Nadal: “Now tennis is mostly about power. I would like to see more different gamestyles. Tactic doesn't exist anymore."

[Mustard]

Rafa has become an expert troll of his critics, no?

 

[TheFifthSet]

Nadal won an indoor Masters at 19 and reached 3 Wimbledon finals by age 22. I think he’s got variety inherently, he’s a real tennis player not just a baseline bot. Djokovic as well is better at the “in the lines” stuff than basically anyone on tour, sure his volleys look awkward but they’re effective and he’s incredible at handling drop shots, passing shots, etc.

Good call on Djokovic’s handling of drop shots, an underrated (or barely rated) part of his game.


He’s also a much better defensive than offensive volleyer (and his offensive volleys aren’t too bad either), so he will probably never get his due in the forecourt. He’s a very competent player up at net.

 

[NoleFam]

Maybe a matter of semantics, but is it that Nadal varies his game more per se or is he just better at employing the variety he does have?


Based even just on this years charted matches alone, Rafa is middle of the pack in net and drop shot frequency, above average in slice frequency and still has some of the more extreme serve direction splits on tour.

Top that off with his consistently, obstinately deep returning position…and I don’t think his patterns of play are particularly more varied.

It is more so that he is better at the shots that are usually associated with ‘variety’ (slice, volley, drop shots), than most of the topspin-drivebots on tour.


But again, whether you wanna call that a distinction without a difference is up to you.

Career wise net stats for big 3 (tennis abstract)

Frequency
1. Federer - 15.3%
2. Djokovic - 10.8%
3. Nadal - 8.6%

Successs
1. Nadal - 73.6%
2. Djokovic - 70.3%
3. Federer - 70.1%

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

Hit high to the backhand, no?

tio... a ti te gusta el good tenis, verdad?!

 

[junior74]

tio... a ti te gusta el good tenis, verdad?!

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

Says the long-standing global ambassador for topspin.

 

[SinneGOAT]

Variety died when Federer retired

 

[tennis_error]

Is this guy making a joke?
The player who plays every single match with one tactic... Forehand to backhand....
The most one dimensional ATG of all time, lol...

 

[Kralingen]

The only issues I’ve ever had with the Nadal viewing experience come with what he does after and between points. If you could somehow splice just the points and cut out the long between point breaks, elaborate towel routines, and groans from the crowd as another 30 seconds is wasted, then he’d be top 5 of the most watchable players ever.

As it stands he probably still is Top 10 though

 

[jl809]

Is this guy making a joke?
The player who plays every single match with one tactic... Forehand to backhand....
The most one dimensional ATG of all time, lol...

It’s almost as if Nadal is a leftie and cross court forehand is the default and safest shot type for all top pros

i swear this forum wasn’t this ****ing dumb during the summer, right? The last 2 weeks it’s become a kindergarten

 

[leodevlin]

Nadal and Djokovic have more variety than 90% of the top tour players atm. Nadal was drop shotting, serve volleying, slicing tonnes and varying height, pace etc constantly during the AO final for example. Djokovic’s volleying is much better than it used to be and he drop shots far more now than he used too (even though they kinda suck lol)

He only started to add variety to his game lately and we all know it's due to the fact that he needs to shorten the points to relieve his injured foot. Classic Nadal is very one dimensional,

 

[jl809]

He only started to add variety to his game lately and we all know it's due to the fact that he needs to shorten the points to relieve his injured foot. Classic Nadal is very one dimensional,

If by lately you mean 9 years ago, then sure

 

[leodevlin]

Nadal has more variety than about 95% of the current tour.

Based on???

 

[leodevlin]

If by lately you mean 9 years ago, then sure

Him sprinkling a few volleys and drop shots does not mean that his baseline game is not power based. His bread and butter is power , spin and height, are you disputing this fact?

 

[leodevlin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1595405061026349057

Is he right? Feels like there is certainly a generation of dumb ballbashers out there rn who can’t volley, dropshot or hit passing shots, but Alcaraz and Rune have some decent variety and are beating that generation with it

Translation: I cannot keep up with newer generation of power hitters who are able to neutralize my heavy top spin shots, therefore I am now a proponent of a well rounded game style.

