Rafa protecting players, tennis in general!

Gato

Semi-Pro
Source: https://tennistranslations.wordpres...quipe-who-asks-questions-from-all-directions/

What would you change in the way the tour operates?


I favour a two year ranking and not fifty-two weeks. It’s the best way to protect players in case of injury. I’ve thought that for years, but it’s even more important at the end of a career.

And in the rules of tennis?

I don’t know how, but attention needs to be paid to the serve and to power in general. The players are bigger and bigger and it’s getting faster and faster. If we don’t find a solution to the serve, then tennis will reach a point where it’s summed up by that shot. In ten years, tennis could be in danger.

Are you for or against cutting out one of the serves?

Why not? We can’t say it’s stupid. We can only try it out. I’m in favour of innovations. Why not try it at small tournaments? I don’t know … But we could at least consider it.

When you watch old videos on You Tube, who is your favourite player?

Tough to say. I like Ilie Nastase. But I like the tennis of that era because power is less important. There’s more magic. Talent counts for more, tactics too. There was more point construction. That’s what I miss in the tennis of today. Clay is the last surface where you can still construct points. You can still try things. On hard, it’s become almost impossible. It’s too fast.
 
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Fedforever

Hall of Fame
I don’t know how, but attention needs to be paid to the serve and to power in general. The players are bigger and bigger and it’s getting faster and faster. If we don’t find a solution to the serve, then tennis will reach a point where it’s summed up by that shot. In ten years, tennis could be in danger.

I don't see this at all. Fair enough in the days of Greg Rusedski and his ilk. But I can't see how serve is dominant now even on fast courts.
 

Gato

Semi-Pro
"I favour a two year ranking and not fifty-two weeks. It’s the best way to protect players in case of injury. I’ve thought that for years" - Very humble from Nadal.He wants to help himself.I am surprised that in this interview he didnt mention that he want less HC tournaments and more clay
Wawrinka Djoker Murray in the same position
 

enlightenment

Semi-Pro
If by constructing points you mean, pummelling the bh and making them run, then sure.

But fast courts also have beauty and to master it requires more skill. Net skills and half-volleying become highly efficacious and accuracy is rewarded far more than power imo
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
The play is too fast on HC, says the guy who won a HC slam last year whilst returning serve from the VIP box.

Also, hitting with ridiculous RPM until an opponent makes an erorr or coughs up a short ball and running everything down is hardly some exemplary point construction compared to other surfaces, I acknowledge it as talent but cerebral tennis it ain't in my eyes.
 

Plamen1234

Hall of Fame
"It’s getting faster and faster" - in which universe it is happening this exactly.One of the HC Slams speed is slow - US Open.And again lets not forget that the speed of the courts have been slowed down for years.The serve is not as effective as it used to be.I guess Nadal wants the speed of the courts to be slowed down to clay level
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
If he actually said this.. the Nadal has officially lost it. Does he realize pretty much no one agrees with him on this?

I wouldn't say that, he has a large fanbase that agrees with pretty much everything he says. A lot of the arguments his fandom uses (too much HC, I would have won 30 slams if not for my injuries, fast court tennis is not really tennis, clay is all about point construction, fans want to see long rallies so time wasting should be allowed etc.) comes from the people's champion himself.

Not to mention that ATP/ITF has been catering to him and similar minded players for years now with all the surface slowdown across the board, USO was probably the slowest HC slam in the history last year.

I don't think his views are avant-garde at all. A lot of people want to turn tennis into a boxing type sport where physicality reigns supreme.
 

merwy

G.O.A.T.
Check Nadal news thread
You’re supposed to provide the source. I just painstakingly went through the last page of that thread and read like 8 interviews in the process without finding this one. I don’t feel like wasting anymore time so unless you provide a source yourself, I’m going to assume you pulled this right out of your ass
 

Gato

Semi-Pro
You’re supposed to provide the source. I just painstakingly went through the last page of that thread and read like 8 interviews in the process without finding this one. I don’t feel like wasting anymore time so unless you provide a source yourself, I’m going to assume you pulled this right out of your ass
I updated it - won't happen again
 

Zeref

Professional
If he actually said this.. the Nadal has officially lost it. Does he realize pretty much no one agrees with him on this?
His followers agree and support his statement. His words are engraved in stone for them.

