similiar to clay than clay

 

[Zaragoza]

I think it´s a tie but he had better results on grass because some good players on hardcourts can´t adapt their game to grass as well as Nadal (once Nadal has taken some rest after the French).
I think it´s not that Nadal is better on grass than on hardcourts but other players are worse on grass than on hardcourts.
Only if hardcourts are really fast I would say he is better on grass.

 

[Zets147]

Probably grass right now. (2 finals at Wimbledon)

 

[Aeropro master]

Grass, he has good footwork, and he has got to 2 wimby finals

 

[anointedone]

I think it´s a tie but he had better results on grass because some good players on hardcourts can´t adapt their game to grass as well as Nadal (once Nadal has taken some rest after the French).
I think it´s not that Nadal is better on grass than on hardcourts but other players are worse on grass than on hardcourts.
Only if hardcourts are really fast I would say he is better on grass.

I definitely agree with that. Hard courts definitely has the most number of very comfortable guys, and very strong threats, of all the surfaces. Except for perhaps being hard on your body, it is the easiest surface to play well, not much adaption needed, clean bounce, sure footing, usually good speed. So almost in any era, and definitely in this particular era when you look at the field, you get the toughest competition on hard courts.

That is part of the reason Nadal and Federer have met in the last 4 French and Wimbledon finals now. Those more specialized surfaces often require a more special talent to adapt to the variables of the surface.

 

[illkhiboy]

Slower than the fast HCs like the US Open.

It turns out that a ball travels slower post-bounce on grass than almost any other surface, including clay. However, the traditionally low bounce gives you less time before the 2nd bounce (i.e. the ball skids.)

With a higher bounce like today's Wimbledon grass, it definitely give the surface more clay-like characteristics, rather than HC-esque. The ball still falls into Federer's wheelhouse, thus enabling him his full shot arsenal from the BH side. But none of the shots have a lot of pace. For Nadal, whose ideal contact point is waist high, the slower-than-clay speed enables him to hit the ball more out in front, thus opening up the angles (esp. his inside-out shot.)

Interesting.

10 chars

 

[Tchocky]

Considering that Nadal has never won a grass court title, he's obviously much better on hard courts. He's pretty good on clay as well.

 

[rod99]

Considering that Nadal has never won a grass court title, he's obviously much better on hard courts. He's pretty good on clay as well.

this is a dumb comment. the grass courts season is essentially 4 weeks (if you don't count newport). that gives you the opportunity to play 3 tournaments. the hard court season is much much longer. he's gotten to 2 wimbledon finals and has never reached the semis at the us open or australian open. you do the math.

 

[welcome2petrkordaland]

this is a dumb comment. the grass courts season is essentially 4 weeks (if you don't count newport). that gives you the opportunity to play 3 tournaments. the hard court season is much much longer. he's gotten to 2 wimbledon finals and has never reached the semis at the us open or australian open. you do the math.

agreed.

most comments on this thread are spot on about nadal's athleticism allowing him to make those last second adjustments to uneven bounces on the grass, which are not an issue on hard. yeah, natural surfaces like clay and grass favor superior athletes/movers-nadal and of course federer.

what i'm suspecting ( and hoping) for the upcoming master's in Canada and Ohio is that Nadal will continue his attacking and aggressive style on the hard courts, which will shorten points and over time, decrease his chances for injury. w/ his improved service, volleying, & return of serve, i def. think he can attack and start to beat the flatballers that have in the past given him nightmares-blake, berdych, youhzny,and maybe gonzo.

nadal now has the attacking game; that much is obvious. can he execute it now on hard courts and rely less on his defensive game to win? if so, we're in for a true race for world number 1 these next few months.

 

[babolat15]

i think it would have to be grass, based just on results

 

[Rafa freak]

I thought everyone would vote hard.

 

[pow]

Depends what kind of grass, the slower the better for Nadal.

 

[psamp14]

right now grass is a much better surface for nadal than hard courts because of the effect that hard courts have on his joints, particularly his knees, and also that the grass is so much slower than it used to (and should) be