Russeljones
Talk Tennis Guru
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/26/rafael-nadal-us-open-flushing-meadow-kevin-Mitchell
by Kevin Mitchell
Rafael Nadal believes his game is better than results suggest as US Open looms
Rafael Nadal cut an elegant outsider in Manhattan this week, a player with plenty to prove in the faltering autumn of his career but determined to look good, win or lose.
Office workers looked up from their lunchtime sushi in Bryant Park as the Spaniard did his schtick for a new underwear sponsor, his ever-boyish smile, long, wispy locks and a designer suit the perfect disguise for a champion struggling to rediscover his best tennis ahead of his first appearance at the US Open since he lifted the trophy two years ago.
It worked. He did not look or sound like a player whose last appearance in a slam was losing to 102-ranked Dustin Brown in the second round of Wimbledon. Before that, Novak Djokovic had bundled him out of his castle at Roland Garros in the quarter-finals. And before that, Tomas Berdych – whom he had beaten so easily in the Wimbledon final five years ago – got the better of him in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open. Over eight months, Nadal has been falling short of his best on battlefields where he once was a beast.
Not long turned 29 – five years younger than Roger Federer, a year older than Djokovic and Andy Murray – he says he is fit, strong and healthy. If he were winning a few more matches in big tournaments, he would be a contender at these championships, but he knows his No 8 seeding is warranted. Young opponents are less daunted. They will scan the draw on Thursday and be more concerned about a first match against just about anyone else in the top 10.
This is not the Nadal who beat Djokovic thrillingly in four sets in the 2013 final, or the Nadal who beat the Serb in one of his finest performances to win his breakthrough US title in 2010. He is still dangerous. But it is a little while since he brought his aura with him.
We had turned off the promotional video chugging on a loop in the background of a small room at the top of the Bryant Park Hotel – there’s only so many times you want to see Rafa stripping down to his underpants in a locker room – and he reflected on a summer of rolling angst. He has been a busy boy.
“I have been doing something for Nike yesterday,” he says, “today we’re here with Tommy Hilfiger and tomorrow I’m doing a charity event with John McEnroe for his academy. Always before a big tournament, there are things to do.”
A lot of players have these commercial obligations, invitations to dodge or accept – Murray took time out from his preparation last year to watch Rory McIlroy play in the Barclays tournament in Jersey last year before going to a basketball match with the golfer in New York that night – but Nadal’s circumstances are different. He is in a minor crisis.
“I dunno ... My confidence is OK. I think I am playing better than what the results say the last couple of tournaments. I was doing things well. I lost a tough match against Feliciano [López] that I could have won. But it’s always the same: when you lose some matches, to find again the momentum, to find again that extra confidence that makes you win and makes your opponent don’t believe they can beat you, it’s always a little bit harder, no?
“I am in this process and I believe – no, I know – that I am better than months ago. I feel well. I am hitting well. Then the competition arrives, and anything can happen. I would be [wrong] if I say today that I feel myself 100% great to win the US Open after the season that I have had. I don’t want to say that.
“I say I feel better than I did in most of the season. I don’t know if it’s enough, but I’m going to keep working the whole week before the tournament and enjoy the fact that I am here again. Last year I didn’t have that luck [sidelined with an elbow injury, followed by an appendectomy]. In terms of tennis and mentality, I think I am closer than the rest of the season.”
Nadal always has an eye on his oldest adversary, and he lifts his famous eyebrow when asked what he thinks of the shot that lit up the Cincinnati tournament: the Federer Charge. The Swiss, restored to second seed here, surprised everyone with his periodic charges on his opponent’s second serve, sometimes getting within a few feet of the net and once, against Djokovic, flipping up the return on the half-volley from the edge of the service box.
“I saw just a few points of some of his matches. He was feeling the ball great, he was quick, playing the way he wants to play and he is one of the favourites for here. But I don’t know if that [charge] works. He is fantastic without doing that. That’s too much. I do not believe that he can return that way – a few times, maybe, but I don’t think he will keep doing it very often.”
