[Jonathan Northrop] Nadal the Great, Part 1: Rafa's Window of Opportunity

[ClayDeath]

RE: [Blog] Nadal the Great, Part 1: Rafa's Window of Opportunity

nadal is one hell of a shot maker too.

in fact most players on the tour can execute most of the shots.

even at my level, there was not a shot I could not hit except for the net game.

I could not volley all that well and my slice backhand was not as good as I wanted it to be.


but other than that I could hit ridiculous shots. even some people have never even heard of.

I could hit topspin lobs off either wing when returning serve for example. so if they rushed the net, I could pass them by land, air, or sea.



anyway the fact is that most players have no choice but to go for broke against nadal.

for example that is exactly what nole did at this final. even he felt he had to go for broke. that should explain his 53 unforced errors.


nadal doesn't care for the winners. he just plays his high percentage tennis.

you can have all the winners and all the dazzling shots while he is just happy with winning the match.

that said, we have all seen his sick shot making ability for nearly 10 years now. he can hit the impossible shots. he just does not have to most of the time.

why? because that is not him. he is high percentage guy. impossible shots are more high risk.

 

[calitennis127]

RE: [Blog] Nadal the Great, Part 1: Rafa's Window of Opportunity

nadal is one hell of a shot maker too.

Nadal is a very good shotmaker, and at times a great shotmaker. But his shotmaking vis-a-vis the competition doesn't even come CLOSE to accounting for the extent of his success.

NEWSFLASH to everyone: if on a scale of 1 to 10, I play at a 9 for 1 hour against you, but you play at a 7.5 for 4 hours, you will probably win. That doesn't make you a better shotmaker.

anyway the fact is that most players have no choice but to go for broke against nadal.

That is the biggest load of sh*t anyone could possibly say, and it is predictable.

First of all, being aggressive and executing offense is not automatically "going for broke" or playing "low percentage". I seriously cannot stand when people say that nonsense. It is so infinitely stupid that I don't even know where to begin. Going for an offensive shot is not "risky" or "reckless" or "going for broke". Rather, it is taking control of a point with a reasonable shot that may be somewhat challenging, but can also be mastered by someone WHO PLAYS TENNIS FOR A LIVING AND PRACTICES SHOTS ALMOST DAILY FOR YEARS AND YEARS ON END.

Part of the problem with the field is not that they "go for broke" against Nadal, but rather that they try NOT to go for broke. They think that it is too silly to just go for your points. It is supposedly smarter to "be realistic" and try to "work the point". The results? Rafael Nadal winning every tournament.

When Djokovic had the strongest control of this match was at the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd set - when he was playing very aggressive, particularly with the forehand. He had the gnat running left and right and helpless.

for example that is exactly what nole did at this final. even he felt he had to go for broke. that should explain his 53 unforced errors.

Seriously, what match did you watch? Which one?

DJOKOVIC GOT BLOWN OUT IN THE FIRST SET BY PLAYING THE SO-CALLED "HIGH-PERCENTAGE" BRAND OF TENNIS. What part of that was not clear? He came out "patient" without "forcing the issue", and it was a disaster.

When he started trying to end points quicker, his winners start piling up and Nadal was on the ropes, down 2-0 and a break point in the third.

The problem for Djokovic is that he didn't play the first ultra-aggressive. If he had, we'd be sitting here having a very different conversation.

This reminds me of football conversations about Michael Vick. People routinely say that he is too "reckless" and plays too "fast", when the real problem is that he isn't encouraged to play fast enough. Naturally, with a new coach emphasizing a faster pace, he is thriving.

you can have all the winners and all the dazzling shots while he is just happy with winning the match.

Just about sums up Nadal's career against Top 10 and Top 20 opponents right there.

that said, we have all seen his sick shot making ability for nearly 10 years now. he can hit the impossible shots. he just does not have to most of the time.

All top players have shotmaking highlight reels. That's not what separates Nadal.

why? because that is not him. he is high percentage guy. impossible shots are more high risk.

Offensive shots are not impossible. Go watch some Davydenko-Nadal highlights for goodness sake.

 

[brokenshoelace]

RE: [Blog] Nadal the Great, Part 1: Rafa's Window of Opportunity

NEWSFLASH to everyone: if on a scale of 1 to 10, I play at a 9 for 1 hour against you, but you play at a 7.5 for 4 hours, you will probably win. That doesn't make you a better shotmaker.

It makes you a better player though.

 

[fedfan]

RE: [Blog] Nadal the Great, Part 1: Rafa's Window of Opportunity

excellent read.

Fed and his fans are starting to sweat bullets

Fedfan! You were invoked during the live chat over the weekend...the game v. the Bulldogs came up. (Oh, sorry...) Good to see you. Don't be a stranger the whole football season.

Sorry I missed the chat. Was indeed in Athens for the game and the loss. They outplayed us and deserved the win. Sat in the Dawg section to make matters worse(I typically go through scalpers at the game as they obviously had better seat locations than they give the visitors and wanted to sit "well"). They have a reputation of being one of the worst behaved fan bases in the country and the reason I hadn't been back there since '97. They were better behaved this time(probably humbled after three straight losses to us), but get THIS. Their reputation is SO BAD, we got a couple of bottled waters at a concession stand and they took the caps off. We asked why, they said they could be used as WEAPONS! I am NOT joking. It's been that bad over the years there and the reason we wore neutral colors! LOL!