Nadal's Game

[tnkGod4tns]

How do you think it will hold up on the hardcourts??

 

[smashserve9566]

I want to say that it will be as good, but unfortuneately I cannot say that with full confidence. The clay is really helping him because he plays such an extreme topspin, with lucky bounces and awkward spins. One thing he was going for him is that he is so maneuverable on the court that I think that will transfer to any court. Nadal needs to work on some more serve if he wants to have as much success on the faster hardcourts.

 

[rooski]

The guys serve will hurt him on hard courts. A guy like Agassi (in his prime that is) could take his first and second serve downtown. On slower hard courts he'll do OK but clay will always be his domain.

 

[Max G.]

He'll do okay - maybe quarters or semis here and there. Maybe he'll sneak out a win at some tournament, if he gets really lucky maybe even at a TMS.

He won't dominate, but his tenacity and speed will always keep him in the matches and, against most opponents, they'll be enough to get him the win.

 

[paintjob]

Nadal will be a top 20 player on hard court instead of the top 5 player he is on clay. He is basically Hewitt on roids with a babolat. And with the roids and the babolat he still has a weak serve. He will have less time to rally, find it harder to break serve, and find it harder to hold serve when playing on hard courts. At this point in his career he has found the perfect game to win on clay, but he will need to improve other areas to be successful on faster surfaces.

 

[Kobble]

I have been looking at it from a different angle. He has such great speed that it might be a good idea for him to develop a net game around that and his forehand. His biggest problem would still be the serve, and it is tough to hold serve if a player can put you on the defense from the start. However, he is left handed, and all he really needs is a good enough slice to pull his opponent off the court on the faster surfaces. From there, he can use his ground game to bully guys around. However, if he can get the slice serve going and be solid at net, then he has great shot in the last two majors of the year.

 

[gugafanatic]

A.Rod bulllied Nadal at the US Open. On fast hardcourts and grass, the emphasis is on the ability to hold serve and win cheap points. No matter how quick one is, a well placed serve on grass/fast hard courts is usually unreturnable however on clay Nadal is able to stand back and wait for the ball to lose pace and use the path or angle of the serve by sliding into shots. Nadal will only be a serious contender if he improves hes serve and takes more balls on the rise. Personally I cant see net rushers hurting Nadal too much, as hes ability to hit passing shots on the run is amazing.

 

[Jonnyf]

roddick will blast Nadal away from now on if they play (roddick's time of year)

 

[Bitter Hitter]

Well measured against the best player in the world right now, Nadal beat Federer in straight sets the first time they met on hard courts and was beating Federer badly in Miami before he choked.

He pushed Lleyton Hewitt to 5 sets at the Australian Open. The boy can definitely play on hardcourts. When he improves his serve he'll be even tougher to beat.

 

[Cobrien]

Well measured against the best player in the world right now, Nadal beat Federer in straight sets the first time they met on hard courts and was beating Federer badly in Miami before he choked.

He pushed Lleyton Hewitt to 5 sets at the Australian Open. The boy can definitely play on hardcourts. When he improves his serve he'll be even tougher to beat.

Dosen't this confirm that Nadal is too young and doesn't have the stamina to last a long game on the hardcourts.

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

All this is speculation. once wimbledon rolls around, we'll find out. Assuming he wins the FO, he'll be high on confidence etc. If he can bring his high confidence and peak game to wimbledon,then we can see how he fares.

Edit : Oops, I misread things. Hardcourts. I guess we'll have to wait til US Open, not wimbledon.

 

[Bitter Hitter]

Dosen't this confirm that Nadal is too young and doesn't have the stamina to last a long game on the hardcourts.

Well he's young but he can hit all day on gruelling clay so I don't see that stamina is going to be a problem.

The point I was trying to make is that he has grown up on clay and yet unlike most of the Spanish players, he has been able to push some of the best players in the world all the way on hardcourts, right at the start of his career. He really should be leading Federer 3 - 0 now not 2 - 1.

I see no reason why he won't do well on grass either. If Nalbandian can get to the Wimbledon Final, Nadal can too.

 

[edberg505]

Well he's young but he can hit all day on gruelling clay so I don't see that stamina is going to be a problem.

The point I was trying to make is that he has grown up on clay and yet unlike most of the Spanish players, he has been able to push some of the best players in the world all the way on hardcourts, right at the start of his career. He really should be leading Federer 3 - 0 now not 2 - 1.

I see no reason why he won't do well on grass either. If Nalbandian can get to the Wimbledon Final, Nadal can too.

Nalbandian doesn't have a full western grip, nor does Hewitt. I seriously doubt he will make it past the 3rd round of Wimby.

 

[ShooterMcMarco]

i also believe that nadal's serve is vulnerable on the hard courts. once he improves it he will be more of a force. as for wimby, low skidding balls will be a nightmare for his forehand.

 

[Grinder]

I think Nadal can have a lot of success at the Australian Open because of the high kicking Rebound Ace. Outside of that, I don't think I can make an accurate prediction.

 

[nkhera1]

How do you think it will hold up on the hardcourts??

The strokes are really good. Sure he uses a lot of topspin but he also hits in hard, deep and fast so that shouldn't be a problem. He should probably develop his volleys and he needs to work on his serve as that is his biggest weakness. His movment will help him everywhere.

 

[nkhera1]

i also believe that nadal's serve is vulnerable on the hard courts. once he improves it he will be more of a force. as for wimby, low skidding balls will be a nightmare for his forehand.

Well we will find out this year but his good movement should help him compensate for that.

 

[Yours!05]

I think Nadal can have a lot of success at the Australian Open because of the high kicking Rebound Ace.