On topic (idk if Rafa said it but let's assume he said )- If i m being completely honest, All those innovations he is talking about seem like the thoughts that come to his head whenever he lost, these are subconscious thoughts solely to benefit him.

As for game being fast due to power and racquet Technology, Surfaces have already been slowed to counter that. Instead of blaming big serves from big servers, he should realise that Djokovic , Murray and Federer return big serves readily from the baseline.
Everyone has some speciality , trying to call for rule changes that favours your speciality under the name of " Saving tennis" or "future of tennis" is BS
 

ak24alive

Legend
Tough to say. I like Ilie Nastase. But I like the tennis of that era because power is less important. There’s more magic. Talent counts for more, tactics too. There was more point construction. That’s what I miss in the tennis of today. Clay is the last surface where you can still construct points. You can still try things. On hard, it’s become almost impossible. It’s too fast.
Nadal can have his opinions for sure.
But this is ridiculous.
Modern day grass tennis is all about construction of points. Aggressive tennis on hard courts makes for some delicious construction of points.
This is a biased opinion from Rafa.
 

Slightly D1

Professional
Nadal can have his opinions for sure.
But this is ridiculous.
Modern day grass tennis is all about construction of points. Aggressive tennis on hard courts makes for some delicious construction of points.
This is a biased opinion from Rafa.
Modern day grass... most of the points are usually over in less than a handful of shots. It’s not that enjoyable to watch most of the tour when a lot of the players are flat out atrocious on grass and it’s just become big serve then try to rip a forehand that stays low. Thats not a lot of point construction going on for a majority of the players on tour.

Although this has more more to do with the impact of racket/string technology and modern playing style being on a relatively antiquidated surface.

Huge fan of watching good grass tennis though.
 
Modern day grass... most of the points are usually over in less than a handful of shots. It’s not that enjoyable to watch most of the tour when a lot of the players are flat out atrocious on grass and it’s just become big serve then try to rip a forehand that stays low. Thats not a lot of point construction going on for a majority of the players on tour.

Although this has more more to do with the impact of racket/string technology and modern playing style being on a relatively antiquidated surface.

Huge fan of watching good grass tennis though.

Most of the words you use mean something, but convey nothing.

Most of your statements are garbage.

A lot of them rely on the premise that point construction means many shots.

The majority of posters like you are fans of clay and grass, of course.

:cool:
 

chut

Professional
More interestingly, there is an interview of Toni Nadal in the French newspaper Le Monde where he says that Federer/Nadal/Djokovic are probably the best generation ever because of their absolute commitment to tennis. He says the next gen players are not committed enough, they're not as involved as needed and it shows because they're not able to construct points well enough or because they won't be able to play at high level consistently (Kyrgios). Says he likes Shapovalov and also Dimitrov, that he would coach him if asked.

Then he says that tennis today isn't interesting because well... because it's not played enough like clay ! Says that the strategic part of tennis is gone, it's about having a big serve and a big FH like Federer and he preferred seeing Nastase play. (Obviously Toni only watched clay tennis during his young years...) Says that the Anglo-Saxon part of the world doesn't care about strategic part of the sport! Also says that tennis should be played more often on clay (surprise!) because it's better for players health, that the number of clay tournaments has reduced with time (a lie, and it's easy to prove that it's false) and that WTF should be played on clay too sometimes.

Asked about tennis evolution, he says players have evolved a lot physically, rackets are bigger but rules haven't changed much. Says tie-break isn't that big of a change (Are you kidding me??) and that serve is too strong nowadays. Would like softer balls and smaller rackets in use in order to prevent players from hitting to big. (i'm not an expert on this, but i believe poly strings do have an impact too, but he doesn't mention it)
 

hoodjem

G.O.A.T.
When you watch old videos on You Tube, who is your favourite player?