Again, I respect Nadal a lot, but these type of comments on the hill of multiple losses just doesn't look good and come across as excuses. He is better than that.

 

[Azure]

He only started to add variety to his game lately and we all know it's due to the fact that he needs to shorten the points to relieve his injured foot. Classic Nadal is very one dimensional,

Then you haven’t watched Nadal in his very early days. Somehow got moulded (by Toni?) into more of a baseline grinder. A player that good, that prolific cannot be one-dimensional. It’s ridiculous even reading this to be honest.

A one dimensional player cannot repeatedly trouble co-goats on multiple surfaces if he does not have a plan B , C etc. He is a phenomenal tennis player and his only Achilles’ heel is his non-weapon serve which does not allow him to employ a 1-2 very often.

 

[jl809]

Him sprinkling a few volleys and drop shots does not mean that his baseline game is not power based. His bread and butter is power , spin and height, are you disputing this fact?

Not at all, but Nadal’s never just been a mindless ballbasher.

This is what the trolls are enjoying ignoring - he’s always had a fairly average serve, and he doesn’t hit rocket power shots like DelPo or Gonzo. So how was he so successful?

Yes, he hits with huge topspin, but this is hardly powerful outside of clay and doesn’t explain his 5 Wimbledon finals and 11 HC slam finals. So there must be more to his success than power.

From 2005-2012 part of this was his footspeed and movement, and once his footspeed started declining after his big injury in 2012, he came back with a more rounded game in general. But the other thing is undeniably that he is elite at point construction, like Federer and Djokovic. And this is the tactical thing he’s referring to. Next gen lack this.

 

[Humphrey20133]

He only started to add variety to his game lately and we all know it's due to the fact that he needs to shorten the points to relieve his injured foot. Classic Nadal is very one dimensional,

This right here is one reason why no one takes this forum seriously. There is very little actual tennis knowledge to be found here. No player who has won as much as Rafa has can be called "one dimensional". Just pure nonsense.

 

[weakera]

Rafa's variety in the critical stretches of the AO Final was so legendary

 

[Humphrey20133]

Then you haven’t watched Nadal in his very early days. Somehow got moulded (by Toni?) into more of a baseline grinder. A player that good, that prolific cannot be one-dimensional. It’s ridiculous even reading this to be honest.

A one dimensional player cannot repeatedly trouble co-goats on multiple surfaces if he does not have a plan B , C etc. He is a phenomenal tennis player and his only Achilles’ heel is his non-weapon serve which does not allow him to employ a 1-2 very often.

Sorry, but Rafa is one of those "co-goats" himself, even though I don't really think there is a goat. Making him seem like he was nothing more than a pest to Federer and Djokovic without putting him in the same league is pure bs.

 

[Azure]

Sorry, but Rafa is one of those "co-goats" himself, even though I don't really think there is a goat. Making him seem like he was nothing more than a pest to Federer and Djokovic without putting him in the same league is pure bs.

Correct. I don’t see what makes you think I said anything different.

 

[Humphrey20133]

Correct. I don’t see what makes you think I said anything different.

Read it again and maybe you will see how it actually sounds. You called Federer and Djokovic "co-goats", which I would take as being first and second. It makes it sound like Rafa isn't in their league when he definitely is.

 

[Azure]

Read it again and maybe you will see how it actually sounds. You called Federer and Djokovic "co-goats", which I would take as being first and second. It makes it sound like Rafa isn't in their league when he definitely is.

I didn’t call the latter goats. I said co-goats.

fwiw english is not my first language and it may be that it did not come across right.

 

[Bartelby]

Pot calling the kettle black, more likely, although Nadal is not a dumb ballbasher he is certainly a baseline ballbasher with spin.

Federer had all the variety in the world, but on clay it was useless against Nadal's spinny ballbashing to the backhand side.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1595405061026349057

Is he right? Feels like there is certainly a generation of dumb ballbashers out there rn who can’t volley, dropshot or hit passing shots, but Alcaraz and Rune have some decent variety and are beating that generation with it

 

[JanMijer]

Aggressive power game is also a tactic. He could apply this tactic in WTF and be less defensive and I'm sure he can win WTF with this tactic and strategy. He just needs to take the ball early and come forward more and hit more winners.

