Nadal vs Soderling 2007 Wimbledon 3rd Round
- Thread starter hondas2k
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namelessone
Legend
Mental strength can't do crap if you don't have a healthy body and Nadal clearly wasn't the healthiest player on tour this year. So you think the soderling loss did nadal in,not his freaking knees? He made semi's in almost all the tournaments he entered after his injury based almost only on mental strength because his game was M.I.A.And this was on his worst surface. Federer's problem was mostly a mental one,besides the whole physical issue he had at AO 08'. Nadal's problem is mainly physical,the confidence drain is an added "bonus" and besides,Federer didn't have as much crap pile on in such a short time as Nadal did(parents splitting up,losing RG to the one guy he doesn't like on tour,missing out on wimbledon,losing the nr.1 spot,getting injured twice in this season in some of the most inopportune moments). What do you do when you can't push your body anymore? You try to change something and change takes time.
namelessone
Legend
First of all,why 10 months?
Second,Nadal did come back,year after year,if it's one thing he doesn't lack, it is fighting attitude. His game is missing right now,not his fight. Nadal came back after countless humiliations in the second part of the season in the 2005-2008 seasons and managed to win AO after inching closer and closer. Not to mention him coming back at WB time and time again,even when he was defeated by Roger in 06' and 07'(and he was in tears in 07' after the match).
Nadal's "comeback" depends on his body first and his mind second. If he gets injured every other tournament,takes breaks,loses what little rhythm he has,then it will be nigh impossible for him to do it.
When Federer had his problems last year he still competed very well in slams because he can do more on court than Rafa and were it not for Rafa,he would have won the RG-WB double even in his "mono" year.
Like I said,Fed had some physical problems in AO 08' but after that it was more a mental problem than anything. He played just as well in RG-WB in 08' as he did in 09',except in the finals obviously. In fact,he had more trouble reaching finals in RG 09' than he did in RG 08' and in WB 09' he actually lost a set before the final unlike in WB 08'. Nadal's problem is mostly physical,much tougher to repair than a mental block.
namelessone
Legend
No need to be like that,Soderling did have a great year,regardless of what you think of him. He got beat only by Fed in GS's and he made semi's in WTF.
But my opinion is that when he met Rafa,Rafa was "on his last legs" as you say and the proof is that his legs gave in after that,forcing him to miss 2 months of tennis and the biggest tournament in the world. I don't know why some people can't see that. These two things are linked together,the loss at RG and his withdrawal from queens/wimbledon/DC a couple of weeks later.
Let's say Nadal was great(100% healthy,no knee problems) in RG and got beat by toad thus receiving a big blow to his confidence. What was his status after RG? He was still nr.1 and had to defend wimbledon to stay there and seeing as he didn't have any knee problems,there was nothing stoping him,right? But according to the haters,Nadal chose to skip the biggest tournament and conceed his nr.1 spot just because "he was scared of losing again" or the other popular theory is that he got suspended from wimbledon. Both theories are laughable and serve as nothing more than good entertainment. No one chooses not to enter wimbledon unless their problem is very serious, seeing as Nadal had been overplaying since the start of april(played with pain since MC),I'm guessing his knees weren't that great on the 31st of may,nearly 2 months later.
It took Roger roughly 10 months to get back to the top from losing his #1 ranking and regain it back. In 2008, Roger was down and out. He lost the AO, RG, SW19. Throughout the year, he had numerous losses against the players he normally owned. He played one of his worst match in his life against Blake in Beijing, and finally surrender his #1 ranking. Roger was at the lowest point in his career and consider how dominant he once was, it was a difficult position. However, he was able to fight back, regain his supremacy, and also against critics, fans who written him off(or atleast question his abillity). Within 10 months after losing his #1 ranking, Roger won USO in 2008. In 2009, he won 2 more GS, and 2 GS finalist, and reclaimed his #1 again. That's why I want to see if Rafa can do it in a span of 10 months. What do you want, 12 months? Keep in mind Rafa was way ahead of Federer in ATP points in 2009, but starting 2010, Roger is around 1,300 points ahead of Rafa, so Rafa should have an easier road to get back to the top than Federer did in 2009.
Nadal did not come back year after year. He was always a 1 slam per year, the best on clay, and consistent at staying #2. 2008 was his best year, first time he won 2 slams, reaching the highest ATP in his career, and of course reach #1 for the first time in his career. It's the 2009 were he's knocked out cold. Even though he won AO, but he failed to defend his best surface(RG), and loses countless of time to the top ten players. The WTF was the final blow to him. Pretty much, he's right where Roger's once was after 2008 Olympic. Now he's got a chance to prove himself if he can come back and be an undispute champ like Roger did, and prove all the critics and some fans wrong for written him off. 10 is not enough for you, fine. I don't care if it's 12 or 15 months, if he can't do it, that means he's not as TOUGH as Roger. You cannot say Roger has problem mentally b/c his slams results this year had alot to do with his mental strength besides his ability. Without mental strengh, Roger would of never be where he is right now since the last match he lost to Blake last year.
namelessone
Legend
While I agree with most of your post you have to understand this: Roger's second half of 08' was mostly affected by his mental capacity,not physical one(except the back problems he had at the end of 08' in TMC). Nadal's pitfall this year came from physical problems that left him unable to move freely around the court and who then had to come back on his worst surface,where he was vulnerable. And unlike Roger,Rafa has a worst surface,90% of the losses he has had in the last 5 years have come on HC.
Nadal is nothing if not mentally strong,it has been the main reason he was successful all these years. And I disagree about Rafa not coming back. Rafa was battered at AO for so many years straight,humiliated in 08' and came back to win in 09'. He lost in WB 06',inched closer in WB 07' and had a hearbreaking defeat but he came back and won in 08'. And he made progress even in his worst GS,the USO,where he made 2 straight semi's,much better than other guys with greater HC games than his.
I hope Nadal can come back to winning ways,but first his body has to let him. If he can find the confidence to push his (lighter) body to the edge again,I think he has a good chance,at least on clay.
The_Question
Hall of Fame
Why visit the past (over 2 years ago? You serious?), and look at today (the most recent match of the two)...yeah, dream on kid, dream on!! While you dream about Nadal, make sure you dress exactly like him before you go to bed...
Yeah, two years ago is a long time. Soderling is a better player today and he has the mental edge over Rafa. If they met at SW19 in 2009, anything can happen.
ReturnWinner
Rookie
that was in 2007 and Soda just lost something like 8-6 in the fifth, now at his best He can take Nadal out in any slam.
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