. . . I like the tennis of that era because power is less important. There’s more magic. Talent counts for more, tactics too. There was more point construction. That’s what I miss in the tennis of today. Clay is the last surface where you can still construct points.
I like.
 

chut

Professional
So, it's hard to know if Nadal has made an opinion for himself or if his uncle has totally brainwashed him. The Nastase comment is especially telling.
 

pame

Hall of Fame
Most of the words you use mean something, but convey nothing.

Most of your statements are garbage.

A lot of them rely on the premise that point construction means many shots.

The majority of posters like you are fans of clay and grass, of course.

:cool:
They're fans of slowed-down, 2nd week, predominantly-mud, grass tennis - not of traditional grass tennis
 
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They're fans of slowed-down, 2nd week, predominantly mud grass tennis - not of traditional grass tennis

Lol, you can see his agenda from a mile.

He says that he is a fan of grass.

Assuming that he talks about old grass, when most of the points also were "a handful of shots" he should be happy with that kind of play, but no, instead he whines about the points being too short (not that that is not blatantly false in comparison with the past, but whatever).

He totally skips the reason for the players playing the way they do, and instead goes on to denigrade them for "not having the skill".

He also concludes that it has become a big serve dominant, which is factually untrue (both compared to the past, and from what is the situation at the moment, as none of the dominant players on grass has been known for his "big serve").

Of course, his premise about what constitutes point construction is inadequate at best.

:cool:
 

Fedforever

Hall of Fame
More interestingly, there is an interview of Toni Nadal in the French newspaper Le Monde where he says that Federer/Nadal/Djokovic are probably the best generation ever because of their absolute commitment to tennis. He says the next gen players are not committed enough, they're not as involved as needed and it shows because they're not able to construct points well enough or because they won't be able to play at high level consistently (Kyrgios). Says he likes Shapovalov and also Dimitrov, that he would coach him if asked.

Then he says that tennis today isn't interesting because well... because it's not played enough like clay ! Says that the strategic part of tennis is gone, it's about having a big serve and a big FH like Federer and he preferred seeing Nastase play. (Obviously Toni only watched clay tennis during his young years...) Says that the Anglo-Saxon part of the world doesn't care about strategic part of the sport! Also says that tennis should be played more often on clay (surprise!) because it's better for players health, that the number of clay tournaments has reduced with time (a lie, and it's easy to prove that it's false) and that WTF should be played on clay too sometimes.

Asked about tennis evolution, he says players have evolved a lot physically, rackets are bigger but rules haven't changed much. Says tie-break isn't that big of a change (Are you kidding me??) and that serve is too strong nowadays. Would like softer balls and smaller rackets in use in order to prevent players from hitting to big. (i'm not an expert on this, but i believe poly strings do have an impact too, but he doesn't mention it)

Also this:

http://t2online.com/sport/here-s-what-toni-nadal-doesn-t-like-about-roger-federer/cid/20362
 

Vrad

Professional
Yes we need 2 year rankings because the record old age of the top players isn’t old enough already.
 
Yes we need 2 year rankings because the record old age of the top players isn’t old enough already.

One of the critiques of the idea is that it will slow down the breakthrough of the younger players.

As it is, the slowing down of the surfaces, the exact moment of huge advancements in nutrition, training etc, the compulsory schedule, and the seeding system prevents them from doing so, which is the reason why already two generations cannot do much.

Nadal wants to further that advantage.

:cool:
 
D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
Nadal can have his opinions for sure.
But this is ridiculous.
Modern day grass tennis is all about construction of points. Aggressive tennis on hard courts makes for some delicious construction of points.
This is a biased opinion from Rafa.

Hey!

We finally stumbled onto something we can disagree with!

To me the best surface for point construction is clay precisely because outright winners (including aces) aren’t nearly as easy.

Or, as this person said below

Modern day grass... most of the points are usually over in less than a handful of shots. It’s not that enjoyable to watch most of the tour when a lot of the players are flat out atrocious on grass and it’s just become big serve then try to rip a forehand that stays low. Thats not a lot of point construction going on for a majority of the players on tour.

Although this has more more to do with the impact of racket/string technology and modern playing style being on a relatively antiquidated surface.

