What happened to Nadal's mental strength?

[ADuck]

Seriously, what happened?

 

[Standaa]

Seriously, what happened?

overshadowed by his level of play

 

[Sabrina]

Aging, he simply couldn't maintain his intensity anymore.

 

[Hitman]

It's his physical strength which is naturally declining with age which is impacting everything in his game, include his mental approach. He doesn't feel he has the physical side that he had in the past anymore and it is negatively influencing him.

 

[ADuck]

Aging, he simply couldn't maintain his intensity anymore.

Is it all over for him now?

 

[Krish872007]

34.5 years
Approaching 2 decades of time on tour, giving 100% day in, day out. Not easy to maintain that intensity all the time with a big target on your back and everyone trying their best to beat you on your least preferred surface.

The above, however, has limited / no bearing on the French Open where his base level is just SO much higher than everyone else, and where the fire burns just that bit brighter.

 

[Sabrina]

Is it all over for him now?

I still can see 1 more RG for Nadal. After that, who knows.

 

[StrongRule]

Right now he is mentally the weakest player in the top-10 without doubt.

 

[clout]

He played a very good opponent who is 10 years younger than him...I don't think people realize how big of an age gap there is between the big 3 and the next gen

 

[ADuck]

He played a very good opponent who is 10 years younger than him...I don't think people realize how big of an age gap there is between the big 3 and the next gen

I would've preferred Medvedev taking the match by playing clearly superior tennis, but that did not happen.

 

[Newballs]

His decline in the last set, especially the last half of the last set, was obvious. It was looking (to me anyway) that he was in pain of some kind.

 

[PilotPete]

field improved

 

[Red Rick]

Same as my faith in humanity.

Died a deadly death somewhere in the first part of the 21st century.

 

[Tennis_Freak99]

When was the last time Nadal lost while serving for the match?

 

[Krish0608]

Nadal is closer to a slump than it looks. Yes, he was extremely impressive at RG, but the moment he is pushed or stretched, he does not seem to have the endurance or stamina to keep up any more. Which is why he plays super aggressive.

 

[ADuck]

Died a deadly death

Deaths are usually deadly

 

[Krish872007]

When was the last time Nadal lost while serving for the match?

Madrid 2012 perhaps. He was up a double break at 5-2 in the final set against Verdasco.

 

[Tennis_Freak99]

Madrid 2012 perhaps. He was up a double break at 5-2 in the final set against Verdasco.

Yikes blue clay

 

[MusterCoriaKuerten]

When was the last time Nadal lost while serving for the match?

Blue clay verdasco

 

[MusterCoriaKuerten]

Madrid 2012 perhaps. He was up a double break at 5-2 in the final set against Verdasco.

Lost five games in a row including 3 service games

 

[Red Rick]

Actually

Guys

Here me out.

I think Nadals mental strengh is perfectly correlated with the quality of writing in Supernatural

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

Went away with his hair

 

[The Blond Blur]

Is it all over for him now?

Lolz he just won RG without dropping a set in less than favorable conditions. Come June he'll be lifting #21.

 

[ADuck]

What about Game of Thrones?

 

[Rosstour]

Right now he is mentally the weakest player in the top-10 without doubt.

Fed dropped out of the Top 10?

 

[Born_to_slice]

Maybe he secretly had covid and it sucked his mental powers out. Forever 20.

 

[ADuck]

Went away with his hair

This is actually accurate. Nadal needs another hair transplant ASAP.

 

[Rosstour]

I still can see 1 more RG for Nadal. After that, who knows.

You spelled five wrong.

 

[Nate7-5]

Mental strength won him the first set

 

[PeoplesChamp]

First signs of it were 2019 AO final when he came out and hit a slice return on a 2nd serve.

 

[JaoSousa]

Dude he lost in 3 tight sets on his absolute worst surface. Rafa isn't going anywhere for a while.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

This is actually accurate. Nadal needs another hair transplant ASAP.

 

[ADuck]

Oh my god dude no. He'll never win another match with that haircut

 

[StrongRule]

Dude he lost in 3 tight sets on his absolute worst surface. Rafa isn't going anywhere for a while.

When you lead 6-3 5-4 and serving for the match you should WIN it, not lose in 3 tight sets.

