Worst weaknesses of current top 10

[vortex1]

1) Nadal - High energy game tough on body, serve on fast courts

2) Djokovic - mental strength, serve, fitness

3) Federer - backhand, declining movement, not willing to adapt

4) Murray - Forehand, second serve, defensive mentality on big points

5) Soderling - ball basher with no variety, headcase in slam finals

6) Davydenko - weak mentally in slams, poor volley skills, poor serve

7) Del Potro - one dimensional, injury prone, poor movement

8) Berdych - head case, one dimensional game

9) Roddick - poor backhand, forehand that works once in every 100 matches, Fed's pigeon in slams

10) Verdasco - headcase, Nadal's pigeon everwhere

 

[THESEXPISTOL]

1) Nadal - High energy game tough on body, serve on fast courts

2) Djokovic - mental strength, serve, fitness

3) Federer - backhand, declining movement, not willing to adapt

4) Murray - Forehand, second serve, defensive mentality on big points

5) Soderling - ball basher with no variety, headcase in slam finals

6) Davydenko - weak mentally in slams, poor volley skills, poor serve

7) Del Potro - one dimensional, injury prone, poor movement

8) Berdych - head case, one dimensional game

9) Roddick - poor backhand, forehand that works once in every 100 matches, Fed's pigeon in slams

10) Verdasco - headcase, Nadal's pigeon everwhere

That's about it.

 

[callmethedoctor]

Nadal- serve, serve return, knees
Djokovic- mental strength, breathing
Federer- aging, that's it
Murray- forehand, second serve
Soderling- speed, finesse
Davydenko- weak in slams, volley
Del Potro- injuries, backhand variety
Berdych- backhand, finesse
Roddick- often pushes forehand, approaches
Verdasco- backhand, mentality

 

[el sergento]

6) Davydenko - weak mentally in slams, poor volley skills, poor serve

Have to disagree on this one; Davy has some pretty sweet hands at net actually. Serve is attackable though and mentally he's prone to breakdowns (see USO 2009).

 

[Feña14]

Have to disagree on this one; Davy has some pretty sweet hands at net actually. Serve is attackable though and mentally he's prone to breakdowns (see USO 2009).

Yeah, his volleys look quite odd. He likes to use a 2 hander on the backhand side, but they work reasonably well.

 

[el sergento]

Nadal- serve, serve return, knees

Sorry doc, but that's plain wrong. Nadal leads the tour on 3 out of 4 return game statistics: #1 Break points converted, #1 Points won returning the 2nd serve, #1 Return games won, #8 Points won returning 1st serve.

His return game is NOT a weakness.

Berdych- backhand, finesse

Have to disagree. His backhand is his moneyshot, his forehand is the weakness. Not that it's not a blistering shot, but it's the shot that breaks down.

 

[el sergento]

Here's my take:

1) Nadal - Health and that's it. If he's healthy, no weaknesses anymore.

2) Djokovic - mental strength, serve, fitness. Mostly he lacks smarts, he doesn't know when to play offence and when to rely on d.

3) Federer - backhand, movement, volleys (I know many will disagree, but he's not clutch up there if forced to move up). Also he's stubborn, rarely switches tactics during a match.

4) Murray - The way of the Pusher - He lives and dies by it.

5) Soderling - Volleys, he's so bad he's afraid to even go to net (see FO final 2010).

6) Davydenko - Weak mentally (against top players especially), second serve. No weapons??

7) Del Potro - One dimensional (he barely ever slices a backhand), health, movement is actually quite good.

8 ) Berdych - Safin syndrome

9) Roddick - Everything except serve. That's how good his serve is. Movement is actually very good also.

10) Verdasco - Serve, I call him the Double Fault Duke. Great shot making; the new Gonzo in many ways, but lacks clutch. Backhand is solid these days. Dropping out of the top 10 in ...3......2......1

Anyway, mo .2c

 

[OKUSA]

There you have it folks, Nadal's only weakness is injury. If he wasn't so injured he would have at least 20 majors and 3 grand slams by now

 

[Sephiroth_FFVII]

Here's my take:

1) Nadal - Health and that's it. If he's healthy, no weaknesses anymore.

