Rafael Nadal

A page and forum to discuss all things Rafael Nadal.

Nadal 5

Current ranking: 14

Last result: Australian Open second round (lost to Mackenzie McDonald)

Next tournament: Roland Garros

60 Comments on Rafael Nadal

  1. I am looking forward to the AO. The draw will tell us a lot. Obviously, I do not want to see Rafa in Novak’s part of the draw. There is no way I want Rafa to face him in the quarters. Anyone but Novak. Then Rafa has a decent chance to do well.

    It’s onward and upward for Rafa!

    Reply

  2. Rafa’s coaches speak.

    ATP Staff, Jan. 16, 2016: ¤¤ Toni Nadal: “Rafa Is A Better Player Now [than at this point last year].”
    (Excerpts)
    Nadal and his coaching team – led by his uncle, Toni Nadal, with Francis Roig as his second coach – went to work in the off-season to bring his game back up to its highest level, making improvements and adjustments where necessary, but not at the cost of sacrificing Nadal’s trademark style.
    “The pre-season has gone very well,” Toni Nadal told ATPWorldTour.com. “We have intensified the training both in the length of the sessions and the rhythm. As was the case at the end of last season, I think things are going very well. In fact, I think Rafael’s level is better than at this point last year.
    “That he’s feeling good physically helped us more,” continued Uncle Toni. “For a long time we had to be careful with the workouts because there were various problems, but for a while now we have been able to do high intensity training sessions for as long as we want. I also think we have managed to get him back to playing aggressively, and that’s what he needs to do to play well.” …
    “You have to adapt to what the good players are doing and, as he’s very good himself, we thought he could adapt and change certain aspects of his game and I think he is doing that.”
    As such, balancing increased aggression with Nadal’s staple baseline play became the focus. “Now I see him play and know that he can win the point in many more ways,” said Roig. “Without losing his basics of playing one more shot, but also without retreating and letting the ball drop.” ¤¤
    Read more:
    http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/toni-nadal-talks-of-rafa-improvements

    Reply

  3. This was posted in response by amy on 1/12/16 @ 4:25 pm.

    “laak…gosh i hope you realise that i was being ironic….!! as was vr….”

    So she did indicate that her post was not meant to be taken literally or seriously.

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  4. Luckystar, I am going to respond to your post here so that it does not get lost. You posted:

    Luckystar JANUARY 12, 2016 AT 9:58 PM
    “Agree with VR that Rafa must take risk. Its no point playing safe tennis and lose, might as well take more risk, go for broke at times and see what happens.

    Regarding Rafa’s ROS, when he was younger, ie in 2004, he was returning serves close to the baseline on the HCs and he didnt seem to have much problem. Watch the boy Rafa at age 17 at the AO 2004 vs Hewitt. He played close to the baseline, hitting flatter 100 mph FHs both CC and DTL and was hitting winners after winners. I wonder where had that Rafa gone?

    I don’t understand why his ROS has deteriorated so much. Perhaps he has lost some power on his FH. After so many years of playing so far behind the baseline, maybe its more difficult to start playing or returning close to the baseline.

    Rafa has difficulty hitting with depth now it seems. I watched his FO2012 matches and he was hitting with more depth back then,hitting the lines often. His DTL FH shots in this Doha final lacked depth that Novak could easily return it with interest.

    There are still many areas that Rafa could improve – hitting a flatter FH with depth CC and DTL; improving his BH DTL shot; adding more varieties to his serve; vary his ROS positions perhaps add in DTL returns instead of going CC all the time.”

    Yeah, that version of rafa in 2004 was so great to watch. Would have been quite interesting to see how his career would have progressed had he stuck with that game in his career. It might have costed him some success on clay but I believe it would certainly have made him a more lethal non-clay player. His forehand had more variety back then in terms of his ability to generate spin and hit with massive power.

    In terms of hitting different forehands, yes, he was hitting flat DTL , inside-out forehands. He even had the ability to hit flat inside in forehands (something HE NEVER DOES NOW!!). It is only the CC forehand that he has always hit with loads of spin. If you look at his 2004 AO match against Hewitt, you would be amazed to see how all of his forehand DTL were hit with follow throughs across on the body! Literally every one of them, including those hit on the run. He has been trying to do hit more of those forehands in 2016. Let’s see how that does.

