The real reason Nadal Lost to Darcis

[Leelord337]

I feel that Nadal has never been comfortable playing the first few days at Wimbledon. His first round matches have been rather sketchy at Wimbledon, for instance, he was taken to a 5 setter by Robert Kendrick (of all people) a few years ago and even fought off a match point that Kendrick had in that match. (and also Robin Haase took him to 5 sets in 2010)

I think that Nadal's not comfortable w/his footwork on that slippery grass in the first few rounds, and the ball stays very low as well. His claycourt modeled game is not for the big servers/heavy slicers/flat ball hitters like Darcis is (and Kendrick was).

Its only the second week of Wimbledon when the conditions of the grass change and it starts to play more like a claycourt (or literally a "dirt" court). The grass is all worn down and its much more comfortable for Rafa to not slip every time he sets up for his shots. His footwork to set up his forehand is Critical, and he wasn't allowed to do that comfortably by Darcis today.

 

[BreakPoint]

You forgot to mention Rosol, Muller, Haase, Petzschner, Srichaphan, Soderling, and Youzhny, who all got or almost got Nadal in the early rounds at Wimbledon.

 

[papertank]

Exactly. Nadal has always been vulnerable in the first couple rounds here, the last couple years have just been particularly bad for him. Doesn't say anything about his future grass performances.

 

[Leelord337]

You forgot to mention Rosol, Muller, Haase, Petzschner, Srichaphan, Soderling, and Youzhny, who all got or almost got Nadal in the early rounds at Wimbledon.

lol yeah definitely, and they were all hard hitters too.

 

[namelessone]

The real reason Nadal lost this year is due to his preparation for grass - with no warm-up played and overplaying his body in the clay season.

As for his 1st week issues in WB, we need to separate them a bit:

He was losing to Muller and Paradorn when he was barely entering the top stage. Not sure how much these losses count in the overall picture.

Against Kendrick,Petzchner,Haase,Soderling,Youzhny, he had close FIVE SETTERS in which he displayed far better form than in the last 2 years.

With Rosol, he came in with physical problems that year. Nadal said that he shouldn't have played 2012 WB.

How is 2013 different?

Nadal didn't lose to some 1,90 m guy with huge serves or groundstrokes. He had trouble catching up to(not dominating, not staying close) to nr.135 in the world(who had won just one match in WB in his whole career), a 1,77 m tall guy with a one-handed backhand, the kind of guy Nadal usually dominates. For those that forgot, Nadal is a 5 time finalist here and yet he constantly faltered, on movement, on return, on serve, on his usual passers, in the key moments against nr.135 in the world. That tells me that something was clearly wrong in Nadal's preparation for this event.

 

[stringertom]

Agassi said it many years ago...he's writing checks his body can't pay. If you think about it, he set himself up for failure with the full schedule on The Golden Swing and IW. Add that to M-C and Barcelona, certainly tourneys he could have skipped, plus the full run in the rest of the clay schedule and you have a nice stew the prematurely aging body couldn't recover from in time to prep for grass in an intelligent manner.

In essence, he got greedy and now has to pay for it. The rubber checks will keep bouncing if he doesn't wise up and tone down his next campaign, whenever that happens. Losing to #100 meant seven months off. I'm wondering how long the loss to #135 will take to recover from???

 

[Rafaboy]

yeah it was pretty sad. You can tell he wasnt playing up to his full intensity. Even in Paris, he was a slow starter.

But if he was playing at his best level, he would have easily won.

 

[PrinceMoron]

He could hardly get out of his chair at FO.

Just be thankful Darcis put him out of his misery quickly, or we might have had a dropshot fest at Nadal's expense in the fifth.

 

[Rafaboy]

One must lose one's ego, to perform at ones best. Otherwise, the focus will be on the self, instead of the real time situation.

Once the focus is on the self, the mind is not dealing with the dynamics of the game. It becomes as though you are watching a movie of yourself playing. Or playing in third person.

Its also possible that his shut down mechanism went into auto drive, from the burnout of the Paris match.

 

[Rogael Naderer]

In my humble opinion, it's incredible that this man with a game modelled to triumph on the red clay of Roland Garros has one any Wimbledon titles at all, and my respect for the hard work he put in to adapt his play style and push through the handicap has only grown after this loss.

 

[Rafaboy]

He could hardly get out of his chair at FO.

