Jaitock1991
Hall of Fame
Hey folks. I've been thinking a lot about this question lately, especially after his amazing run at the US Open. Well. I've actually got two questions for you;
1) What playing style is the most effective to use in order to beat him? Make
your own game plan.
2) Which of the current top players would you pick to practice this game plan
against him?
I do, of course, have my own view on this, and it goes like this(Please read this knowing that it's just a humble opinion from my side. I know I'm not necessarily right);
1)
First of all, I'd like my player to break through Rafa's defense. His defense is by far the most important part of his game. It's what allows him to play the way he does. He's incredibly quick around the court, for sure, but the one thing, I think, that makes Rafa so hard to break down is that he's always able to return the ball with spin and power deep into his opponents' half when being on the defensive. And because of his mentioned heavy and powerful topspin, the balls bounce up really high and pushes his opponents back behind the baseline, which basically makes it extremely difficult for them to attack him. Rafa is a master when it comes to neutralizing rallies, and to make them go in his own favor. So if you are to beat him, you should never ever give him a chance to get back into the points that YOU'RE dictating. In order to achieve this, I'd like my player to hit ultra aggressive ground strokes, and move towards the net almost every time he's got a shot at it. I want my player to take the ball as early as possible to take time away from him, and to keep the points as short as possible. He does, of course, need to be an excellent server, capable of hitting many aces and unreturnables. It wouldn't hurt if he was also a good serve-volley- player.
Being able to close down the points that you're in control of is one thing. But against Nadal, it's really difficult, if not close to impossible, to get a clear upper hand in a neutral baseline rally. My player, a righty, is going to need a backhand that is rock-solid, as Nadal loves to hit his giant cross-court forehand. As mentioned earlier, he hits the balls deep with a lot of spin and power. This obviously means that it's very difficult to attack him from the baseline. So I would like my player to mix up his baseline game a lot. For example, I know about one very smart strategy that Federer has executed with success against him. That is "a fake net approach". This basically means fooling Rafa(or any other player for that matter) into hitting short balls. You make him believe that you're coming to the net, so that he feels forced to hit a short ball into your expected leg-height. This short ball is a lot easier to attack, and it gives you the opportunity to take full control.
Key: Break down his defense by taking away his time.
2)
The style of play that I just described is a very ambitious one, and it would take a lot of skills and talent to be able to execute it with success. To most players out there, beating Rafael Nadal at his true best is physically impossible, no matter what style of play they adept to and how well they play. But I do think that there are a few top players capable of consistently beating him by playing this way. It would be very interesting to see this game plan being executed in real life. My player-pick would be Andy Murray, as he's, in my opinion, one of the most complete players out there. The only thing that keeps him from being a real challenger for the WN1 spot is his on-court-mentality(but let's not make that the main subject in this thread).
What about you guys? What do you think?
1) What playing style is the most effective to use in order to beat him? Make
your own game plan.
2) Which of the current top players would you pick to practice this game plan
against him?
I do, of course, have my own view on this, and it goes like this(Please read this knowing that it's just a humble opinion from my side. I know I'm not necessarily right);
1)
First of all, I'd like my player to break through Rafa's defense. His defense is by far the most important part of his game. It's what allows him to play the way he does. He's incredibly quick around the court, for sure, but the one thing, I think, that makes Rafa so hard to break down is that he's always able to return the ball with spin and power deep into his opponents' half when being on the defensive. And because of his mentioned heavy and powerful topspin, the balls bounce up really high and pushes his opponents back behind the baseline, which basically makes it extremely difficult for them to attack him. Rafa is a master when it comes to neutralizing rallies, and to make them go in his own favor. So if you are to beat him, you should never ever give him a chance to get back into the points that YOU'RE dictating. In order to achieve this, I'd like my player to hit ultra aggressive ground strokes, and move towards the net almost every time he's got a shot at it. I want my player to take the ball as early as possible to take time away from him, and to keep the points as short as possible. He does, of course, need to be an excellent server, capable of hitting many aces and unreturnables. It wouldn't hurt if he was also a good serve-volley- player.
Being able to close down the points that you're in control of is one thing. But against Nadal, it's really difficult, if not close to impossible, to get a clear upper hand in a neutral baseline rally. My player, a righty, is going to need a backhand that is rock-solid, as Nadal loves to hit his giant cross-court forehand. As mentioned earlier, he hits the balls deep with a lot of spin and power. This obviously means that it's very difficult to attack him from the baseline. So I would like my player to mix up his baseline game a lot. For example, I know about one very smart strategy that Federer has executed with success against him. That is "a fake net approach". This basically means fooling Rafa(or any other player for that matter) into hitting short balls. You make him believe that you're coming to the net, so that he feels forced to hit a short ball into your expected leg-height. This short ball is a lot easier to attack, and it gives you the opportunity to take full control.
Key: Break down his defense by taking away his time.
2)
The style of play that I just described is a very ambitious one, and it would take a lot of skills and talent to be able to execute it with success. To most players out there, beating Rafael Nadal at his true best is physically impossible, no matter what style of play they adept to and how well they play. But I do think that there are a few top players capable of consistently beating him by playing this way. It would be very interesting to see this game plan being executed in real life. My player-pick would be Andy Murray, as he's, in my opinion, one of the most complete players out there. The only thing that keeps him from being a real challenger for the WN1 spot is his on-court-mentality(but let's not make that the main subject in this thread).
What about you guys? What do you think?