2) Djokovic - mental strength, serve, fitness. Mostly he lacks smarts, he doesn't know when to play offence and when to rely on d.

3) Federer - backhand, movement, volleys (I know many will disagree, but he's not clutch up there if forced to move up). Also he's stubborn, rarely switches tactics during a match.

4) Murray - The way of the Pusher - He lives and dies by it.

5) Soderling - Volleys, he's so bad he's afraid to even go to net (see FO final 2010).

6) Davydenko - Weak mentally (against top players especially), second serve. No weapons??

7) Del Potro - One dimensional (he barely ever slices a backhand), health, movement is actually quite good.

8 ) Berdych - Safin syndrome

9) Roddick - Everything except serve. That's how good his serve is. Movement is actually very good also.

10) Verdasco - Serve, I call him the Double Fault Duke. Great shot making; the new Gonzo in many ways, but lacks clutch. Backhand is solid these days. Dropping out of the top 10 in ...3......2......1

Anyway, mo .2c

The Bold statements cause you to lose all credibility and sound idiotic. EVERY player has weaknesses, including Federer during his prime 04-07 years for which people say he is the GOAT.

You actually think Federer is too stubborn to switch tactics during a match? He did not win 16 Grand Slam titles playing every opponent with the same tactics or a Plan A. If you ever watched tennis, you would know Federer has become one of the greatest partially due to his ability to figure hang in there, figure out his opponent, and deploy different tactics in order to pull out wins.

You think Davydenko has no weapons? The man is lightning fast on his feet and uses that to attack his opponents. He also posses some of the best groundstrokes in men's tennis.

 

[ThreadintheNeedle]

Here's my take:

1) Nadal - Health and that's it. If he's healthy, no weaknesses anymore.

2) Djokovic - mental strength, serve, fitness. Mostly he lacks smarts, he doesn't know when to play offence and when to rely on d.

3) Federer - backhand, movement, volleys (I know many will disagree, but he's not clutch up there if forced to move up). Also he's stubborn, rarely switches tactics during a match.

4) Murray - The way of the Pusher - He lives and dies by it.

5) Soderling - Volleys, he's so bad he's afraid to even go to net (see FO final 2010).

6) Davydenko - Weak mentally (against top players especially), second serve. No weapons??

7) Del Potro - One dimensional (he barely ever slices a backhand), health, movement is actually quite good.

8 ) Berdych - Safin syndrome

9) Roddick - Everything except serve. That's how good his serve is. Movement is actually very good also.

10) Verdasco - Serve, I call him the Double Fault Duke. Great shot making; the new Gonzo in many ways, but lacks clutch. Backhand is solid these days. Dropping out of the top 10 in ...3......2......1

Anyway, mo .2c

Utter BS. Federer's only weakness is arrogance and arrogance alone.

 

[Netspirit]

Nadal's weaknesses are his serve, his backhand slice, his predictable shot selection, his short balls spinning right into tall hitter's strike zone.

He's been working on all of them, though.

 

[OKUSA]

Does Nadal even have a backhand down the line? I only ever see him hit it crosscourt

 

[Bud]

Sorry doc, but that's plain wrong. Nadal leads the tour on 3 out of 4 return game statistics: #1 Break points converted, #1 Points won returning the 2nd serve, #1 Return games won, #8 Points won returning 1st serve.

His return game is NOT a weakness.



Have to disagree. His backhand is his moneyshot, his forehand is the weakness. Not that it's not a blistering shot, but it's the shot that breaks down.

However, according to some ****s on TT... you must not use official match statistics to bolster your argument

You should be using personal observation, opinion and conjecture, instead of facts.

 

[Bobby Jr]

1st serve return points won in 2010 - just for the top 11 players (rounded percentages in case you wonder why 2 ppl with the same % are not ranked as equal)

1. 35% - Djokovic
2. 34% - Federer
3. 34% - Murray
4. 33% - Davydenko
5. 33% - Nadal
6. 32% - Berdych
7. 32% - Verdasko
8. 31% - Soderling
9. 30% - Tsonga
10. 29% - Del Potro
11. 26% - Roddick

And people say Nadals is better at return than Federer? I beg to differ. Nadal is better at 2nd serve point wins - probably because he's well... awesome - but the stats show though that on 1st serves he is only #5 so far this year.

 

[Bud]

1st serve return points won in 2010 - just for the top 11 players (rounded percentages in case you wonder why 2 ppl with the same % are not ranked as equal)

1. 35% - Djokovic
2. 34% - Federer
3. 34% - Murray
4. 33% - Davydenko
5. 33% - Nadal
6. 32% - Berdych
7. 32% - Verdasko
8. 31% - Soderling
9. 30% - Tsonga
10. 29% - Del Potro
11. 26% - Roddick

And people say Nadals is better at return than Federer? I beg to differ. Nadal is better at 2nd serve point wins - probably because he's well... awesome - but the stats show though that on 1st serves he is only #5 so far this year.

However, the more important stat is return games won. If you can't convert points to games, your return stats are virtually meaningless.

Nadal leads for return games won

Federer is #14 at 27%

 

[djokovicgonzalez2010]

Federer- Return
Nadal- Handling pace
Djokovic- Endurance, 2nd serve
Murray- Mental, 2nd serve
Soderling- Movement. Definitely. Volleys poor as well
Davydenko- Endurance is terrible
Berdych- Headcase
Del Potro-Inconsistency, endurance
Roddick (even though no longer top 10)- everything but the serve
Verdasco-Headcase, double faults

 

[Bobby Jr]

However, the more important stat is return games won. If you can't convert points to games, your return stats are virtually meaningless.

I agree with you. I was sort of posting to demonstrate how stats can paint whatever picture you wish when used selectively.

For example, return games won is also a meaningless statistic unless you can also hold you own serve. I'm sure there are guys out there who are amazing returners but can serve for s***. .....Agassi for the first 1/3 of his career for example. In isolation the stat looks good but could also mean nothing.

I disagree with people saying Federer's return is a significant flaw. He gets more big serves back over the net (the first hurdle on return) than anyone else in the top ten. His long-term success against Roddick, Soderling etc points clearly to this - getting into the point is goal #1. What happens after that ball goes back over the net is another story however - and an area Nadal excels in.

 

[Xemi666]

Nadal- serve, serve return, knees
Djokovic- mental strength, breathing
Federer- aging, that's it
Murray- forehand, second serve
Soderling- speed, finesse
Davydenko- weak in slams, volley
Del Potro- injuries, backhand variety
Berdych- backhand, finesse
Roddick- often pushes forehand, approaches
Verdasco- backhand, mentality

Laughable, Nadal's return weak? Then I guess according to you everyone has a weak return. His serve is not a huge weapon but it's not a weakness either, I suggest you watch Wimbledon 2010 final.

 

[callmethedoctor]

Sorry doc, but that's plain wrong. Nadal leads the tour on 3 out of 4 return game statistics: #1 Break points converted, #1 Points won returning the 2nd serve, #1 Return games won, #8 Points won returning 1st serve.

His return game is NOT a weakness.



Have to disagree. His backhand is his moneyshot, his forehand is the weakness. Not that it's not a blistering shot, but it's the shot that breaks down.

I don't mean his return game, I mean his actual serve return. I would like to see stats on how often he is aced, and how often he gets return winners. He often throws up sitters on first serves. He gets away with it with speed. It's an even less impressive shot than Federer's, and Fed just slices it back usually. I know his rally game is good enough to make up for it, but the serve return itself is not a great shot. Not that Nadal has major weaknesses, really. Just looking for something that isn't spectacular, since everything else he does is miles ahead of everyone else.
If you want I can change this to backhand slice, because that is just a sitter. No bite. Anyone who thinks otherwise must be a *********.

And you think berdych's backhand is better than his forehand? Then again, I've only ever seen him win matches other than the Wimby final, so I've never seen his forehand break down. You probably know better than me on this one though.

Now I could pick apart each part of Fed's game that is getting weaker, cause it's all happening at once. But I just say "he's declining" for simplicity.

 

[dmt]

Nadal needs to step a little closer to the baseline in the uso this year and block some of the returns deep like he did at wimbledon. He was far too behing the baseline at last years USO

Overall he is a good returner. Not exceptional, but he wins a high percentage of return games

 

[single_handed_champion]

1) Nadal - Court positioning at times, flattening out forehand

2) Djokovic - fitness, mentality, prone to distractions

3) Federer - high backhand, stubbornness in wanting to outhit stronger players

4) Murray - Forehand, second serve, defensive court positioning

5) Soderling - no Plan B, foot speed and footwork, netplay (for the quality of ground game)

6) Davydenko - lacks knockout punch, unremarkable serve, monotonous patterns

7) Del Potro - one dimensional, injury prone due to technique (too explosive), average movement

8. Berdych - one dimensional, lacks margin on shots, movement

9) Roddick - stiff backhand, loopy forehand, tentativeness in rallies, overreliance on serve

10) Verdasco - don't-care attitude, poor shot selection, weak second serve (unwilling to go for first serve as a result)

 

[aldeayeah]

In their recent form:

1) Nadal: serve
2) Djokovic: fitness
3) Federer: footwork
4) Murray: forehand
5) Soderling: variety
6) Davydenko: power
7) Del Potro: speed
8. Berdych: variety
9) Verdasco: head
10) Tsonga: tactics
11) Roddick: return of serve
12) Ferrer: power

 

[darthpwner]

Utter BS. Federer's only weakness is arrogance and arrogance alone.

Agreed. I'm disappointed in you Roger. You show the sin of pride. And your Roman Catholic? Shame on you

 

[OKUSA]

Why do people say Davydenko lacks power? Have you seen this guy play at all?

vs. Nadal in Shanghai is a good example

 

[Anaconda]

Nadal - Average return of serve as a shot; doesn't block back huge serves very well and doesn't play aggressive enough on 2nd serve.

Djokovic - Fitness

Federer - Willingness to not come to the net kills him sometimes.

Murray - everything about his serve; 2nd delivery/low %.

JMDP - doesn't have a plan B and only knows how to bash.

Davydenko - Serve.

Soderling - Net play. Completely hopeless.

Berdych - Forehand is inconsistent.

Verdasco - Mentality. Nothing technical like most of the others.

Tsonga - See above.

 

[Anaconda]

Why do people say Davydenko lacks power? Have you seen this guy play at all?

vs. Nadal in Shanghai is a good example

It's obvious Davydenko lacks power on his groundstrokes. Give him a ball with no pace and he won't do anything with it. He's like Hewitt; he uses the opponents pace to create his own. He moves the ball around and is able to hit winners when the ball is in the right place. He doesn't have a 100mph shot which he can blast out of nowhere like Soderling.

You don't need a huge amount of power to get the ball past Nadal. You just need to flatten out the ball and be consistent with it at the same time. Davydenko is able to dictate play against Nadal because Nadal's spin has no effect on Davydenko's flat ball, and he's able to put Nadal under pressure with accurrate strokes which pin Nadal to a specific corner (it's the general cencus that Nadal's forehand is the wing to pressure) which just leaves a ball mid-court for Davydenko to pummel into the open court. I would actually love to have Davydenko's technical strokes. He's very consistent, and is able to have his opponent on strings, only problem is that he's a completely mental midget, and has a hopeless net game, poor movement on grass and his serve is average (however i have seen him clock around 130mph against Roddick in Miami 2008).

 

[mnm]

1) Nadal: serve and volley
2) Djokovic: fitness
3) Federer: speed
4) Murray: forehand
5) Soderling: mono-basher, lacks variety and speed
6) Davydenko: serve
7) Del Potro: speed
8. Berdych: mono-basher, lacks variety and speed
9) Verdasco: mentally weak
10) Tsonga: speed

 

[veroniquem]

Laughable, Nadal's return weak? Then I guess according to you everyone has a weak return. His serve is not a huge weapon but it's not a weakness either, I suggest you watch Wimbledon 2010 final.

He should have said "1st serve" return. That's something Rafa could improve, no doubt. On the other hand, he's #1 at second serve return, return games won and #2 at break points converted. So this relative weakness hasn't handicapped him too much but I would agree it's still a weakness, particularly on hard courts.
What's funny is that you can observe the same pattern for his service game stats: he's nowhere to be seen on first serve points won (obviously his major weakness on hard courts: lack of a big unreturnable serve) but he's #1 in 2nd serve points won, break points saved and #2 in service games won.
I think it's the combination of high stats in both service games AND return games won that makes him the best player by far ATM. He may not be the best on first serves and first serves returns but he outclasses everyone with his perf on second serve (and returns) which is quite remarkable.

 

[tea]

1) Nadal - Rabbit-like gamestyle, only 1 effective shot - topspin FH, no variety at all

2) Djokovic - better monographies writer than a player, 'my second slam' is written but will never be released

3) Federer - none

4) Murray - lacks a bit brain to develop his game in right direction, worships Nadal - huge mental weakness of him

7) Del Potro - one dimensional mug, a la Nadal on hardcourts

 

[veroniquem]

Are you sh!tting me?


Even today, Federer is still pretty fast even though his footwork and footspeed have declined by some margin over the last few years (since 2008 i think). I Lol'd hard at Tsonga's speed being his weakness. You sure about that? That guy is one of the most athletic and fastest players on tour. Technically he has no weaknesses - just like Verdasco; but just like Verdasco he clocks out mentally on the biggest of stages.

Currently, Fed's speed IS a weakness, he's nowhere as fast as he used to be and it shows even against lesser opponents. He's also lost ground in power and in precision/accuracy.

 

[hawk eye]

It's obvious Davydenko lacks power on his groundstrokes. Give him a ball with no pace and he won't do anything with it. He's like Hewitt; he uses the opponents pace to create his own. He moves the ball around and is able to hit winners when the ball is in the right place. He doesn't have a 100mph shot which he can blast out of nowhere like Soderling.

You don't need a huge amount of power to get the ball past Nadal. You just need to flatten out the ball and be consistent with it at the same time. Davydenko is able to dictate play against Nadal because Nadal's spin has no effect on Davydenko's flat ball, and he's able to put Nadal under pressure with accurrate strokes which pin Nadal to a specific corner (it's the general cencus that Nadal's forehand is the wing to pressure) which just leaves a ball mid-court for Davydenko to pummel into the open court. I would actually love to have Davydenko's technical strokes. He's very consistent, and is able to have his opponent on strings, only problem is that he's a completely mental midget, and has a hopeless net game, poor movement on grass and his serve is average (however i have seen him clock around 130mph against Roddick in Miami 2008).

To me Davydenko reminds me more of Agassi than Hewitt, with his ability to take the ball on the rise. Hewitt can't do that, at least not as consistently. I agree about using the opponent's pace but that's obvious. Plus Davydenko can generate more power by himself, not like Soderling but who can. Besides that, Davy's net game is anything but hopeless. He's probably got the 2nd best drop volleys in the top 10, after Tsonga.

 

[veroniquem]

1st serve return points won in 2010 - just for the top 11 players (rounded percentages in case you wonder why 2 ppl with the same % are not ranked as equal)

1. 35% - Djokovic
2. 34% - Federer
3. 34% - Murray
4. 33% - Davydenko
5. 33% - Nadal
6. 32% - Berdych
7. 32% - Verdasko
8. 31% - Soderling
9. 30% - Tsonga
10. 29% - Del Potro
11. 26% - Roddick

And people say Nadals is better at return than Federer? I beg to differ. Nadal is better at 2nd serve point wins - probably because he's well... awesome - but the stats show though that on 1st serves he is only #5 so far this year.

Funny way to look at things. You could also say that Nadal is in top 2 in 3 categories for service game stats and in top 2 in 3 categories for return stats while Fed is top 3 in 0 category.
So yeah I would say Nadal is currently better than Fed in both serve and return of serve.

 

[Anaconda]

Currently, Fed's speed IS a weakness, he's nowhere as fast as he used to be and it shows even against lesser opponents. He's also lost ground in power and in precision/accuracy.

No. Federer's speed is still good enough to get him to the ball. His footwork is a problem. Yes, and his declined footwork is the reason he misses and shanks so many forehands now - he's said so himself. If you expect Federer to play at his 04-07 level at the age of 29 then you're crazy. He's going to slow down, and his groundstroke power is going to decline a little bit. You'll find it's called getting older.


I agree with callmethedoctor. Nadal's return of serve as a shot is decent.....but nothing more. He doesn't posses a good block-back return like Murray of Federer in his prime, but he doesn't even posses an Agassi or Nalbandian like return where he'll stand close to the baseline and take the ball early to get the opponent on the defensive. However Nadal's return as a whole package is very good because he has the best groundstokes in the game right now.

@ Hawkeye, yes, i agree. Davydenko is more like an Agassi type player, although does share some traits which Hewitt had in his prime. Davydenko's net game isn't actually that great if you watch his matches. Having said that, there are only two players who have above decent volleys in the top 10 - Federer and Tsonga.


Veroniquem, Nadal's 1st serve and 2nd serve return as a shot is ok, nothing special. However he saves a lot of points because of his game outside his serve, and his movement and ability to get balls back negates his handicap of getting attacked on the 2nd serve. Roddick i think has the same % (61) as Nadal for second serve points won; Nadal wins these 2nd serve points at the baseline, whilst Roddick is able to win some cheap points off his 2nd serve delivery.

 

[coloskier]

1st serve return points won in 2010 - just for the top 11 players (rounded percentages in case you wonder why 2 ppl with the same % are not ranked as equal)

1. 35% - Djokovic
2. 34% - Federer
3. 34% - Murray
4. 33% - Davydenko
5. 33% - Nadal
6. 32% - Berdych
7. 32% - Verdasko
8. 31% - Soderling
9. 30% - Tsonga
10. 29% - Del Potro
11. 26% - Roddick

And people say Nadals is better at return than Federer? I beg to differ. Nadal is better at 2nd serve point wins - probably because he's well... awesome - but the stats show though that on 1st serves he is only #5 so far this year.

The reason Nadal does so well on 2nd serve return points is because it has nothing to do with his return, it has to do with what he does after the return. In 1st serve return stats, it is more important to have a return that does not sit up, or you watch the next shot blow by you. Fed's returns are always deep, that is why only the big hitters give him trouble (not including Nadal). Nadal's returns can be short, but he makes up for it with his foot speed. That is why the type of player that gives him the most trouble are the players that can take his short return and blow it by him even with his speed. Nadal has trouble against Murray on fast courts because Murray's return is so good and Murray is almost as fast as Nadal, plus the big high kicking crosscourt forehand does not bother Murray's BH.

 

[callmethedoctor]

Nadal's return of serve as a shot is decent.....but nothing more. He doesn't posses a good block-back return like Murray of Federer in his prime, but he doesn't even posses an Agassi or Nalbandian like return where he'll stand close to the baseline and take the ball early to get the opponent on the defensive. However Nadal's return as a whole package is very good because he has the best groundstokes in the game right now.

This is what I was trying to say.

 

[Bablu]

Nadal - Fascination with butt pinching
Djokovic - Inability to breathe oxygen
Federer - Fascination with tacky accessories
Murray - Fascination with Xbox
Soderling - Inability to appear human
Davydenko - Susceptibility to radar detection because of shiny head
Berdych - Eats where he craps (married a tennis player)
Del potro - Jacks off too much and breaks wrist
Verdasco - Rafaphobia
Tsonga - Not enough elevation when celebrating win

 

[djokovicgonzalez2010]

Nadal - Fascination with butt pinching
Djokovic - Inability to breathe oxygen
Federer - Fascination with tacky accessories
Murray - Fascination with Xbox
Soderling - Inability to appear human
Davydenko - Susceptibility to radar detection because of shiny head
Berdych - Eats where he craps (married a tennis player)
Del potro - Jacks off too much and breaks wrist
Verdasco - Rafaphobia
Tsonga - Not enough elevation when celebrating win

:lol: amazing

 

[veroniquem]

Anaconda, when I said speed, I meant footwork speed, not racquet speed.
I agree with everything you wrote.