Why Nadal is doing well Where he never did

[DoubleDeuce]

Ususally at this time of the season Nadal is not doing his best. He was never in the final of Cincy for example, and now he has a title there. So he is doing very good where he historically didnt.

I think that's because his season started right before the clay streak. He is still fresh and not injured. So, when he gets to clay season next year that's like his end of season ...

Conclusion: He will have the worst Clay season ever in 2014. No?

 

[Russeljones]

Because Federer has declined and Djokovic and Murray focus on the Slams.

 

[ibbi]

Conclusion: He will have the worst Clay season ever in 2014. No?

I think it's too early to say things like this when we don't know what his situation will be after US Open. How much tennis will he play in the latter stages of the year on the Asian swing, in Paris, in London. He certainly doesn't have to worry about Davis Cup this year.

He's just a better player now. He serves much better, he plays more aggressively than he used to, and he doesn't run around like a wind up toy to the same degree anymore. He's not putting as much pressure on his body, and thus he's not so out of gas come the latter stages of the year. The fact that he didn't play in Australia or Miami surely is helping, but not to THIS extent.

 

[President]

He's playing much more aggressively than I've ever seen him, even a lot more than in 2010. Dictating constantly with his forehand and making his opponent move a lot. I think it will hurt his clay game a lot but he's probably good enough to still win everything on that surface anyway. The hard court results speak for themselves. At times in Cincy he actually had a Federer-esque thing going on, serve+FH, rinse and repeat.

 

[Qubax]

Ususally at this time of the season Nadal is not doing his best. He was never in the final of Cincy for example, and now he has a title there. So he is doing very good where he historically didnt.

I think that's because his season started right before the clay streak. He is still fresh and not injured. So, when he gets to clay season next year that's like his end of season ...

Conclusion: He will have the worst Clay season ever in 2014. No?

Nah, Nadal will be ready for the clay season make no mistake.

What he'll do is put together a strong AO result and if necessary skip 6 or 8 weeks to prepare for his Clay defenses.

This would allow Nadal to get the #1 ranking back in 2013, keep it in 2014, and come post AO 2015 have 8 weeks of tournaments he can play to get more ranking points if he wants them....

With decent health Rafa is set up to be #1 soon and for another 24-36 month stretch. Between this and winning 5 of the next 10 or 12 majors and Rafa could come very close to catching Fed in total slams

 

[MichaelNadal]

He's playing much more aggressively than I've ever seen him, even a lot more than in 2010. Dictating constantly with his forehand and making his opponent move a lot. I think it will hurt his clay game a lot but he's probably good enough to still win everything on that surface anyway. The hard court results speak for themselves. At times in Cincy he actually had a Federer-esque thing going on, serve+FH, rinse and repeat.

It was a nice change-up. Especially seeing him so close to the baseline in Montreal.

 

[Backspin1183]

He was never in the AO and USO finals for years yet went on to win both majors. This year he finally got the job done in Cincy. He's always trying to improve his game to gain more success.
No, this won't affect his clay dominance next year.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

Conclusion: He will have the worst Clay season ever in 2014. No?

hopefully yes.

 

[TheHispanicMaestro]

Conclusion: He will have the worst Clay season ever in 2014. No?

I doubt it because he gets a break at the end of the year, but when the American hardcourt swing comes by next year his results won't be as spectacular. I say this because after a good showing around this time in 2010 his clay season wasn't bad in 2011, Djokovic merely out played him in Rome and Madrid.

 

[RNadal]

I think it has little to do with starting the season a little bit later. The only tournament that he didn't play was the AO. And after that, Miami. So it's not like he's played a lot of less matches. It's probably related to his agrressive mentality.

 

[TheHispanicMaestro]

I think it has little to do with starting the season a little bit later. The only tournament that he didn't play was the AO. And after that, Miami. So it's not like he's played a lot of less matches. It's probably related to his agrressive mentality.

True Rafa has actually played 2 more tournaments than Djokovic and 1 more than Murray in 2013, though the tournaments were worth less points

 

[OddJack]

We will know when the tape is back on his knee after an early exit somewhere.

 

[The Meat]

Because Federer has declined and Djokovic and Murray focus on the Slams.

Funny thing is Murray prior to 2010 only did well at masters, now in 2012-2013 he actually does well at slams but awful at grandslams.

 

[Antonio Puente]

Ususally at this time of the season Nadal is not doing his best.

In his last two US Opens, Nadal has won it and made a final.

Obviously Nadal didn't play last fall, but in their last three full North American hard court campaigns:

Djoker:

USO - W,F,?
5 Masters, 2 Finals

Nadal:

USO - W,F,?
3 Masters, 2 Finals

Murray:

USO - W,SF,?
2 Masters, 1 Final

When it comes to North American hard courts, as good as Djoker has been in recent years... on his best surface, Nadal has been nearly as good, possibly better depending upon what he does in New York.