 

[leodevlin]

This right here is one reason why no one takes this forum seriously. There is very little actual tennis knowledge to be found here. No player who has won as much as Rafa has can be called "one dimensional". Just pure nonsense.

What is your definition of one dimensional?

Are you seriously asserting that Djokovic has variety in his game ?

 

[socallefty]

Nadal loses on indoor low bouncing, flat courts and comes up with this comment because he is at a disadvantage on these courts against players who hit flatter and harder than him. The young generation of players come to the net to finish points when needed way more than a young Nadal ever did. I’m sure their games will develop more variety in terms of using slice and change of trajectory to vary the rhythm of points just like his game evolved as he matured on tour.

 

[leodevlin]

Not at all, but Nadal’s never just been a mindless ballbasher.

This is what the trolls are enjoying ignoring - he’s always had a fairly average serve, and he doesn’t hit rocket power shots like DelPo or Gonzo. So how was he so successful?

Yes, he hits with huge topspin, but this is hardly powerful outside of clay and doesn’t explain his 5 Wimbledon finals and 11 HC slam finals. So there must be more to his success than power.

From 2005-2012 part of this was his footspeed and movement, and once his footspeed started declining after his big injury in 2012, he came back with a more rounded game in general. But the other thing is undeniably that he is elite at point construction, like Federer and Djokovic. And this is the tactical thing he’s referring to. Next gen lack this.

Well certainly power in itself is not sufficient, you also need consistency which is the major ingredient the big 3 have. When people talk about variety Fed comes to mind , certainly not Nadal .

 

[JanMijer]

This has always puzzled me. Some well-respected commentators will even go so far as to say Nadal is the best volleyer on tour, and while he is a good volleyer and historically has an excellent win rate on net points (owing mostly to the undeniable quality of his approach shots), he's always seemed a bit heavy-handed to me. And if truly were the best volleyer on tour (or close to it), he'd certainly come to net more often than he does, right?

I think most of his volleys were done after he sent his opponents well wide away out of the court and then he hit easy put away drop volley. They were mostly safe volleys to do.

He didn't often do the aggressive first strike flat volley winners because it requires bigger serves and aggressive mindset. But he chose to play safe so he only did volley when it's safer to do.

 

[Rafa4LifeEver]

Wants to make sure his French Open record stays safe.

Nobody's touching Rafa's clay records in the centuries to come (if mankind does keep existing)

 

[Rafa4LifeEver]

For future reference, commenting “I don’t watch tennis” would have saved you a few words

Slay

 

[Hitman]

A clear reference to

Andrey "Few Tools" Rublev

 

[D.Nalby12]

Says a man whose game is based on spin and power. Lol. If you were so much of tactical genius - why you are so useless indoors?

 

[The_Order]

And what exactly is Nadal's game style? Isn't he the one relying on very heavy top spin , high and fast balls? Respect to Nadal but his game has anything but variety.

Nadal gives the opponent a different ball to hit very often. He varies the spin, height, pace etc.

He has exceptional volleying skills and uses them well.

Bh slice drop shot is a thing of beauty... that extended really v Med at the AO where he ended with that shot...

Nadal has heaps of variety to his game. Only tennis noobs think otherwise...

He is the only man in open era to have 6+ majors on both hc and clay...

 

[Silverbullet96]

Nadal gives the opponent a different ball to hit very often. He varies the spin, height, pace etc.

Literally every player does that, not even professional.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1595405061026349057

Is he right? Feels like there is certainly a generation of dumb ballbashers out there rn who can’t volley, dropshot or hit passing shots, but Alcaraz and Rune have some decent variety and are beating that generation with it

"Tactic doesn't exist anymore."

I've said that about men's tennis for 20 years.

 

[tennis_error]

It’s almost as if Nadal is a leftie and cross court forehand is the default and safest shot type for all top pros

i swear this forum wasn’t this ****ing dumb during the summer, right? The last 2 weeks it’s become a kindergarten

Yeah, he's going on his strength... But why talking this way when he's the best example of what he's criticizing? Lol, what an humble man he is.

