Ferrer doesn't have the weapons to take Nadal out on clay. He grinds alot on clay, and is too defensive. To beat Nadal on clay you have to be agressive and outhit Nadal on clay (as dumb as it sounds). If you play defensive, Nadal will run you left and right as seen in the FO 07 where Nadal controlled the court much better then Federer.
Excluding Fed, who has the best shot at beating Nadal at the French Open?
- Thread starter jamespolk
- Start date
I'd be much more impressed with 81 straight wins on grass than on clay. Grass is much lower percentage tennis where you go for bigger risks. Of course that is not to say what Nadal has done is anything less than impressive.
plain jane
Semi-Pro
thank you
icravedukkbokki
New User
Canas Or Hewitt!!!
Nadal_Freak
Banned
Nalbandian or Djokovic. Ferrer is too small and the high ball will give him problems on clay.
I'd say Nalbandian probably has the best chance, hits the ball incredibly clean and is much more patient then Djokovic.
plain jane
Semi-Pro
i really haven't seen ANYTHING from djokovic to warrant him being a choice. the guy was well beat twice this year on clay (including RG) without winning a set. How is he going to magically be able to win three sets against nadal at RG? My only choice would have to be Nalby based purely on his end of year results vs Nadal as i have never seen him play on clay before and he has never faced nadal on clay before.
M
Morrissey
Guest
Well said. It's funny, because you have to have weapons to hurt him on clay but you also need to be patient and pick your spots very wisely or you'll get burned. To do this strategy on clay against Nadal for 5 sets or 3-4 hours is almost impossible. And if Nadal is playing like he usually does on clay you may need to wait a few years for the next great clay master to do that. Of all the players right now Fed is the only one with enough patience and weapons to do it. But not even he can do it long enough to win. So if he can't do it no one can. Definitely not Ferrer. His game is best on the predictable bounce and speed of a hardcourt. The HC helps his groundies go faster through the court and the sticky surface makes him cover the court even better. Even Coria at his absolute best on clay couldn't beat Nadal. Really, I can't see anyone in the next 5-6 months good enough to do it. Maybe in a year or two we might see someone emerge. So I see a 4th straight title on the horizon. Hopefully.
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M
Morrissey
Guest
But they'd have to be in the same half and meet up in the 4th round or QF because he won't go far enough to play him any further than that. We also have to take into consideration what his form may be in the summertime. We can't really use his indoor season as an accurate assessment because he always does his best indoors.
lambielspins
Banned
Lets face it. We all know Nadal will probably win the French Open again. However if I had to pick his biggest threats in order they would be:
1. Federer- the best chance of anyone, and still only an outside shot to actually "win" over Nadal at the French. Which just shows you how likely Nadal is to win the French again next year anyway. However he wins atleast 1 set vs Nadal almost everytime they play on clay, even matches he isnt playing great, so how can it be anyone else before him.
2. Davydenko- I think the next best chance. He has performed very consistently at the French Open, he played Nadal very close at Rome when Nadal was in great form and crushing everyone else. Actually the Rome match Nadal could have finished off in 2 sets, and Davydenko broke in a crucial game late in the 2nd. Even though I say he has the next best chance since he takes the ball early, likes clay, is consistent at the French, and played an in form Nadal close the one time they met on clay. Problem for him is, in addition to how tough a task it is for him to beat Nadal in a best 3-of-5 on clay to begin with, his penchent for losing nerve in late rounds of slams anyway, as we saw in that chokefest semi with Federer this year.
3. hmmm, not sure, cant think of anyone else. Those are the only two guys with any shot to beat Nadal on clay to be honest I think. Robredo, no. Djokovic, on clay no. Canas, no. Hewitt, I doubt he will play a match vs Nadal that close ever again unless Nadal is worn.
Ferrer is too small to have a chance vs Nadal on clay. Those high kicking heavy groundies of Nadal will just get too far up on him. Nalbandian is not consistently strong enough on clay to count on even much chance of playing Nadal, barring the draw working out in an unlikely way.
1. Federer- the best chance of anyone, and still only an outside shot to actually "win" over Nadal at the French. Which just shows you how likely Nadal is to win the French again next year anyway. However he wins atleast 1 set vs Nadal almost everytime they play on clay, even matches he isnt playing great, so how can it be anyone else before him.
