Finesse4sum
Semi-Pro
Soderling is one of the few players that has had 2 or more meetings with Nadal at RG.
The earlier less pronounced version of Nadal (compared to 2007-2010) met with Robin in the first round of FO 06. With a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 Nadal won with 5 breaks of serve and double break in two of the 3 sets.
The encounter between Nadal and Soderling in 2009. Looking at the stats of the match it doesnt seem to really show me why Nadal lost that day.
Nadal - First Serve 77%, 1st Serve points won 66%, 2nd Serve points won 44%, Break points saved 1/6, 1st Serve return points won 31%, 2nd Serve return points won 38%, Break points converted 2/4
Total serve points won - 61% (79/128)
Total return points won - 34% (49/143)
Total points won - 47% (128/271)
Soderling - First Serve 63%, 1st Serve points won 68%, 2nd Serve points won 61%, Break points saved 2/4, 1st Serve return points won 33%, 2nd Serve return points won 55%, Break points converted 5/6
Total serve points won - 65% (94/143)
Total return points won - 38% (49/128)
Total points won - 52% (143/271)
As you can see Nadal had a pretty poor 2nd serve points winning percentage at 44 percent. The thing that saves Nadal there is that his 1st serve was at 77 percent overall (Any 1st serve percentage above 70-72% should make 2nd serve points lost negligible) Another poor stat on Nadal's part is the lack of break points saved (only 1 out of 6).
Nadal only won 2 percent less 1st Serve return points than Soderling (31% vs 33%). Nadal only won 38 percent 2nd Serve return points to Soderling's 55% but Soderling's First serve percentage was only 63% giving Nadal 14 percent more looks at second serves than vice versa.
Out of 271 total points during the match Soderling only won 5 percent more overall (winning 13-14 points more)
Out of the 5 breaks of serve Soderling had against Nadal over the course of the match he only retained 3 of them (2 of which came from the first set).
Considering the amount of total points and the 2 tiebreaks and probably quite a few deuce games I have to say Nadal had his chances to comeback (and perhaps win) based on the numbers.
Outside of the freak loss in 2009 all FO matches between Nadal and Soderling before and after 09 have been one sided 3 setters with 181-184 total points a piece.
The reason why Nadal lost that day was because Soderling was on fire and the clay conditions simply didn't suit Nadal that day. Soderling simply played the big points better and held on even when Nadal fought back. It seems that usually you need both of these things to happen for Nadal to lose outside of Hard Courts or Indoors.
Nadal did not "Turn the tide" against Soderling because there was never one to begin with.
The earlier less pronounced version of Nadal (compared to 2007-2010) met with Robin in the first round of FO 06. With a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 Nadal won with 5 breaks of serve and double break in two of the 3 sets.
The encounter between Nadal and Soderling in 2009. Looking at the stats of the match it doesnt seem to really show me why Nadal lost that day.
Nadal - First Serve 77%, 1st Serve points won 66%, 2nd Serve points won 44%, Break points saved 1/6, 1st Serve return points won 31%, 2nd Serve return points won 38%, Break points converted 2/4
Total serve points won - 61% (79/128)
Total return points won - 34% (49/143)
Total points won - 47% (128/271)
Soderling - First Serve 63%, 1st Serve points won 68%, 2nd Serve points won 61%, Break points saved 2/4, 1st Serve return points won 33%, 2nd Serve return points won 55%, Break points converted 5/6
Total serve points won - 65% (94/143)
Total return points won - 38% (49/128)
Total points won - 52% (143/271)
As you can see Nadal had a pretty poor 2nd serve points winning percentage at 44 percent. The thing that saves Nadal there is that his 1st serve was at 77 percent overall (Any 1st serve percentage above 70-72% should make 2nd serve points lost negligible) Another poor stat on Nadal's part is the lack of break points saved (only 1 out of 6).
Nadal only won 2 percent less 1st Serve return points than Soderling (31% vs 33%). Nadal only won 38 percent 2nd Serve return points to Soderling's 55% but Soderling's First serve percentage was only 63% giving Nadal 14 percent more looks at second serves than vice versa.
Out of 271 total points during the match Soderling only won 5 percent more overall (winning 13-14 points more)
Out of the 5 breaks of serve Soderling had against Nadal over the course of the match he only retained 3 of them (2 of which came from the first set).
Considering the amount of total points and the 2 tiebreaks and probably quite a few deuce games I have to say Nadal had his chances to comeback (and perhaps win) based on the numbers.
Outside of the freak loss in 2009 all FO matches between Nadal and Soderling before and after 09 have been one sided 3 setters with 181-184 total points a piece.
The reason why Nadal lost that day was because Soderling was on fire and the clay conditions simply didn't suit Nadal that day. Soderling simply played the big points better and held on even when Nadal fought back. It seems that usually you need both of these things to happen for Nadal to lose outside of Hard Courts or Indoors.
Nadal did not "Turn the tide" against Soderling because there was never one to begin with.