 

[KingLeBronJames]

Ususally at this time of the season Nadal is not doing his best. He was never in the final of Cincy for example, and now he has a title there. So he is doing very good where he historically didnt.

I think that's because his season started right before the clay streak. He is still fresh and not injured. So, when he gets to clay season next year that's like his end of season ...

Conclusion: He will have the worst Clay season ever in 2014. No?

Plenty of time to rest between now and 2014 Roland Garros. 2014 will be Nadal's best clay season ever. Because in 2014 he will have fully transformed into an aggressive player. You are seeing he beginning of the process right now. And even though he's great at winning with defense, Nadal's best clay tennis is when he's in attack mode (22 winners in the 5th set vs Djokovic this year).

 

[90's Clay]

Simple really:

1. Hes fresh off a 7 month rest. (which only helps for someone who plays every match like its a Grand Slam final like Nadal)
2. Hes much better on hard courts then he was during the days of Fed.
3. Hes playing more aggressive and hugging the baseline closer
4. His confidence is through the roof (Again. a big plus for Nadal who feeds off confidence)


.. But still I have seen better hardcourt performances from Nadal over the past few years than the one right now.

Hes not exactly, "Dominating" guys. Its his sheer willpower thats muscling him through a lot of these matches. He didn't play great vs. Fed, he didn't play great vs. Isner, he didn't play great vs. Dimitrov

 

[The_Order]

We will know when the tape is back on his knee after an early exit somewhere.

He had an early exit at Wimbledon and the tape hasn't been seen since.

Nice try troll, but you fail.

 

[The_Order]

Plenty of time to rest between now and 2014 Roland Garros. 2014 will be Nadal's best clay season ever. Because in 2014 he will have fully transformed into an aggressive player. You are seeing he beginning of the process right now. And even though he's great at winning with defense, Nadal's best clay tennis is when he's in attack mode (22 winners in the 5th set vs Djokovic this year).

LMFAO took you nearly 4 years to make your first post and now you're already on 2 in one day!

How ya going BullZ?

 

[bullfan]

One would think that tennis players have a long term goal, rather than a short term goal for their careers. Even if the way they thought it would be starting out. Maybe once they are on tour, they re-assess career strategy. One could burn them selves out quickly, or adopt a strategy that allows them to play longer and make more money. Usually, it's not a tremendously long career.

I expect that we'll be seeing much longer careers down the road.

We'll probably be shocked at how quick some one will be when they challenge top records.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Rafa is just on a roll! He the favorite to win the USO this year. Murray will have a tough time but with Lendl as his coach he will be in the semi for sure but beyond that; it up to Murray to pull it off by himself since Ivan cannot play in the finals himself!

 

[Crisstti]

New found motivation and more aggressive play.

 

[bullfan]

New found motivation and more aggressive play.

Maybe, Rafa's team has had a long term goal that meant playing different tennis at different periods of his life.....or maybe, they adjusted to the new reality of Rafa's limitations.

Maybe playing each way would have different negative affects on his body, and he's trying to maximize his career.

 

[counterloop]

Funny thing is Murray prior to 2010 only did well at masters, now in 2012-2013 he actually does well at slams but awful at grandslams.

What's the difference between a slam and a grand slam?

 

[borg number one]

I don't think it's just one factor. It's several factors that are playing a role. He is newly motivated, so he's very good mentally. He seems to be fairly pain free and he's moving very freely. He seems to have come up with the answer to how he needs to play a different brand of hard court tennis, perhaps standing a bit closer on the baseline to dictate rallies. He is mixing up his serve pretty well right now. He has matured on this surface a bit later in his career, but he's learned from past bad matches on the surface and Nadal, being the extremely smart player he is, has found a solution to the formula and he is applying it well. He'll need just seven more wins to cap a great hard court season and grab back #1 pretty suddenly.

 

[WarriorRafa]

Nadal actually didnt play that well after Montreal, the wins against Federer and Isner were really tight and he was hitting a lot of errors that he usually does not make. That's probably down to his aggressive gameplan. At the US Open, only Djokovic and Murray can trouble him if they wake up and start playing well(which i have a feeling they will do) The knees will have to hold up too but hopefully as Nadal is not running around chasing every ball, that will preserve his energy.

 

[ultradr]

I was shocked how well Nadal returned serves at Montreal. Someone on TV
dubbed "Agassi-like" at one point.

At Cincy, he appears to have mastered Federer pioneered "serve and forehand
winner" thing. However, he seems to have returned to old self a bit when
returning serves. safe blocking returns. But someone mentioned Cincy has
become much more bouncy courts. So it worked out ok for him.

