Nadal's improvement is mind boggling

[tangerine]

Now Rafa's transformation into Roger is complete. He's even got the new short curly Federer haircut to go with his US Open trophy.

 

[namelessone]

So, how are the knees? I haven't a word about them, have you?

They are better, cause he has had prp treatment on them. Also, he has been running less cause of the new improved serve and it helped that he played with good knees on soft surfaces like clay and grass.

 

[tudwell]

btw, the only comparable change I can speak of with Roger over the last few years was the addition of the drop shot. Jose Higueras turned him on to using that shot more, but it was long after he left Higueras (the subsequent year I think) that Roger actually started using it to good effect on clay.

Roger should really take this positively and strive to put some more pace on his first serve. It used to be that he could ace at will, but nowadays players seem to have a good read on his serves. Take the Melzer match for example - Melzer was killing him on the second serves.

Federer tried to do that in the Djokovic match. I think his average first serve speed was 120, if not more, and his percentage suffered as a result (something like 53% for the match). Then people complain that his serve went AWOL, when really he was just going for too much. Nadal's percentage dropped, too. He used to get 70+% of first serves in - 80% wasn't unheard of for him - and now he's hitting 60-65%.

 

[angiebaby]

Well, you can think what you want nikdom. IF his career is not hampered by injuries? Isnt that saying much?
Yes, if Roger keeps getting younger for next couple of years he will have 25 majors.
Typical of tt posters. When Murray won Toro he was going to win USO. Now Nadal is going to win USO because he serves 130+ serves and hasnt dropped a set to his So strong opponents.

OMG, look at the other thread, he is serving better than Sampras now!!!
It's just amazing what short memory can do to you.

I would like to come back to this thread this Sunday.

Please do. I'd be interested in reading what you have to say now the USO is over.

 

[TennisFan008]

Yes, you used to think that, and I used to think that it was his injuries. But I dont buy that anymore. Looking at history of his injuries it's now clear to me that his injuries surfaces only at the right time, which is when he is losing.
Remember he didnt even have tapes on his knees when he lost to Murray and Soderling in the majors, and suddenly he was injured.

Look at his Roddick match for a good example. He had said he was healthy, he plays with no signs of injury and then after Rod starts winning suddenly he is hitting his knees on the bench blaming them for his loss. Isnt that a little odd?

Do you ask the question why he never wins with some injuries? you wanna know who is really injured? Look at wawrinka this week. He was injured, put up a great effort and won a tough match.
In short, if he is losing, he cannot avoid injuries.

What's really ridiculous is that a short stint of tendonitis caused a significant loss of muscle strength for 9 months.

 

[Praetorian]

You all think Nadal did it all by himself? He had Uncle Toni pulling all the strings. I'm not saying Rafa didn't have talent - of course he does, but let's be real, Rafa is a product of a whole team effort from uncle Toni to his trainers. Federer, in his stubborness felt for a while he was too good for a coach. If Rafa didn't have Toni telling him what to do unquestioningly, Rafa wouldn't be as great as he is today.

 

[ViscaB]

You all think Nadal did it all by himself? He had Uncle Toni pulling all the strings. I'm not saying Rafa didn't have talent - of course he does, but let's be real, Rafa is a product of a whole team effort from uncle Toni to his trainers. Federer, in his stubborness felt for a while he was too good for a coach. If Rafa didn't have Toni telling him what to do unquestioningly, Rafa wouldn't be as great as he is today.

Most tennis players owe their career to their family members. From Krajicek to Graf to Rafa to Murray.

 

[Praetorian]

Most tennis players owe their career to their family members. From Krajicek to Graf to Rafa to Murray.

Exactly my point. People on this forum forget that and ride Nadal jock like he's the prophet of a new religion. Is it insurmountable that he improve, not at all. Will he get better, probably, most likely, maybe not. We'll just have to see. For all we know, 10 years from now, a "Between the Lines special featuring Rafa", may say something like "at the peak of his run cumulating in the 2010 US Open..."