    Rafa should DEFINITELEY at least keep an option of flattening out his CC and inside in forehands. Even when he has the open court, he hits heavily spun forehands inside in to Djokovic’s backhand and because djokovic covers the court like a jaguar, he often gets there with enough time to thump a backhand CC , deep into rafa’s forehand corner and thus turning the tables.

    Rafa tried to hit some forehands DTL in doha but they landed short quite often and novak again used his speed to reach well on time and then was able to hit his forehand in any direction to win the point.

    I still believe rafa’s forehand can overpower novak in baseline duels if he has the right combinations working and given that they are playing in conditions that favor rafa more (sunny conditions for e.g).

    Most concerned about their Serve-ROS dynamics, The gap has widened so much now. Rafa better take more risks on second serves too coz he was winning about 20% of second serves at one point in Doha!! can’t get worse than this so TAKE SOME RISKS , rafa.

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    • Good analysis VR – especially about the lack of shot depth, which has been IMO a chronic problem for almost two years and to me correlates directly to his confidence level.

      Also bang on about the ROS which was very poor on Nole’s 2nd serve (which many times had little on it) and proved to me that this beatdown wasn’t all due to Nole’s stratospheric level – Rafa partially enabled his high level of play with short returns.

      Pre-2014 Rafa was all about calculated risks but without confidence on his shots, it has largely been MIA.

      Reply

    • As Rafa gets older he gets more risk adverse I feel. He was beating Fed in 2004 at Miami by hitting with depth forcing Fed back and then came forward to hit a winner at the net. He was almost perfect at the net winning almost 100% of points when at the net.

      Ironically, now that he’s a better volleyer and much better when at the net, he chooses to stay behind the baseline more often then during his younger days. I feel moving forward to the net taking away time from Novak is the way to go if he wants to beat Novak, as its obvious Rafa is not going to hit hard like Stan or Delpo to overpower Novak at the baseline.

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  5. Fransisco Roig “The game today is very different from four years ago”…”Now, the start of a sequence of play is vital and if you hit a bad second serve, you tighten up and right from the first ball you have lost the initiative.

    At least they know what needs to be done. What remains to be seen is when and how they do it.

    Toni Nadal “We’re not doing anything new,”“Rather we are going back to the things we did in 2008, 2010 and 2013, but which, for one reason or another – usually physical problems that stopped him from having continuity in his game – we could not do.”

    I am not sure what exactly his strategy is, but for me Uncle T should also think about adding more things to rafa’s game, little by little. I hope they are trying to do that. In my view, even the 2013 version of rafa will come up short against this Novak Djokovic. The guy is a nightmare matchup for rafa. Rafa needs to do something about the ROS-serve dynamic It is putting enermous pressure on him during their matches.

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    • This is what I’ve said – that for the most part, Rafa just needs his 2010-13 level back with some continual evolutional adjustments as all the top players know they need to do.

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      • I don’t know about the 2013 version losing to Nole. Possible but not necessarily so.

        Difficult to say without seeing that matchup.

        Part of Nole’s current aura is that he isn’t being challenged.

        If a 34.5 yr old fed could beat him so many times in BO3 last year, I think a 2013 peak Rafa could.

        I do think Nole’s at his best, just unsure that it’s significantly better than 2011 even if his results were in the last year (best year ever IMO but let’s not go there again lol).

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        • hawkeye, yeah, we cannot be certain but I do think Djokovic has become a more complete player. He has become more adept at turning defense into offense , his serve is better than it was in 2011. Not only the first serve but he can hit bigger and better second serves at will now. I also think his forehand DTL is better now and he has developed this shot to counter rafa’s inside-out forehands which were doing so much damage in 2012-13.

          However, the main reason I think that even the nadal of 2013 MIGHT come up short against this Djokovic is the serve-ROS dynamic! It is heavily skewed in djokovic’s favor at the moment.

