Nadal needs to raise his level

Joker has improved so much on clay he finally might make it NOT A WEAK CLAY ERA

the truth is Djokovic is the best clay court player on the planet right now and he choked away the final

I like Djokovic but that is one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard.
 

Federer_pilon

Professional
Nadal has never dominated Monte Carlo. It is a very slow surface and it neutralizes some of his topspin that RG would maximize. But I do agree that he can serve much better than what he showed at Monte Carlo. The slow surface helped him get away with serving weak this week. The importance of his serve will be bigger in Rome and Madrid (conditions are faster).

In the past you kept saying that Monte Carlo is the closest to RG in terms of speed and bounciness ...and now you're saying it's very slow?? I get it that you're a Nadal fan; I am too...but you gotta stop this cr*p. You're ridiculously biased...
 

seffina

G.O.A.T.
Nadal is just warming up

"The serve is really important because I was serving better in the beginning of the season.

"In this tournament I didn't serve very well. Especially my second serve, sometimes it was 120 kph, so that's a disaster.

"I have to play more, I have to serve better next week. I am going to have two days to work on this."

"I'm not thinking about Roland Garros yet. I'm focused on Barcelona and Rome. There are more important tournaments before Paris. I haven't played to my level on clay yet. I'm still not at my best, so I have to improve if I want to have chances."

Wow, so he's not giving any credit to Novak or Andy? Well, he's smug one isn't he?
He's not smug at all. Part of the article was from the final press conference. And in that conference by the way he gave Djokovic plenty of credit as well. He also felt (like I do) that Djokovic played better at Hamburg last year. It's not smug to know when you are playing worse than you're capable of. He knows Djokovic is a great clay court player and frankly he has seen Djokovic play better than what he played in Monte Carlo. Novak played really well, of course, but it was obvious to anyone who watches Rafa that he wasn't playing his best yet. His second serve sucked and he was broken not simply because of his opponent's skill, but his errors as well. His errors to winners ratio while positive was not as good as it is can be on clay.

First bolded part:
Q. What would you like to improve most?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, the serve is really important because I was serving better in the beginning of the season. This tournament I didn't serve very well. Especially the second serve was sometimes 120 kilometers per hour. So that's disaster. Yeah, I have to play more, have to serve better next week. I gonna have two days to work.
He was answering a question that specifically asked him what to improve.

I'm not sure where the second bolded part came from, but in no way does that indicate that he is smug or didn't give anyone credit. I don't know how one can come to that conclusion based on two snippets. In fact the second bolded part, he is saying that at his current level he feels that he has to improve so he would have his chances. I think that is giving his opponents credit than taking it away. He feels that they are capable of more and he has to do more to counter that.

Uncle Tony is just a hard nosed coach. Rafa does love to compete and I have also read that he loves the competition more than the game, but I don't think it means that he doesn't love the game. Just because you love to compete doesn't mean you don't enjoy what you're competing in. I see quite a lot of joy in his tennis. It might have a different quality to it than some of the others, but I see nothing in how he's on the court that indicates he would be anywhere else than the tennis court.

Anyways, this type of coaching works for Rafa and that's what matters. He would irritate the crap out of me, but none of my coaches have ever liked me very much. :)
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
In the past you kept saying that Monte Carlo is the closest to RG in terms of speed and bounciness ...and now you're saying it's very slow?? I get it that you're a Nadal fan; I am too...but you gotta stop this cr*p. You're ridiculously biased...
They finally showed a good angle of Monte-Carlo this year. It looks almost exactly like Hamburg. Nadal still would rather play on a ridiculously slow clay court over hard courts but Roland Garros (and Davis Cup in Spain this year) is by far the best clay for him. Credit to Djokovic and Murray to figure out that Nadal is vulnerable on this type of clay and willing to grind it out.
 

thalivest

Banned
I dont see what the big deal is. He didnt play his best or even up to his usual level of clay court tennis in Monte Carlo. Anyone who thinks he did probably has not seen him play on clay often. That is all his uncle is saying. Yeah he pulled out the win, but he can perform alot better than that and might even need to as it looks like Djokovic and Murray are both improving on clay.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
He's not smug at all. Part of the article was from the final press conference. And in that conference by the way he gave Djokovic plenty of credit as well. He also felt (like I do) that Djokovic played better at Hamburg last year. It's not smug to know when you are playing worse than you're capable of. He knows Djokovic is a great clay court player and frankly he has seen Djokovic play better than what he played in Monte Carlo. Novak played really well, of course, but it was obvious to anyone who watches Rafa that he wasn't playing his best yet. His second serve sucked and he was broken not simply because of his opponent's skill, but his errors as well. His errors to winners ratio while positive was not as good as it is can be on clay.

First bolded part:
He was answering a question that specifically asked him what to improve.

I'm not sure where the second bolded part came from, but in no way does that indicate that he is smug or didn't give anyone credit. I don't know how one can come to that conclusion based on two snippets. In fact the second bolded part, he is saying that at his current level he feels that he has to improve so he would have his chances. I think that is giving his opponents credit than taking it away. He feels that they are capable of more and he has to do more to counter that.

Uncle Tony is just a hard nosed coach. Rafa does love to compete and I have also read that he loves the competition more than the game, but I don't think it means that he doesn't love the game. Just because you love to compete doesn't mean you don't enjoy what you're competing in. I see quite a lot of joy in his tennis. It might have a different quality to it than some of the others, but I see nothing in how he's on the court that indicates he would be anywhere else than the tennis court.

Anyways, this type of coaching works for Rafa and that's what matters. He would irritate the crap out of me, but none of my coaches have ever liked me very much. :)
What a wonderful post, very well written and with great insight.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
after an year of talking up Rafa's clay court abilities on this forum, I think you expected him to hit a 100 percent first serves, convert all break points, win every set 6-0. :lol: just kidding. I think nadal is going hard on himself. He played great when it really mattered and if he does that he will continue winning.
You're absolutely right but it's Rafa (and Toni)'s style to go hard on himself. As long as that works for him, I guess it's OK...
 

luckyguy

Rookie
it was also apparent that the best way to beat rafa is to go to the net, djokovic did that many times over. sampras and mcenroe were right all along..
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
it was also apparent that the best way to beat rafa is to go to the net, djokovic did that many times over. sampras and mcenroe were right all along..
Yawn. You can't come to the net unless you got great approach shots against Nadal. Basically you got to beat Nadal at the baseline with an aggressive shot to finish it at net. You got to wait for a weak shot. You'll have to grind a little bit to get that opportunity. To grind, you can't have any weaknesses that Nadal can exploit. Both Murray and Djokovic have no obvious weaknesses from the baseline. The backhand side is huge.
 
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