What strategy should Rafa work on, when facing Djokovic?

[LazyNinja19]

Pray to GOD.
i.e Federer to take out Nole before he gets to face him.

Take your fan worship somewhere else. No man is God!
Pathetic fangirl!

 

[tennisaddict]

Take your fan worship somewhere else. No man is God!
Pathetic fangirl!

I feel for you. This kind of loss is brutal.

 

[jg153040]

Take your fan worship somewhere else. No man is God!
Pathetic fangirl!

I don't think he considers Fed as god. Just one of those sub gods like Hercules for example.

 

[Boom-Boom]

Pray to GOD.
i.e Federer to take out Nole before he gets to face him.

Exactly this.

Or just quit tennis. We have enough moonballers on tour.

 

[jg153040]

Exactly this.

Or just quit tennis. We have enough moonballers on tour.

What are you talking about? Rafa is the only moonballer out there. He is unique. I mean his net clearance is like twice as the rest of the tour.

Others flat hitters and big servers are boring. Moonballing and defending is a fresh change. Who wants to watch winners all day long and aces?

 

[Boom-Boom]

I question Nadal's strategy on court today.

Novak was really zoning toward the end of the 1st set and early in the 2nd set. But he can be a bit streaky in matches and is prone to lapses in concentration.

When Nadal got broken in the 1st game of the 2nd set, he needed to take a medical time out. This was the opportune time to disrupt Djokovic's rhythm, break back, and maybe steal the match.

He was down a set and a break, so he could've just said that he pulled his groin in the warm up or contracted gastroenteritis from Berdych.

What a wasted opportunity. Uncle Toni needs to improve his on-court coaching.

He probably considered that strategy

But the perspective of being booed by 10,000 people again was a no-brainer :twisted:

 

[insideguy]

Rafa needs to hit his forehand deep and with pace on hard or he will lose to Novak everytime. Either that or hope that Novaks backhand is off.

 

[jg153040]

Maybe Rafa is mentally down a bit after that AO final. I mean he lost in front of Sampras and on the verge of matching his record. Against one of his pigeons. And against a 2nd tier player in a GS final. Rafa never lost to a 2nd tier player in a GS final before. Usually Rafa is amazing in GS finals. So this might mentally affect Nadal.

 

[Solo]

Ever thought that Novak has a strategy also to beat Nadal?

Nope. Didn't think so. There's no other player out there who can make Nadal so uncomfortable.

 

[panatta]

The key of the match seemed to be Novak's backhand. Too good, many many winners and he didn't suffer Nadal's cross forehand at all.
But it also maybe that Rafa is conditioning for the clay court season. Roland Garros and Wimbledon are his targets.

 

[RF20Lennon]

Rafa was just plain pathetic in the return games today, except for the first game of the match.
I don't know what he was doing. So many shank returns, so many FH errors.

And Novak was just clinical. He didn't miss much.

Last 3 matches - Beijing, WTF, and now Miami have gone exactly the same way!

Rafa is now 0-6 in sets in those 3 matches. And 9-11 in Finals.
Worrisome news for Rafa camp!

You have to understand all those (maybe not Miami) are unfavorable courts for Nadal. Especially Beijing and the WTF. On clay Nadal has more time on the returns and can make effective ones. Plus its much easier to be effective and more aggressive when you're on your fav surface. Wait till the clay rolls by. If Novak is still beating him like he did today in MC or Rome then its time to start worrying.

 

[LazyNinja19]

Maybe Rafa is mentally down a bit after that AO final. I mean he lost in front of Sampras and on the verge of matching his record. Against one of his pigeons. And against a 2nd tier player in a GS final. Rafa never lost to a 2nd tier player in a GS final before. Usually Rafa is amazing in GS finals. So this might mentally affect Nadal.

You may be right here, Jg.

You have to understand all those (maybe not Miami) are unfavorable courts for Nadal. Especially Beijing and the WTF. On clay Nadal has more time on the returns and can make effective ones. Plus its much easier to be effective and more aggressive when you're on your fav surface. Wait till the clay rolls by. If Novak is still beating him like he did today in MC or Rome then its time to start worrying.

Finally, a decent comment after all those trolls.
You have a point there, RF20. But it's pretty sad to see Rafa crumble in straight sets against Novak!

Not good for Rafa and his confidence.

 

[akind]

Learn to serve properly.

 

[Magnetite]

Try and face him on clay and/or grass.

 

[akind]

He is Superman, and indoors is his kryponite.

Superman doesn't burn his fingers on a hot plate.

 

[SpinToWin]

What people don't seem to get is that Djokovic's game style is a total mismatch for Nadal's game style. Djokovic can easily neutralize Nadal's loopy shots that get other players into trouble, so Nadal will always be on the back foot tactically. It is similar to the Nadal vs. Federer issue. Total mismatch of game styles, where Nadal's forehand to Federer's backhand is the shot that breaks down Federer's game (otherwise Nadal would have huge difficulties against him). One shot Nadal should play more often against Djokovic IMO is the forehand down the line.

 

[heninfan99]

Make him hit overheads on every point.

 

[TheMusicLover]

What people don't seem to get is that Djokovic's game style is a total mismatch for Nadal's game style. Djokovic can easily neutralize Nadal's loopy shots that get other players into trouble, so Nadal will always be on the back foot tactically. It is similar to the Nadal vs. Federer issue. Total mismatch of game styles, where Nadal's forehand to Federer's backhand is the shot that breaks down Federer's game (otherwise Nadal would have huge difficulties against him). One shot Nadal should play more often against Djokovic IMO is the forehand down the line.

Good point, indeed, there's no doubt that there's quite a bit of a match-up issue at the Djokovic-Nadal encounters.
Still I think the biggest issue is actually the surface - Djokovic apparently loves these kind of courts (you don't get four titles because of 'luck') and yesterday he appeared, well, like a joyful Piraña in the Amazon river.

I still think the results on the upcoming clay court season will be a lot closer between the two, with the occasional wins coming to both sides.

 

[TennisCJC]

What people don't seem to get is that Djokovic's game style is a total mismatch for Nadal's game style. Djokovic can easily neutralize Nadal's loopy shots that get other players into trouble, so Nadal will always be on the back foot tactically. It is similar to the Nadal vs. Federer issue. Total mismatch of game styles, where Nadal's forehand to Federer's backhand is the shot that breaks down Federer's game (otherwise Nadal would have huge difficulties against him). One shot Nadal should play more often against Djokovic IMO is the forehand down the line.

Yes, Nadal's FH to Djoko's BH is not as effective as when Nadal plays to other right handed players.

Also, Nadal's bread and butter lefty slice serve is not as effective against Djoko.

High bounces or slice serves to the BH don't bother Djoko because he is fairly tall and his 2 HBH is rock solid.

Also, Djoko is able to stand in near the baseline and frequently puts Nadal on the run making it difficult for Nadal to hit aggressive DTL FH or angled balls to take Djoko off the court. When Djoko puts Nadal on the run, Nadal goes to deep court position and loops more balls. Loopy balls don't bother Djoko and he steps in and hits aggressive DTL or angled shots to take Nadal off court.

Interesting stat on TV that showed in last match up before Miami, Nadal served roughly 75% of time to Djoko's FH. So, Nadal is aware that hitting to the BH is not a winning strategy against Djoko.