          You are rigt, though, that rafa actually allowed him to implement his game in Doha which seemed invincible. Returning from close to the baseline is even riskier for rafa as short returns get punished even more without even him getting the chance at playing defense. All it takes it boom, one forehand insde out or a backhand CC for Novak to finish off a short return and rafa, standing inside the court, can’t do much. AS we have been saying, DEPTH IS THE KEY. Rafa knows it but lacks confidence to do it.

          Oh and novak is slightly better at the net too , as compared to 2011. Another massive improvement is his ability to handle body serves and serves to his forehand. Rafa was getting so many cheap points thanks to body serves and serves to novak’s forehand in 2012-13 but he has overcome that big time. This year, their last three meetings, he has absolutely slaughtered body serves. Much more comfortable with those patterns now.

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          • I do think that 2013 Rafa can beat this Novak. Remember in 2013 Rafa was serving a lot better than he is now. It was Novak who was double faulting at crucial points in their matches. Rafa was like a rock in defending his service games. I also thought his ROS was also solid back then.

            Rafa was playing extremely aggressive tennis at that time. He also was playing with a great deal of confidence. In fact, he was getting the better of the battle of mental strength in their matches that year. It was Novak who blinked, most notably in the fifth set in the RG semifinal when he ran into the net and couldn’t quite match Rafa shot for shot. Novak was up a break in that fifth set, but Rafa just willed himself to come back and get the win. He hit some of the most brilliant shots I have seen from him to get it done. Rafa could go to a whole other level in crunch time of their matches. It was his superior mental strength that carried the day in their slam matches.

            Just my two cents from the HM analyst here! 🙂

          • yeah…mental strength was surely as aspect where rafa had the advantage. He had much more faith in his game and believed he could implement his game against anyone.

            Well, I do not know who would win. Rafa of 2013 or this Djokovic. On clay, will have to hand the advantage to rafa of course. On hard courts, some things about Djokovic have changed too. He is a stronger package than in 2013 and that is why rafa’s team is talking about adapting to changes that the best players are undergoing. You can never keep winning at a stagnant level. Novak of 2011 would DEFINITELY lose to rafa of 2013 in my view but the Novak 2015 is a version that has actually evolved his game to counter rafa and that is why he hired Becker. He is a terrible, terrible match up for rafa so I believe rafa must do even better than in 2013. The 2013 serve was good but as I said, Djokovic is returning body serves much better now and that had been a key pattern for rafa. he needs to keep Novka confused now and keep varying the variety I guess. That comes with a greater risk of missing more first serves but is worth the risk.

        • Agree with Hawkeye. If Fed could beat a Novak of 2015 form on quick HCs; then Rafa could at least beat Novak on clay.

          Its a matter of confidence for both Novak and Rafa. If for eg Murray beat Novak at the AO and at Miami, would Novak’s confidence be that sky high? I doubt so. Its a matter of Novak being there at the right time when his major rival is not there, not unlike Fed in 2009.

          Rafa was not there the second half of 2014; given how poorly Novak played the NAHC season in 2014, I wont be surprised that Rafa could finish as no.1 in 2014 had he played the full season. Who knows, we may not even see a 2015 version of Novak appearing after that.

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    • Nah, the 2013 version of Rafa is good enough for this Novak imo. Rafa served well in 2013 because he was confident; he played aggressive tennis because he was confident.

      Novsk is confident now hence you wont see him double faulting, but when under pressure in an important moment who knows what would happen? Its a matter of confidence.

      Too much emphasis on the match up problem but they’re 23-24 so Rafa was winning half of their matches so how’s that a match up problem? To me as long as Rafa hit with depth and serves well, he is at least on par with Novak, i dont think Novak would have any edge except his ROS.

      Novak always has an edge in BO3 because he’s the one who starts the match all guns blazing. Rafa OTOH needs time to get his rhythm and so he has to play catch up all the time. Once Novak moves ahead in a BO3, its difficult for Rafa to overtake him, eg MC2013 final for examole. Novak caught Rafa by surprise in the first set, and Rafa only tried catching up in the second set but was too late even though he pushed the second set to 7-5. This is something similar with Fed and Novak on a fast HC, Fed gets the upperhand and never allows Novak back.