 

[fednad]

He had an early exit at Wimbledon and the tape hasn't been seen since.

Nice try troll, but you fail.

He had just won almost everything during the clay season and had not played any grass court preparation tourney. Holding knee and taping it would have been too embarrassing then.

But, he is not the one to disappoint us. Wait for a loss at hard court and kneedul will be back with tape.
Don't lose hope. He and his knee and the tape won't let us down.

 

[Mainad]

Rafa is just on a roll! He the favorite to win the USO this year. Murray will have a tough time but with Lendl as his coach he will be in the semi for sure but beyond that

Bear in mind that he already reached 2 semis and 1 final long before he teamed up with Lendl.

it up to Murray to pull it off by himself since Ivan cannot play in the finals himself!

Well, of course it is and he has pulled it off already, hasn't he?

 

[KingLeBronJames]

Nadal actually didnt play that well after Montreal, the wins against Federer and Isner were really tight and he was hitting a lot of errors that he usually does not make. That's probably down to his aggressive gameplan. At the US Open, only Djokovic and Murray can trouble him if they wake up and start playing well(which i have a feeling they will do) The knees will have to hold up too but hopefully as Nadal is not running around chasing every ball, that will preserve his energy.

Nadal hit a lot of errors vs Isner that he usually does not make? Nadal hardly hit any errors vs Isner. It was an excellent performance, better than all his performances at Montreal. Nadal made more uncharacteristic errors in the Djokovic Montreal match. And let's not even include the Raonic Montreal match, as that guy never threatens Nadal.

 

[adil1972]

what does nadal need to do to become no. 1 before the end of year

 

[WarriorRafa]

what does nadal need to do to become no. 1 before the end of year

If Rafa wins US Open and Djokovic gets eliminated before reaching the final, Rafa becomes no 1. If Djokovic reaches the final and loses to Rafa, the gap will be only 120 points I think. And Djokovic would still have to defend his Shanghai,Beijing and World Tour Finals Titles.

 

[llodra_fan]

I think Nadal camp has realized that he has won enough clay title and some of those records might not ever be broken. This and next season are his best chances to be at top form and if He wins a couple HC slams and M1000s, his resume would be more balanced. Plus he also has a shot at having double Career GS. If my assumption is true then I believe it is the correct direction for him.

 

[tudwell]

It's mostly due to he startling lack of depth in the men's current field. Old broke-back Federer gave him one of his toughest matches of the year - that should tell you something.

 

[KingLeBronJames]

I think Nadal camp has realized that he has won enough clay title and some of those records might not ever be broken. This and next season are his best chances to be at top form and if He wins a couple HC slams and M1000s, his resume would be more balanced. Plus he also has a shot at having double Career GS. If my assumption is true then I believe it is the correct direction for him.

When Nadal returned to the tour this year, he frequently spoke of how he's trying to be more aggressive than in past years. So I think he's just winning more on hardcourts now because his game-style has changed. He's trying to end the points sooner, and it allowed him to hit 22 winners in the 5th set of Roland Garros semi-final this year. And it's allowed him to win more on hardcourts. I don't think he planned to win more on hardcourts, just is a product of his new game-style.

 

[KingLeBronJames]

It's mostly due to he startling lack of depth in the men's current field. Old broke-back Federer gave him one of his toughest matches of the year - that should tell you something.

After Nadal won Montreal, people thought he'd withdraw from Cincy, or risk overplaying. Plus, people said his game doesn't suit Cincy (fastest hardcourt on tour). So of course Federer took a set. Nadal had played maybe a bit too much tennis, and it was at Cincy (where Federer is defending champ, and has won the title 5 times) where Nadal had never reached the final before. I mean, its no shock that Federer took a set from Nadal on Nadal's worst surface and Federer's best surface. Also, Uncle Toni commented on Nadal's win over Federer and pointed out that Nadal won by attacking Federer, rather than the usual more defensive approach. Nadal beat Federer at his own game.

 

[Dark Magician]

When Nadal returned to the tour this year, he frequently spoke of how he's trying to be more aggressive than in past years. So I think he's just winning more on hardcourts now because his game-style has changed. He's trying to end the points sooner, and it allowed him to hit 22 winners in the 5th set of Roland Garros semi-final this year. And it's allowed him to win more on hardcourts. I don't think he planned to win more on hardcourts, just is a product of his new game-style.

that makes me wonder, whats the highest number of winners hit by a player in a set? if its isner mahut 5th set, plz exclude it, or instead no. of winners/no. of games played in the set?

 

[Bender]

Question: Did Rafa return on the baseline in Cincinnati, like he did for Montreal? I didn't watch Cincinnati as I was overseas and only managed to catch the second set of the final. For obvious reasons I didn't see Rafa returning from the baseline in that match.