Has the goods to win AO - probably more than once. Yes, his serve is ordinary, but what impressed most was the mature, rock-solid temperament - and this on his "home" slam, on his "home" surface. While Federer succumbed to sweaty palms, let bad luck get to him and failed to adapt to the increasingly heavy conditions, Nadal showed complete control of his mind. The AO choker has been shed, in favour of a level of maturity I haven't seen before. If you win the mental game you get the trophy.
Hoping for 10 years' rivalry to enjoy

 

[obackvalobasha]

I have to say fed has some PRETTY BAD LUCK out there day on some BIGGG points

 

[Dilettante]

I couldn't make a prediction.

Last year (before the Davis Cup final), I saw Nadal in the Top Ten in 2, maybe 3 years. Today, he is in the top 5.

Yesterday, I thought he would'nt beat a Federer with the FO hunger, but he did it. And he did it well.

Will he success on hard courts? I'm not very confident about that, so... maybe he'll success!

He's only 19, he's got a laarge margin to learn and improve. Yesterday he served an ace at 205 km/h (127 mph). Could he learn to serve more often like that in the future? I don't know, but we are seeing the initial stage of Nadal's career. Let's not close the door to further surprises.

 

[Deuce]

The kid has already shown good things on the hardcourt. Really good things. As 'Yours' mentioned, the mental aspect of this sport is rather significant, if one wishes victory. With a confidence that has been growing by leaps & bounds over the past few months, combined with his dogged determination, energy, and zeal, the kid is a formidable opponent on any surface at this point.

His hands are good at the net, as well. Far better than Roddick's.

 

[Bitter Hitter]

He's only 19, he's got a large margin to learn and improve. Yesterday he served an ace at 205 km/h (127 mph). Could he learn to serve more often like that in the future? I don't know, but we are seeing the initial stage of Nadal's career. Let's not close the door to further surprises.

I noticed that too and he served several serves over 190 Km/h to back up the maximum. He seems to me to be already a very clever player with an uncanny knack for choosing the right shot at the right time. He knows that it is unlikely that you will win the points on clay with relentless big serving, so he doesn't bother. He goes for safety most of the time and saves the big bombs for shock value.

He has great confidence in his groundstroke game, he doesn't need to be in such a rush to win each point.

 

[Dilettante]

an uncanny knack for choosing the right shot at the right time.

Yes, you're so right. I think many people don't play much attention to that, but, if you think he's 19... it's amazing how he makes so few strategic errors. One would expect much more tactical mistakes from a teenager (a recent example: Gasquet versus Nadal).

For me, one of the reasons (there are many) of Nadal's huge success on clay is his, so to speak, "chess alike" playing. Most of the time he seems to know wich piece move to wich square and when. That's one of the things that distinguish Nadal from common clay baseliners who merely return balls waiting for an opponent's error. Nadal really hunts the opponent's error, he pursuits it, provokes it. He is not an attacking player but defensive, judging by usual attack game definitions. But he "attacks" in his own way. Let's call it a "long range attack".

And the same for when Nadal find himself in forced positions, on the run shots, some winners from the opponent... he has a uncanny ability to raise some extraordinary winning shots from usually losing situations.

That's why I don't find Nadal's game that terribly boring that some say.

 

[bamboo]

Nalbandian doesn't have a full western grip, nor does Hewitt. I seriously doubt he will make it past the 3rd round of Wimby.

Nalbandian and Hewitt don't have anywhere near Nadal's hand speed. He's probably the world's no. 2 hardcourt player, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him do well at Wimby Unless you have the nerve to do an Annacone and follow his first serve in to rattle him, he can camp on the baseline - Hewitt won without coming in at all. Just look at Nasdaq tapes - he's already left Roddick far behind, and I'm no fan of his, just stating what seems obvious.

 

[Rafa Nadal]

@bamboo ähm i think Hewitts speed is higher than Rafas.
Before Rafas Handspeed coma Roddick; Gonzalez, Massu, Puerta and than maybe Rafa!

 

[Boy Wonder]

Nalbandian and Hewitt don't have anywhere near Nadal's hand speed. He's probably the world's no. 2 hardcourt player, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him do well at Wimby Unless you have the nerve to do an Annacone and follow his first serve in to rattle him, he can camp on the baseline - Hewitt won without coming in at all. Just look at Nasdaq tapes - he's already left Roddick far behind, and I'm no fan of his, just stating what seems obvious.

Well said, bamboo. If Rafa puts as much focus on other surfaces as he did on this red stuff, which he will, than Rafa will have success. Rafa's attitude and movement will bode well for any surface. IMO, Rafa will have as much success on grass as a Hewitt would if not probably more.

 

[Boy Wonder]

@bamboo ähm i think Hewitts speed is higher than Rafas.
Before Rafas Handspeed coma Roddick; Gonzalez, Massu, Puerta and than maybe Rafa!

Rafa's speed and handspeed could contend to be the best in the game at the moment IMO.

 

[Bitter Hitter]

For me, one of the reasons (there are many) of Nadal's huge success on clay is his, so to speak, "chess alike" playing. Most of the time he seems to know wich piece move to wich square and when. That's one of the things that distinguish Nadal from common clay baseliners who merely return balls waiting for an opponent's error. Nadal really hunts the opponent's error, he pursuits it, provokes it. He is not an attacking player but defensive, judging by usual attack game definitions. But he "attacks" in his own way. Let's call it a "long range attack".

And the same for when Nadal find himself in forced positions, on the run shots, some winners from the opponent... he has a uncanny ability to raise some extraordinary winning shots from usually losing situations.

A wonderful post. You have given an absolutely perfect description of his game.