      Look at their BO5 matches; after AO2012, its Rafa who came out all guns blazing – FO2012/2013 and USO2013- and got the upperhand and Novak had to give chase. Novak in 2011 was the more aggressive one at their slam meetings hence he had the upperhand.

      The current Rafa is not up to that 2013 level hitting more short balls hence Novak was able to pounce on them; not only Novak, Rafa even had difficulties against Kuznetsov!

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      • Exactly.

        I was at the SF Montreal match and Rafa took the initiative in the first set and Nole was slow to start.

        Tennis at the highest level is 50% mental.

        For me a 34 yr old Fed is the barometer for what is required to compete with today’s Nole and a 2013 Rafa could beat this Fedi (matchup issues aside).

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  6. Another thing from the Doha final was how damn well Djokovic was hitting half-volleys from the baseline! We are talking about depth but there were moments when rafa hit the perfect length and Novak just timed his half volleys so well that rafa was not able to draw a short ball. Djokovic really was in the zone that day and the conditions helped him too. Tennis is a game of small margins though. With small improvements, rafa can make many more inroads and put pressure. It will be more competitive when they meet the next time.

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    • I do agree that Novak was handling the body serve very well. I think that might have surprised Rafa. That’s usually been an effective shot for him, but I think lucky is right about Rafa trying to go down the tee with his serves more often.

      It’s all hypothetical and there is no definitive way to know if the 2013 Rafa would beat this Novak. Novak has improved his serve quite a bit and his volleying has gotten better. That may well be the influence of BB.

      Novak has not rested on his laurels. He has continued to work on his game. When he was struggling with his serve in 2013 and it cost him dearly against Rafa, he did something during the off season because in 2015 he served so much better. More aces, strong first and second serves. He stopped double faulting in the crucial moments of matches. So when there is a weakness, Novak seems to go back the drawing board.

      I hope that Rafa and his team are doing the same.

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  7. Novak said after their WTF match that he flattens his groundstrokes a lot more against rafa. It is evident too and the numbers confirmed it in the final in DOha. He was hitting his forehand about 6-7 kmh faster than his tournament average.

    If rafa can somehow turn the tables against Novak, his greatness will know no bounds then.

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    • Rafa turn the table against Novak? How deluded are you? Djoker has won 9 of their last 10 and is pulling away from Rafa. The matches are becoming more and more one sided. They are not even close.

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      • Why deluded? Do remember its during 2015 that Rafa suffered a first loss at the slams to Novak after 2012 AO. Rafa was 7-6 vs Novak from 2012-2014. Novak got the upperhand again from 2015 onwards due to Rafa’s poor form and lacking in confidence.

        Their H2H wont be as lopsided as Fed vs Rafa. Rafa CAN beat Novak again that I’m SURE!

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    • I didn’t know that about Novak hitting so much flatter and with more speed. It is also obvious that Rafa’s topspin doesn’t bother Novak at all.

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      • Rafa’s topspin doesnt work well on the HCs. Yes Novak increased his pace of shots when facing Rafa. Rafa’s team should know by now (even we know too) that Novak always up his level in the final so how he plays in the earlier rounds is not indicative of how he plays in the final.

        Rafa needs his FH/BH working well both CC and DTL, varies his serves and varies his ROS positions the way he did against Raonic at Abu Dhabi.

        To me, Rafa simply lacks confidence when facing Novak, not being able to implement his little changes he works so hard for, eg BHDTL, hitting with depth and then came forward ( the way he did vs Murray and Stan at WTF). What I saw was a Rafa playing the same old game when he faced Novak, at WTF and at Doha, despite playing well at WTF, Abu Dhabi.

        Once he faced someone who could take the ball early he ran into troubles – Ferrer and Novak at WTF; Ferrer at Abu Dhabi and Kuznetsov at Doha, its just like Rafa facing Davydenko who took the ball so early and giving Rafa so much problems on the HCs. This is something he needs to overcome. How? By being aggressive at the get go and hitting with more depth, this is something Rafa has to work seriously hard at, if not he will keep coming out short against Novak.