Huge fan of watching good grass tennis though.
 

ak24alive

Legend
Modern day grass... most of the points are usually over in less than a handful of shots. It’s not that enjoyable to watch most of the tour when a lot of the players are flat out atrocious on grass and it’s just become big serve then try to rip a forehand that stays low. Thats not a lot of point construction going on for a majority of the players on tour.

Although this has more more to do with the impact of racket/string technology and modern playing style being on a relatively antiquidated surface.

Huge fan of watching good grass tennis though.

I take it that you watched Wimbledon last year. And obviously you would have watched Fed's matches.
There were so many points where he displayed some brilliant point construction.
A point from the Raonic match comes instantly to mind.
I agree that the points are over in a few shots but that doesn't mean there is no point construction.
Grass tennis and clay tennis are very different and both are great.
But sadly Nadal almost talks badly about tennis on hard and grass courts which isn't acceptable.
 

ak24alive

Legend
Hey!

We finally stumbled onto something we can disagree with!

To me the best surface for point construction is clay precisely because outright winners (including aces) aren’t nearly as easy.

Or, as this person said below
Well technically we still agree :D
I know that obviously clay is the best surface for point construction because there are no free points and I enjoy clay for what it is.
But I am against Nadal saying that there is no point construction on the other two surfaces while clearly there is. Fed shows it better than anyone on hard and grass courts :)
 

ron schaap

Hall of Fame
Why not adapt to the idea of making the net higher? It would favor his topspin and make serving and outright winners c from backcourt more difficult.
I don't agree with him. In the past there were boring matches to with only serving on grass or endless rallying between vilas and others on clay.
 

tennis_crazy

Semi-Pro
Hey!

We finally stumbled onto something we can disagree with!

To me the best surface for point construction is clay precisely because outright winners (including aces) aren’t nearly as easy.

Or, as this person said below
This is utter crap......
Each surface requires a different set of skills to contruct points...
If pushing players deep with loopy drives both wings works for clay, then slicing low deep and hitting flat deep constantly is the way in grass. Hardcourt its a bit of both...
Its not that Bull doesn't know that. He is reluctant. How he time & again brings up serve is mystery to me. Can't a muscle man like him with all the amenities in the world practice to make his serve better?? Didn't he constantly serve in the 130s during 2010 summer hardcourt season with aggressive tennis. For once I liked what i saw from him then. Thought finally he adapted what was required in HC. He quickly reverted back to his 20 feet behing the baseline tennis, served back slowly & said that the returns comes faster so he didn't continue it..... Nonsense can't get any better....

To say clay has the best condition for point construction is utter BS....Just accept that you are one dimensional & are not able to adapt to any other surface....
Don't embarass yourself any more....

All this in the name of protecting players......Wow!!
 
This is utter crap......
Each surface requires a different set of skills to contruct points...
If pushing players deep with loopy drives both wings works for clay, then slicing low deep and hitting flat deep constantly is the way in grass. Hardcourt its a bit of both...
Its not that Bull doesn't know that. He is reluctant. How he time & again brings up serve is mystery to me. Can't a muscle man like him with all the amenities in the world practice to make his serve better?? Didn't he constantly serve in the 130s during 2010 summer hardcourt season with aggressive tennis. For once I liked what i saw from him then. Thought finally he adapted what was required in HC. He quickly reverted back to his 20 feet behing the baseline tennis, served back slowly & said that the returns comes faster so he didn't continue it..... Nonsense can't get any better....

To say clay has the best condition for point construction is utter BS....Just accept that you are one dimensional & are not able to adapt to any other surface....
Don't embarass yourself any more....

All this in the name of protecting players......Wow!!

Lmtryur.png


:eek:
 

Vrad

Professional
One of the critiques of the idea is that it will slow down the breakthrough of the younger players.

As it is, the slowing down of the surfaces, the exact moment of huge advancements in nutrition, training etc, the compulsory schedule, and the seeding system prevents them from doing so, which is the reason why already two generations cannot do much.

Nadal wants to further that advantage.

:cool:
The tour will have no one under the age of 25 playing. If it takes 2 years of consistent play to get a decent ranking, imagine how much worse the tour will get as new and young players earn even less money to start with (since now it takes double the effort to move up the rankings which is correlated with going further in tournaments and making more money).