2. Davydenko- I think the next best chance. He has performed very consistently at the French Open, he played Nadal very close at Rome when Nadal was in great form and crushing everyone else. Actually the Rome match Nadal could have finished off in 2 sets, and Davydenko broke in a crucial game late in the 2nd. Even though I say he has the next best chance since he takes the ball early, likes clay, is consistent at the French, and played an in form Nadal close the one time they met on clay. Problem for him is, in addition to how tough a task it is for him to beat Nadal in a best 3-of-5 on clay to begin with, his penchent for losing nerve in late rounds of slams anyway, as we saw in that chokefest semi with Federer this year.
3. hmmm, not sure, cant think of anyone else. Those are the only two guys with any shot to beat Nadal on clay to be honest I think. Robredo, no. Djokovic, on clay no. Canas, no. Hewitt, I doubt he will play a match vs Nadal that close ever again unless Nadal is worn.
Ferrer is too small to have a chance vs Nadal on clay. Those high kicking heavy groundies of Nadal will just get too far up on him. Nalbandian is not consistently strong enough on clay to count on even much chance of playing Nadal, barring the draw working out in an unlikely way.
Jimmyk459
Rookie
You guys....
no offense.... But all of you guys are dumb. Nalbandian has the best chance to beat nadal this year.... Even possibly better than federer. He has aleady destroyed nadal twice in 2006. He us also a great claycourter. In 2006, he was steamrolling federer in the RG semis until his abdominal strain or something. He has proven himself as a great player on this surface. While there is nothing that I would love more than to see another trophy in nadals hands I know that if nadal and nalbandian meet, it is gonna be one helluva match.
no offense.... But all of you guys are dumb. Nalbandian has the best chance to beat nadal this year.... Even possibly better than federer. He has aleady destroyed nadal twice in 2006. He us also a great claycourter. In 2006, he was steamrolling federer in the RG semis until his abdominal strain or something. He has proven himself as a great player on this surface. While there is nothing that I would love more than to see another trophy in nadals hands I know that if nadal and nalbandian meet, it is gonna be one helluva match.
Nadal_Freak
Banned
Gonzalez and Federer also destroyed Nadal on hard courts. Both do nothing to Nadal on clay though. My guess is Nalbandian would have the best chance but I'm pretty sure he'll fall just like the other 2.
Nalbandian is a good player on clay, but not better than Federer. If he was so great on clay, he would have 1 SF, and 2 finals at the FO. He doesn't. The best Nalbandian has at the FO is SF. Nalby fans need to stop harping on his groin injury. So what? Who cares. Staying healthy is a part of the game, and being in top shape and healthy is especially important on clay. If Nalbandian can't cut it, he should retire. Back in the day, they didn't even used to have injury time-outs. If you couldn't serve or be ready to return within the required time, too bad, you forfeited.
Federer was already playing well against Nalbandian before his injury anyways. The fact of the matter is this: Nalbandian lost. And there are many players that had a 1-up on Federer, then he came back and crushed. It is far from certain -- and indeed, quite unlikely -- that Nalbandian would have beaten Federer at the FO had he not had an injury.
Federer was already playing well against Nalbandian before his injury anyways. The fact of the matter is this: Nalbandian lost. And there are many players that had a 1-up on Federer, then he came back and crushed. It is far from certain -- and indeed, quite unlikely -- that Nalbandian would have beaten Federer at the FO had he not had an injury.
Nalbandian has something those two don't though, and that's consistent ground strokes that don't break under immense pressure. You can hit 100 balls at Nalbandian's backhand and I garuntee it won't breakdown like Federer's does. Nalbandian plays differently from them in that he plays close to the baseline and likes to control the center of the court. Perfect style of playing for clay, as he puts quite abit of spin on the ball already.
federerfanatic
Banned
I agree with all that. Alot of TW posters are bandwagon types so since Nalbandian ended the year with a couple good tournaments they are on the bandwagon now and he is suddenly, temporarily mind you, a god. Alot of the same people have jumped off the Djokovic bandwagon which they were riding after the summer hard court season, also having jumped off the Nadal bandwagon which they were riding after the clay and grass court seasons. All of that after long before jumping off the Gonzalez bandwagon people were riding after the Australian Open.
If Nalbandian is such a wonderful clay court player why has he never won a Masters Series title on clay or reached the finals at Roland Garros? Federer has done both - more than once.
Great post. It's remarkable how short people's memories can be, and how many conclusions they are willing to draw from the results of one or two tournaments.
CAM178
Hall of Fame
Nalbandian has the best chance, but only if he can stay focused. And there is no other tournament that can test a man like the FO can. Nalby's been my favorite for years, so it was great to see him dominate at the end of the year. But as is always the case with Nalby: can he maintain? We shall see in 2008. . .