Just be thankful Darcis put him out of his misery quickly, or we might have had a dropshot fest at Nadal's expense in the fifth.

Darcis played exceptionally well, but it wasnt as though he is on a level with the top players. He won because Nadal was not up to par.

So, if Darcis goes into the next match, thinking that he bettered Nadal on equal terms, then he will surely lose, because he will have now made the same mistake of focus.

He must go in with a clear mind, start fresh, and do his best again.

 

[Rafaboy]

In my humble opinion, it's incredible that this man with a game modelled to triumph on the red clay of Roland Garros has one any Wimbledon titles at all, and my respect for the hard work he put in to adapt his play style and push through the handicap has only grown after this loss.

I think we can agree that we feel he is burnt out after such demanding performances this past year esp. the FO. And in this respect, most of his fans are allowing for this understanding,
that he is not some invinsible machine, but as human as you or I.

 

[TennisLovaLova]

Nobody mentions the real tennis level of Steve Darcis, an underrated player.
Of course he's ranked 135, but he plays more like a top50.
He had some serious trouble with injuries (http://www.matchstat.com/PlayerInjuries/5838) , but the guy has a solid serve and great forehand.
In a good day, could beat anyone.
This is exactly what happened yesterday.
A great tennis player.

 

[Rafaboy]

Nobody mentions the real tennis level of Steve Darcis, an underrated player.
Of course he's ranked 135, but he plays more like a top50.
He had some serious trouble with injuries (http://www.matchstat.com/PlayerInjuries/5838) , but the guy has a solid serve and great forehand.
In a good day, could beat anyone.
This is exactly what happened yesterday.
A great tennis player.

oh gimme a break. He plays his best on a burnt out Nadal, and all of a sudden he is a great player? Check his record before coming to that conclusion please.

 

[coolblue123]

I heard JohnnyMac mentioned that starting next year, there will be a 3 week lapse between FO and Wim.
Gotta admit switching between surface is no easy task. Even worst when switching from 2 very different surfaces.

 

[rafan]

The real reason Nadal lost this year is due to his preparation for grass - with no warm-up played and overplaying his body in the clay season.

As for his 1st week issues in WB, we need to separate them a bit:

He was losing to Muller and Paradorn when he was barely entering the top stage. Not sure how much these losses count in the overall picture.

Against Kendrick,Petzchner,Haase,Soderling,Youzhny, he had close FIVE SETTERS in which he displayed far better form than in the last 2 years.

With Rosol, he came in with physical problems that year. Nadal said that he shouldn't have played 2012 WB.

How is 2013 different?

Nadal didn't lose to some 1,90 m guy with huge serves or groundstrokes. He had trouble catching up to(not dominating, not staying close) to nr.135 in the world(who had won just one match in WB in his whole career), a 1,77 m tall guy with a one-handed backhand, the kind of guy Nadal usually dominates. For those that forgot, Nadal is a 5 time finalist here and yet he constantly faltered, on movement, on return, on serve, on his usual passers, in the key moments against nr.135 in the world. That tells me that something was clearly wrong in Nadal's preparation for this event.

There was really no preparation. He came here to the uk on Wednesday and you cannot expect to do much with three days of practise on a court you only play on once a year!

 

[TennisLovaLova]

oh gimme a break. He plays his best on a burnt out Nadal, and all of a sudden he is a great player? Check his record before coming to that conclusion please.

So what you're saying is that any random player can beat Rafa?
Ok then...

 

[BreakPoint]

In my humble opinion, it's incredible that this man with a game modelled to triumph on the red clay of Roland Garros has one any Wimbledon titles at all, and my respect for the hard work he put in to adapt his play style and push through the handicap has only grown after this loss.

You can thank the new grass courts at Wimbledon for that as the ball now bounces almost as high as on red clay. Back on the old 70's-90's grass where the ball skid instead of bounced, it's unlikely Nadal would have won any 1st round matches at Wimbledon (when the fresh courts are at their slickest).

 

[BreakPoint]

oh gimme a break. He plays his best on a burnt out Nadal, and all of a sudden he is a great player? Check his record before coming to that conclusion please.

Darcis beat Wimbledon finalist Berdych last year at the Olympics on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

 

[TennisLovaLova]

Darcis beat Wimbledon finalist Berdych last year at the Olympics on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

Burn.
Nice job BP