Why has Roger been so much more successful against Nadal in his mid/late 30s compared to his 20s/early 30s?

[Tennis_Hands]

Fed's peak is overrated and the post-prime Fed is nearly as good.

If post prime Fed can take Djokovic to 5 at Wimbledon, peak Federer cannot be overrated.

 

[Nadal_Django]

Because Nadal is heavily declined since his prime years. And Federer is monstrously declined since his prime years. But the field is much more declined than those two. Only one man in the world of tennis isn't declined... Wait...What!?..

 

[Jonas78]

Several reasons imo.

- Nadals biggest strengths are the ones which decline the most with age. He has changed his style which has been succesful vs the field, but not Djoker/Fed. I dont understand those saying Nadal is prime. There is no way prime Nadal would go 0-12 vs Djoko/Fed off-clay (sinse 2015)

- The obvious one, clay. Their H2H was very clay skewed early days, and Nadal usually didnt go deep enough off-clay to face Rog.

- Roger was a bit unlucky with their meatings form-wise pre2015 (like their only Cincy-match 2013, Rogers worst year ever). From 2015- its been the opposite.

- Their H2H is weird. Skewed towards clay, skewed towards early season. No USO in 15 years, etc...

 

[Robert Baratheon]

It's not just Rafael's speed. It's his forehand too. It's much more attack prone now. Can't throw the ball back all the time with interest now.
Fraud just attacks all out but Rafa isn't good enough to rely on the legendary defense now. He will have to play more aggressive himself to have a chance against an in form Fed on non clay surfaces. USGarros will benefit Rafa though.

 

[oldmanfan]

Both players are playing better than ever, it just so happens that peak for peak Federer is better than Nadal, hence 6-1 since the 2015 season. That's the narrative, right?

Sir.

It's 6-1 Fedr bc Fedr is peakiest of peak while Nadl is in zygote form. Wait 5 more years, and we gonna see, no?

 

[blablavla]

A number of reasons:

1. Federer reshaping his game under Ljubicic to hit through the backhand much more often and to take it on the rise. This tactic works much better against Nadal as it reduces time for him to set up his shots while minimizing one of his weaknesses against Nadal (the slice).'

2. Nadal changing his gameplan under Moya to hit the ball flatter than he used to. As such, his looping-topspin-to-the-backhand strategy that he usually puts into action had to be partially sacrificed. Hence, it hurts his matchup against Federer.

3. Nadal's legs have left him. He can't run down Fed's winners like he used to. Now Fed's winners are actually winners.

4. Federer is running into Nadal more often on hard courts than anywhere else. A welcome change from the over 9,000 times they met on clay before 2014.

5. mental relaxation.
Perhaps he had more pressure earlier as he was the king of the hill defending the hill.
Now he is a contender, 5-6 years older, that can retire any day due to age.
So, he can afford to enjoy the game and competition, while others have to take the pressure and "defend" the hill.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

Very simple, Nadal's injuries forced him to change his game, and he became more insecure hence less confident. He beat RF a decade ago often purely from confidence.