 

[ibbi]

Not much. When he served for the match he had 3 of his serves, 2 of them first serves, dropped right at his feet on return. The opponent can just play well, you know? How about that inside out forehand in the breaker that Medvedev got a miracle lob on? Nothing wrong with his mental strength, just a great shot.

There was that one shot 3-2 40-40 in the third where he dumped a put away forehand into net coming forward, but I don’t think the entire mental empire came crumbling down on one shot.

Throughout the match Medvedev was playing like 90 second service games while Rafa‘a would go on for 5 minutes (not all of which was between points) it takes a great deal of mental strength just to hang in there as long as he did when that is happening. Why no credit for that?

 

[NatF]

Declined proportionally to his loss of footspeed.

 

[tudwell]

Madrid 2012 perhaps. He was up a double break at 5-2 in the final set against Verdasco.

Should’ve retired after that AWFUL choke instead of continuing to embarrass himself for years. ZERO mental strength.

 

[zipplock]

Med is like a Russian Chess Grandmaster. His mental toughness is VERY underestimated. Rafa just met someone equally as mentally tough. It was like a starring contest. Who blinks first?

 

[Jaitock1991]

One thing that I personally believe Nadal always had throughout his career was the belief that he was physically superior to any opponent he'd face on tour. Knowing this meant that he would always have that to fall back on and "win ugly" if necessary. On clay this was probably one of the most important factors of his dominance, as this surface puts a lot of emphasis on raw physicality(looking back on clay greats throughout history almost all of them were physical beasts of their time). It's probably one of the most fundamental parts of Rafa's mental strength, but I don't think it's the case anymore for him. I think when he comes up against younger and hungry players that believe, he no longer feels like he can physically dominate them anymore and it's only natural that this will have some effect on his otherwise unbreakable mind.

 

[Deleted member 775898]

Spend too much with Roger .

 

[BackhandDTL]

Spend too much with Roger .

I don’t know why but this killed me mate

 

[SinneGOAT]

Is it all over for him now?

You were one of the people saying Nadal was never going to win the French Open a month ago huh?

 

[ADuck]

You were one of the people saying Nadal was never going to win the French Open a month ago huh?

Nope

 

[DRII]

It's his physical strength which is naturally declining with age which is impacting everything in his game, include his mental approach. He doesn't feel he has the physical side that he had in the past anymore and it is negatively influencing him.

Not strength but stamina.

Same thing is happening to Djokovic.

But with Nadal on the surface from today it's more about his knees giving out.

 

[DRII]

His decline in the last set, especially the last half of the last set, was obvious. It was looking (to me anyway) that he was in pain of some kind.

His knees

 

[DRII]

Nadal is closer to a slump than it looks. Yes, he was extremely impressive at RG, but the moment he is pushed or stretched, he does not seem to have the endurance or stamina to keep up any more. Which is why he plays super aggressive.

I've been saying this for years and if I'm not mistaken, you disagreed.

Glad to see you've seen the light.

 

[terribleIVAN]

That's as big a choke i've ever seen from him.

Physically he was right, but tightened up in sight of the finish line. He just started pushing the ball all of a sudden.

This game is about pouncing on the opportunity when it presents itself.
Once you can't maintain the opponent's head under the water anymore, you're as good as dead.

Rafa will still win tournaments on clay:but on hard, his day has gone.

 

[beltsman]

He had an injury that got worse as the match went on. He'll be fine for AO.

 

[aman92]

Nothing really... The opponent simply played better on his worst surface

 

[JoelSandwich]

One thing that I personally believe Nadal always had throughout his career was the belief that he was physically superior to any opponent he'd face on tour. Knowing this meant that he would always have that to fall back on and "win ugly" if necessary. On clay this was probably one of the most important factors of his dominance, as this surface puts a lot of emphasis on raw physicality(looking back on clay greats throughout history almost all of them were physical beasts of their time). It's probably one of the most fundamental parts of Rafa's mental strength, but I don't think it's the case anymore for him. I think when he comes up against younger and hungry players that believe, he no longer feels like he can physically dominate them anymore and it's only natural that this will have some effect on his otherwise unbreakable mind.

Great post
Also Levi profile pic?