objectivity
Banned
i see it a little differently......it's not that nadal-federer matches are down to "bad" matchups......in my opinion, bad matchups do not exist in reality......it is just in your mind that they exist......
every tennis player has a weakness or two.......federer's weakness is his pathetic overrated backhand.......it is good in style but lacks the substance.......he does not have the finishing power of wawrinka or the guile of haas or the outlasting strength of guga......
every tennis player tries to expose the weaknesses of other players......if djokovic was a bad match up to nadal, nadal would not have beaten him 22 times and lead the rivalry 22-18......
federer never tried to overcome his weakness by moving out of his comfort level and trying new things......he never did that......
much inferior players with single handers held great success against nadal......no bigger examples than youzhny, blake and gonzalez......that was possible not because they had bazooka backhands but because they overcame their weaknesses and found a way past nadal......
nadal does the same thing too......he just finds a way past players......against federer it gets a little easier for him because federer doesn't quite cover up his weakness against him, in other words fails to find a way past rafa......
i do think djokovic is a "bad matchup" for nadal, in that he counters nadal's greatest strength... no, it is not that CC forehand, it is nadal's ability to move his opponent from side to side. i think people have emphasized so much about nadal's cc forehand to the righty's BH, that they fail to see that the bread and butter of nadal's game is first, a solid defence, and second, his pinpoint control in directing the ball from side to side.
djokovic's greatest strength is his balance on both wings -- that is why he is a bad match up for nadal.