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        • Agree with Lucky.

          Part (not all) of the reason Nole averaged higher speed on his shots was that Rafa on average hit short enabling Nole to take greater cuts at the ball whereas in earlier rounds against lower ranked oppponents , that wasn’t the case.

          Rafa was less aggressive against Nole than other players were, and less aggressive than he was in earlier rounds, even less aggressive that he’d been against Nole at the WTFs.

          Don’t get me wrong, Nole was great but Rafa to a large extent allowed it.

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        • I well remember how Davy in his prime gave Rafa fits. He always had trouble with him. Isn’t Davy one of the players who has a winning H2H against Rafa? It’s that style of play that seems to give Rafa so much trouble. Taking time away from Rafa is the key.

          It looked like Rafa was taking the ball early in the matches leading up to the final. But for a while at least, Kuznetsov showed how it’s done.

          Rafa started out the right way against Novak, but couldn’t convert two break points. I thought he was primed to make it a match. But Novak just took over from there.

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          • Rafa wasnt up to the mark yet. If he was and played his aggressive game throughout the match,he could turn the table against Novak.

            Rafa’s aggressive game is the most difficult to beat, I’m sure both Fed and Novak have suffered under Rafa’s aggressive game esp at the slams.

  8. I remember hearing the same thing after Rafa lost for the seventh time in a row to Novak at the 2012 AO. Oh, Rafa would never beat Novak again, was done, it was over, etc.

    I have learned never to say never when it comes to this sport.

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  9. I think both sides provide very good arguments in support of their respective opinions. I admit I am torn between these two opinions and could not decide who is more right.

    But I do agree with nny that it is only hypothetical to say the 2013 Rafa would beat 2015 Nole…there are pros and cons as you all elaborated very well…However, I am more interested in what this 2016 version of Rafa needs to do/improve/change in order to beat Nole…My humble opinion is that Rafa of 2015/2016 has become significantly slower than Rafa of 2013 and he most likely may never be as fast as he used to be…I tend to think it’s due to his injuries combined with aging but also on top of it the confidence issue plays it’s part…

    It’s good to see Toni and the rest of the team working on improving Rafa’s current game… I always thought Rafa can not significantly alter his game…but in order to compensate for the loss in speed he must shorten points, the long baseline rallies just do him no good and will take him nowhere…I agree that as his confidence grows he will become more agressive but Novak knows it and he is expecting it! I think that’s the reason why Novak played perfect in this Doha final being so focused and agressive and not allowing Rafa do any of his improvements…it was mainly because Novak fears once Rafa gets back into a groove (and there were certain indications in the manner Rafa dealt with Milos in that Abu Dhabi finals) he will be difficult to stop…

    so, again I really think Rafa can only go up from here…he is more trustful of his own game and his court positioning has improved…I wish he implements the body serve more often against players other than Novak, because it’s such an advantage for Rafa if he can afford more easy points…The AO will be a clear indication of where Rafa stands atm..

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  11. Just like me and Lucky said, Jon and Jordan get it…

    Catching part of the match between Djokovic and Nadal led me to believe it was more indicative of Nadal’s level than Djokovic’s. I was amazed to see so many points where Nadal’s ball landed inside the service box four or five times in a row. Along with serves landing halfway inside the service box, that is going to be recipe for disaster against most top players. It brought me back to when Nadal was first winning on clay and hadn’t transitioned to hard court. I think he’s got a long way to go to start challenging for titles again.
    —Jordan, Madison, Wis.

