People tend to equate Nadal's Mental toughness with beating Fed so many times, Nobody hardly tends to look at critical situations!
Nadal built his image of a mental giant on the back of his rivalry with Federer and his claycourt game.
Once he was presented with challenges that took him out of his comfort zone not only he lost many matches but also needed break from tennis to steady the ship.
About critical moments. Here come some stats about match points. Won matches with saved MPs and lost matches with wasted MPs for “big4”.
+ is for saved MPs and – for wasted.
Nole:
2015: Gulbis 2
2012: Andy 5, Tsonga 4
2011: *
Fed 2, Berdych 1
2010: Kohlschreiber 3, *
Fed 2
2009: Serra 5, Stepanek 3, Nadal -3
2007: Chela 3, Youzny -3
2005: G. Lopes 6
11-2 (36-6)
11 won matches (85%) and 2 lost with 36 (86%) saved and 6 wasted MPs.
*Saved 2 consecutive MPs against Fed in 2 consecutive USO.
Federer:
2015: Kyrgios -2
2014: J. Monfils 2, L. Mayer 5, S. Wawrinka 4, J. Chardy -1
2013: T. Berdih -3
2011: F. Lopes 1, *Nole -2
2010: Monfils -5, Baghdatis -3, *Nole -2, Berdich -1
2006: O. Rochus 4, Roddick 3, Nadal -2
2005: Ferrero 2, Gasquet -3, Safin -1
2003. S. Draper 7, Verkerk 4, Aggasi 2, A Costa -3
2002: Haas -1
2001: Massu 3, T.Johansson 1, Rafter -1
2000: Ljubicic 2, Hewit 1, Henman -2
1999: Raoux 2
15-15 (43-32)
50% (57%)
*lost 2 consecutive MPs against Nole in 2 consecutive USO.
Nadal:
2015: Raonic -3, Anderson 1
2014: Andujar 2
2010: Troicki 2, Benneteau 1, Davydenko -2
2009: Almagro 5, Nalbandian 5, Nole 3
2008: Moya 4
2006: Federer 2, O. Rochus 1
2005: Youzny 1, Berdych -3
2004: Ferrer -3, Calleri -2
2003: N. Lappenti -5
11-6 (27-18)
65% (60%)
Andy M.
2015: Dimitrov 1
2014: Isner 2, Robredo 5, Robredo 5
2013: Ferer 1
2012: *Nole -5, *Raonic -2, *Janowicz -1
2010: Querrey -1
2008: Ancic -2
2007: Mathieu 2, Haas 2, Youzhny 1
2005: Mello 5
9-5 (24-11)
64% (69%)
*lost MPs in 3 consecutive tourneys in 2012
stats can be little wrong but not by much.
2010 and 2011 USO semis against Federer
2012 AO semi and final against Murray and Nadal
2012 FO quarterfinal against Tsonga
2012 Shanghai final against Murray
2014 Wimbledon final against Federer
Many more minor examples at Masters and matches when the crowd were trying to distract him
And the great 2015 US Open final against Federer
Nadal is said to be true warrior when he is at his best but the minute his confidence is shaken or he is not at his best physically or mentally it goes downhill pretty fast.
Nadal's mental toughness is high, but probably a little overrated. When he's not playing his best he simply doesn't make these big Slam finals, which robs people of opportunities to see how he handles these big matches when he's not at his absolute best. He bows out to Gonzalezes, Rosols and Fogninis.
Contrast that with Djokovic, who in spite of playing below his level still reaches Slam finals. And then of course he meets an opponent who is playing well and loses. But you have to be mentally tough to make the final while playing badly.
Case for Djokovic being on the list:
- Best all time deciding-set win %
- Tons of matches won after saving MPs
- Ability to bounce back after extremely tough losses (eg: FO 2014 and FO 2015)
Djokovic is the greatest front runner, Djokovic is the best at deciding sets, Djokovic has impressive 5th set record, Djokovic is the best at saving match points, Djokovic is the most resilient player, Simply put Novak mentality is unbelievable how the guy is so good at so many mental departments and critical stages.
5 set records (Just one aspect of mental toughness)
1. Djokovic 26-8
2. Nadal 17-7
1. Sampras 33-15
Djokovic.
He is the only player to be ranked inside the top 10 ever in ALL of the following categories.
Tie breaks top 5
Break points converted /Top 3
Break points saved/ top 10
Final set /1st
Fifth set / top 5
1st set lead /1st
1st set lost /1st
match points! /1st
This shows that hes best at clutch, important moments.