 

[vex]

I mean, Nadal would literally just pummel heavy FH bombs at Federer’s BH til he won the point. Kinda ridiculous to even attempt this complaint. It’s not like Nadal was S&V’ing or Chip’n’Charge or SABR’ing anyone. He worked some slices occasionally and he’s solid at the net/overhead. He’s not some tactical master tbh.

 

[vex]

The only issues I’ve ever had with the Nadal viewing experience come with what he does after and between points. If you could somehow splice just the points and cut out the long between point breaks, elaborate towel routines, and groans from the crowd as another 30 seconds is wasted, then he’d be top 5 of the most watchable players ever.

As it stands he probably still is Top 10 though

When the ball is in play he is hands down the most exciting (not the most variety tho)

When the ball is not in play, he is straight unbearable. Literally the most painful player to watch between points.

 

[Halba]

Bar RG his grip on tennis is almost certainly over.

 

[Terenigma]

Nadal sure does have a lot to say about the state of tennis lately, doesn't he? Excuse after excuse, the tour is playing the way I don't like so let's release a statement to whine about it.

 

[abmk]

Frankly, Nadal doesn't come to the net enough for a competent volleyer. People harp about how great a volleyer he is but he rarely is up there enough to make a real difference on faster surfaces. When you look at the big 3 net approaches, Nadal comes to the net far less than Federer or Djokovic.

Career wise net stats for big 3 (tennis abstract)

Frequency
1. Federer - 15.3%
2. Djokovic - 10.8%
3. Nadal - 8.6%

Successs
1. Nadal - 73.6%
2. Djokovic - 70.3%
3. Federer - 70.1%

Djokovic clearly closer to Nadal (diff of 2.2%) than Federer (diff of 4.5%) in terms of % of net approaches, no?

 

[joshuayuan]

Nadal tactic:

Plan A : stand 1 metre behind the baseline when returning

Plan B : stand 3 metre behind the baseline

Plan C : stand next to the ball boy.

 

[thrust]

Nadal won an indoor Masters at 19 and reached 3 Wimbledon finals by age 22. I think he’s got variety inherently, he’s a real tennis player not just a baseline bot. Djokovic as well is better at the “in the lines” stuff than basically anyone on tour, sure his volleys look awkward but they’re effective and he’s incredible at handling drop shots, passing shots, etc.

I think the most amazing aspects of Rafa and Novak's game, is their incredible defensive skills.

 

[junior74]

NK is the good tennis now that Fraud's signed off.

 

[NoleFam]

Djokovic clearly closer to Nadal (diff of 2.2%) than Federer (diff of 4.5%) in terms of % of net approaches, no?

Djokovic being closer to Federer, who obviously approaches much more than both, or closer to Nadal wasn't really the point. When you are talking about tens of thousands of points over hundreds of matches, a 2% difference means he's approaching much less than Djokovic as well. It isn't that close.

 

[Texas Tennis Fan]

Djokovic being closer to Federer, who obviously approaches much more than both, or closer to Nadal wasn't really the point. When you are talking about tens of thousands of points over hundreds of matches, a 2% difference neans he's approaching much less than Djokovic as well. It isn't that close.

It is a lot closer than I thought. I mean over a full match, that might mean 2-5 points difference.

 

[Clay lover]

Now now being self-serving and speaking the truth are not mutually exclusive.

He's kinda right about the tour being brainless bashers, but at the same time implying he is not simply a basher and/or indirectly pushing for conditions to be slowed more

 

[Milanez82]

.

Career wise net stats for big 3 (tennis abstract)

Frequency
1. Federer - 15.3%
2. Djokovic - 10.8%
3. Nadal - 8.6%

Successs
1. Nadal - 73.6%
2. Djokovic - 70.3%
3. Federer - 70.1%

Considering Nadal goes to the net only to finish off the point these stats make sense...
If one could count only the same for Federer, i'm sure he is at 90% + when in such situations.

 

[JanMijer]

He just doesn't have the good technique to hit flat forehands. This actually means he doesn't have good variety on his forehand. It's all topspin or occasionally slice.