Nadal is probably right, but this tournament will have other surprises. He must be hoping that he is not part of that narrative in all the wrong ways.
by Kevin Mitchell
Rafael Nadal believes his game is better than results suggest as US Open looms
Rafael Nadal cut an elegant outsider in Manhattan this week, a player with plenty to prove in the faltering autumn of his career but determined to look good, win or lose.
Office workers looked up from their lunchtime sushi in Bryant Park as the Spaniard did his schtick for a new underwear sponsor, his ever-boyish smile, long, wispy locks and a designer suit the perfect disguise for a champion struggling to rediscover his best tennis ahead of his first appearance at the US Open since he lifted the trophy two years ago.
It worked. He did not look or sound like a player whose last appearance in a slam was losing to 102-ranked Dustin Brown in the second round of Wimbledon. Before that, Novak Djokovic had bundled him out of his castle at Roland Garros in the quarter-finals. And before that, Tomas Berdych – whom he had beaten so easily in the Wimbledon final five years ago – got the better of him in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open. Over eight months, Nadal has been falling short of his best on battlefields where he once was a beast.
Not long turned 29 – five years younger than Roger Federer, a year older than Djokovic and Andy Murray – he says he is fit, strong and healthy. If he were winning a few more matches in big tournaments, he would be a contender at these championships, but he knows his No 8 seeding is warranted. Young opponents are less daunted. They will scan the draw on Thursday and be more concerned about a first match against just about anyone else in the top 10.
This is not the Nadal who beat Djokovic thrillingly in four sets in the 2013 final, or the Nadal who beat the Serb in one of his finest performances to win his breakthrough US title in 2010. He is still dangerous. But it is a little while since he brought his aura with him.
We had turned off the promotional video chugging on a loop in the background of a small room at the top of the Bryant Park Hotel – there’s only so many times you want to see Rafa stripping down to his underpants in a locker room – and he reflected on a summer of rolling angst. He has been a busy boy.
“I have been doing something for Nike yesterday,” he says, “today we’re here with Tommy Hilfiger and tomorrow I’m doing a charity event with John McEnroe for his academy. Always before a big tournament, there are things to do.”
A lot of players have these commercial obligations, invitations to dodge or accept – Murray took time out from his preparation last year to watch Rory McIlroy play in the Barclays tournament in Jersey last year before going to a basketball match with the golfer in New York that night – but Nadal’s circumstances are different. He is in a minor crisis.
“I dunno ... My confidence is OK. I think I am playing better than what the results say the last couple of tournaments. I was doing things well. I lost a tough match against Feliciano [López] that I could have won. But it’s always the same: when you lose some matches, to find again the momentum, to find again that extra confidence that makes you win and makes your opponent don’t believe they can beat you, it’s always a little bit harder, no?
“I am in this process and I believe – no, I know – that I am better than months ago. I feel well. I am hitting well. Then the competition arrives, and anything can happen. I would be [wrong] if I say today that I feel myself 100% great to win the US Open after the season that I have had. I don’t want to say that.
“I say I feel better than I did in most of the season. I don’t know if it’s enough, but I’m going to keep working the whole week before the tournament and enjoy the fact that I am here again. Last year I didn’t have that luck [sidelined with an elbow injury, followed by an appendectomy]. In terms of tennis and mentality, I think I am closer than the rest of the season.”
Nadal always has an eye on his oldest adversary, and he lifts his famous eyebrow when asked what he thinks of the shot that lit up the Cincinnati tournament: the Federer Charge. The Swiss, restored to second seed here, surprised everyone with his periodic charges on his opponent’s second serve, sometimes getting within a few feet of the net and once, against Djokovic, flipping up the return on the half-volley from the edge of the service box.
“I saw just a few points of some of his matches. He was feeling the ball great, he was quick, playing the way he wants to play and he is one of the favourites for here. But I don’t know if that [charge] works. He is fantastic without doing that. That’s too much. I do not believe that he can return that way – a few times, maybe, but I don’t think he will keep doing it very often.”
Nadal is probably right, but this tournament will have other surprises. He must be hoping that he is not part of that narrative in all the wrong ways.