 

[dh003i]

Federer tried to do that in the Djokovic match. I think his average first serve speed was 120, if not more, and his percentage suffered as a result (something like 53% for the match). Then people complain that his serve went AWOL, when really he was just going for too much. Nadal's percentage dropped, too. He used to get 70+% of first serves in - 80% wasn't unheard of for him - and now he's hitting 60-65%.

You might have a point if you could actually show that Federer's average 1st and 2nd serve attempts, including any kind of missed attempts, had more pace than in previous matches. Then you might be able to attribute his lower percentage to him going for more.

However, I've never actually seen anything that proves he was going for more than in prior matches. Commentators just say stuff like that without any evidence. They notice that he could certainly get more in if he went for less; so what. That doesn't show that he was going for more than in prior matches.

It could also just be that he had a bad serving day. He's played Djokovic when Djokovic was playing well before and served much better.

 

[dh003i]

You all think Nadal did it all by himself? He had Uncle Toni pulling all the strings. I'm not saying Rafa didn't have talent - of course he does, but let's be real, Rafa is a product of a whole team effort from uncle Toni to his trainers. Federer, in his stubborness felt for a while he was too good for a coach. If Rafa didn't have Toni telling him what to do unquestioningly, Rafa wouldn't be as great as he is today.

Federer didn't need a coach for much of his career. Really, how can you argue it? Some of his best years came without a coach.

It is incredibly impressive that Federer could win 2 or 3 slams a year without a "coach". (Although he's always had Luthi, and maybe Luthi will be considered a coach in retrospect). But it isn't like Federer hasn't had tons of support and a great team around him at all times. He has always surrounded himself with great people, most importantly Mirka (who was imo more important to him than any coach except in his early years).

 

[The-Champ]

Rafa's flexibility, adaptability and "improvability", constant tinkering of his game and looking for ways to stay ahead of the competition have always been some of his strongest points and some of the things I admire the most about him. And he's a fast learner as well.

this is exactly why i think he would do just fine in any era. The desire to become better is something you cannot teach. Look at Safin..talented guy but a lazy SOB.

 

[TheTruth]

I think Nadals transformation is great for tennis. He realized that if he continued to play like he had, his career would be in jeopardy.

He understands that to win on other surfaces besides clay, he has to serve much bigger, go to the net, hit more winners and shorten the points.

I am a fan of tennis so for me watching Nadal-Federer in the finals of a major is great drama. I believe this year Nadal will win and that will force Fed to make some adjustments to his game. They won't be big adjustments, but I think he will need to serve bigger and he will need to change some tactics like attacking the net more often.

I do not understand the vitriol people have towards each other on this site. I think you can be a fan of either Nadal or Federer but you can respect the other persons point of view. Name calling and nasty posts really have no place in these kinds of discussions.

This should be a sticky. I don't understand it either. There's nothing wrong with liking anyone, why it's problem in some people's minds is baffling.

 

[cigrmaster]

This should be a sticky. I don't understand it either. There's nothing wrong with liking anyone, why it's problem in some people's minds is baffling.

Truth, do you think that the problem is that there are quite a lot of younger people who post on this forum? I read so many posts that seem like they were written by 12 year olds. I think the moderators could easily control this type of behavior. I used to be a moderator at the largest cigar on line community and I would regularly pull posts of this nature.

They should have a sticky at the top of each page outlining proper posting etiquette.

 

[ivan_the_terrible]

Truth, do you think that the problem is that there are quite a lot of younger people who post on this forum? I read so many posts that seem like they were written by 12 year olds. I think the moderators could easily control this type of behavior. I used to be a moderator at the largest cigar on line community and I would regularly pull posts of this nature.

They should have a sticky at the top of each page outlining proper posting etiquette.

Your post is OT and should be deleted/moved :twisted: