Basically Nadal won the tournament playing his B- game. Sort of how Novak won Wimbledon.
Before people scream at me, I can assure you that in 15 years of watching Nadal, I've never seen him choke as much on forehands - one shot that never fails him consistently. His serve, backhand etc would go AWOL when was tight. But the bread and butter forehand would always work - even if it was moonballed back, he would not make an error on a sitter forehand.
Surprisingly, he made plenty of those all tournament. He choked, and then some, against most of his opponents. He relied on experience and luck to get him through and won ugly. Hence all the tears at the end, because he knew he was beatable this slam and still had to somehow cross the finish line.
So for all the brouhaha about his opponents choking , it was Nadal who choked more than I've ever seen him. Against Diego, at one point he ran around a forehand to hit a backhand. Because he had no confidence in the forehand. Then the simplest backhands were in the bottom of the net and the easiest overhead and volley putaways were missed when he got tight, like the one that got Medvedev back in the match in set 3. That simple sitter volley missed, might have haunted Nadal had he lost the match.
Despite all the commentators favoring Nadal pre match, I knew Medvedev had a legit shot given how Rafa was playing. Nadal's tennis is nowhere near his 2010, 2013, 2017 UsOpen wins and yet this one might still be the most impressive and important of them all.
Martina Navritilova said that as you get older you start to be more afraid, you get weaker mentally and hesitate more. This is what happened to Rafa. He played all tournament with the crushing weight of his own expectations which were 100x magnified when Novak and Roger lost. Suddenly anything other than Nadal championship win would be a complete failure for Rafa.
When you want something Nadal too much, it gets harder to get it. So while Nadal fought constantly with his opponent, he wrestled more with his mind and his nerves. Most other players would have lost the battle and the championship. That Nadal still won without being at his best is why this 4th UsOpen title is right up there as one of his most remarkable feats in an already stunning career.
Congrats to Nadal and his fans. Well deserved #19.
Before people scream at me, I can assure you that in 15 years of watching Nadal, I've never seen him choke as much on forehands - one shot that never fails him consistently. His serve, backhand etc would go AWOL when was tight. But the bread and butter forehand would always work - even if it was moonballed back, he would not make an error on a sitter forehand.
Surprisingly, he made plenty of those all tournament. He choked, and then some, against most of his opponents. He relied on experience and luck to get him through and won ugly. Hence all the tears at the end, because he knew he was beatable this slam and still had to somehow cross the finish line.
So for all the brouhaha about his opponents choking , it was Nadal who choked more than I've ever seen him. Against Diego, at one point he ran around a forehand to hit a backhand. Because he had no confidence in the forehand. Then the simplest backhands were in the bottom of the net and the easiest overhead and volley putaways were missed when he got tight, like the one that got Medvedev back in the match in set 3. That simple sitter volley missed, might have haunted Nadal had he lost the match.
Despite all the commentators favoring Nadal pre match, I knew Medvedev had a legit shot given how Rafa was playing. Nadal's tennis is nowhere near his 2010, 2013, 2017 UsOpen wins and yet this one might still be the most impressive and important of them all.
Martina Navritilova said that as you get older you start to be more afraid, you get weaker mentally and hesitate more. This is what happened to Rafa. He played all tournament with the crushing weight of his own expectations which were 100x magnified when Novak and Roger lost. Suddenly anything other than Nadal championship win would be a complete failure for Rafa.
When you want something Nadal too much, it gets harder to get it. So while Nadal fought constantly with his opponent, he wrestled more with his mind and his nerves. Most other players would have lost the battle and the championship. That Nadal still won without being at his best is why this 4th UsOpen title is right up there as one of his most remarkable feats in an already stunning career.
Congrats to Nadal and his fans. Well deserved #19.
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