I really wish we’d stop listening to Nadal’s suggestions, or at least recognize the fact that his suggestions are little more than solutions to problems he faces. There’s nothing wrong in that, but let’s not pretend it’s anything else.
 
Totally selfish player
*Give me my cake and let me walk too*
*I can't defeat grandperer even on slowed to hell IW-Mia surface, so make them clay*
*Hell, I am losing to so many big hitters on hard and sometimes on clay too, slow the courts down to MC level*
*Okay, I am losing to mugs at grass since 2012, please slow it down to hell for 'points construction'*
*Oh no, I can not moonball on indoors whether slow or fast, please make it clay or else I will continue fakes*
*O god, I can not win even on clay when its blue but fedr won, so ban it or else I will abandon the tourny for ever*
*Please, don't make roof or else zed/djok will defeat me even on clay*


This man is just one surface specialist throughout the career, and nowadays he want same kind of situations everywhere to protect himself and not tennis
 

ak24alive

Legend
This is utter crap......
Each surface requires a different set of skills to contruct points...
If pushing players deep with loopy drives both wings works for clay, then slicing low deep and hitting flat deep constantly is the way in grass. Hardcourt its a bit of both...
Its not that Bull doesn't know that. He is reluctant. How he time & again brings up serve is mystery to me. Can't a muscle man like him with all the amenities in the world practice to make his serve better?? Didn't he constantly serve in the 130s during 2010 summer hardcourt season with aggressive tennis. For once I liked what i saw from him then. Thought finally he adapted what was required in HC. He quickly reverted back to his 20 feet behing the baseline tennis, served back slowly & said that the returns comes faster so he didn't continue it..... Nonsense can't get any better....

To say clay has the best condition for point construction is utter BS....Just accept that you are one dimensional & are not able to adapt to any other surface....
Don't embarass yourself any more....

All this in the name of protecting players......Wow!!
Don't get angry. He is a Fed fan and has no agenda here. He just says what he thinks is right and he is right I think. He is not saying that there is no point construction on hard and grass but there is more on clay which I have to agree is right.
 
Don't get angry. He is a Fed fan and has no agenda here. He just says what he thinks is right and he is right I think. He is not saying that there is no point construction on hard and grass but there is more on clay which I have to agree is right.

Unless you subscribe under the idea that longer rallies = more point construction, I don't see how this statement is verifiable.

:cool:
 

ak24alive

Legend
Unless you subscribe under the idea that longer rallies = more point construction, I don't see how this statement is verifiable.

:cool:
I don't know about you but I can convince most people here that there is more point construction on clay than the other surfaces but before that will you please define point construction here so that we can get a proper discussion going on!

Edit: :cool:
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
What would you change in the way the tour operates?
I favour a two year ranking and not fifty-two weeks. It’s the best way to protect players in case of injury. I’ve thought that for years, but it’s even more important at the end of a career.


It's not a good idea actually. Young players would find it even harder to break through. I'm tired of seeing the same old farts at the top of the rankings.

And in the rules of tennis?
I don’t know how, but attention needs to be paid to the serve and to power in general. The players are bigger and bigger and it’s getting faster and faster. If we don’t find a solution to the serve, then tennis will reach a point where it’s summed up by that shot. In ten years, tennis could be in danger.

The game is not getting faster and faster, what is this guy smoking? Last year's USO was slow as molasses and Nadal was returning serve from Hawaii in that tournament. It's a joke that HC favors clay-like returning position.

Maybe it's not the game getting faster, Rafa, maybe you have just become slower. You're nearly 32 after all.

Are you for or against cutting out one of the serves?
Why not? We can’t say it’s stupid. We can only try it out. I’m in favour of innovations. Why not try it at small tournaments? I don’t know … But we could at least consider it.

When you watch old videos on You Tube, who is your favourite player?

Tough to say. I like Ilie Nastase. But I like the tennis of that era because power is less important. There’s more magic. Talent counts for more, tactics too. There was more point construction. That’s what I miss in the tennis of today. Clay is the last surface where you can still construct points. You can still try things. On hard, it’s become almost impossible. It’s too fast.

HC is not too fast, boy, this guy is delusional.
 
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