    • I recently heard a commentator refer to Nadal’s 2015 crisis of confidence and say something to the effect of, “We need to think of it as an injury and now it’s healing and he’s coming back.” It’s an interesting perspective but probably too simplistic. This is a not knee injury that takes time to heal where there’s a predictable trajectory to the convalescence. (By July, you should have full range of motion.) An absence of self-belief is much more delicate. Even last fall, there were days when Nadal played like the Nadal the World Beater, positioning inside the court, whipping the forehand, moving with the authority. There were other times when he played defensive, risk-averse tennis. His deep court positioning and the shallow placement of his balls—like ballistic tests—offered evidence. He was particularly passive against Djokovic, to whom he’s now lost five straight matches and 11 straight sets, none worse than last week’s Doha dustup. The good news about confidence: it not only comes and goes, karma chameleon-style; it self-perpetuates. A few courageous wins, a few matches played with conviction and self-belief returns. If you’re a Nadal fan or team member, this should be a great hope, comfort even.

    http://www.si.com/tennis/2016/01/13/mailbag-australian-open-murray-federer-djokovic

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  12. I do believe Rafa’s confidence will come back when he wins a slam, and that’s why I really want him to avoid Novak totally until he wins a slam. IMO, Rafa is good enough to beat anyone except Novak to win a slam. Once Rafa is confident he can then play his aggressive game against Novak especially, just like Montreal and USO2013. Rafa said it himself, he needs to be confident with his own game in order to play aggressive tennis. Rafa’s aggressive tennis is hard to beat by anyone, the top four included.

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  13. Oh, I guess that I get it too! 🙂

    I think those comments posted pretty much reflect what some of us here have been saying for a while.

    The first comment from Jordan was interesting in that he said that the Doha final was more an indication of Rafa’s level and not Novak’s. I say interesting because Rafa’s comments post-match kind of said otherwise. He felt that Novak was at such a level that he could not be beaten. I said at one point after the match that I don’t think Novak reinvented the wheel in that match. I think that Rafa was far too predictable, defensive and didn’t hit his shots with enough length to do any damage.

    The second comment seemed more optimistic. I also liked the analysis of what happens when a player loses that self-belief. That it’s not like a specific physical injury. I appreciate the last two sentences. That is my hope for Rafa.

    I do think lucky makes a good point that Rafa’s confidence will return when he wins a slam. That’s what would really make the difference for him. I am just not sure how Rafa avoids Novak until he wins another slam. That might be problematic.

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  14. The transcript of Rafa’s pre-tournament press conference on January 16:
    http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2016-01-15/rafael_nadal_160116.html

    (Excerpts)
    ¤¤ Q. How are conditions of play this year? Same as last year, faster, slower?
    RAFAEL NADAL: It’s not fast, not slow. It’s not unbelievable fast. But I think the outside courts are faster. I played in Margaret, Hisense and Rod Laver. The courts are not slow. A little bit faster. But okay, not bad. Good feelings.
    …
    Q. What do you remember from being a young player having to learn English? What challenges did that present you when you were younger doing interviews, on-court presentations?
    RAFAEL NADAL: For me was much more fun before. I don’t care about what I was saying. I only had a few words, that’s it (smiling).
    …
    Q. So it was fun not knowing English?
    RAFAEL NADAL: Was good fun but was not good. ¤¤
    🙂

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  15. augusta, thanks for posting the video of Rafa’s presser. I’m glad that Rafa pointed out that Djoker has been able to play and practice without any time out with injury whilst Rafa has had about a year out in the last 3 years and has had to build up his confidence and rhythm again.

    I am just hoping that Rafa wins a big title soon to stop all the noise.

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  18. Rafa Nadal: “I am not afraid of my expiration date”

    “Success is a very relative thing. A person can be successful externally, that is to succeed in life from a superficial point of view. The real success is personal happiness. If you can have a lot of money, if you get to be the number one in anything that you propose yourself, but if you’re really not happy in your personal life…”

    http://www.elespanol.com/deportes/20160120/95990463_0.html

    Rafa is the most successful player of all time IMO because of this. (He’s said same before.)

    Vamos Rafa!
    No matter what.

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    • Good for Rafa. Rafa really needs more match plays to get all the changes and all the balances right. Once he masters those he will be back to his awesome self I’m sure. As long as his heart is there, he will get there and soon.

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      • After seeing Novak’s and then Stan’s awful performances, at least we know Rafa was not the only one who played badly, its just that he had the bad luck of the draw. Give him the R1 opponent of any of the top guys and he’ll still be playing in the AO now.

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  20. Good thing is Rafa will still be No 5 after AO unless Berdy or Kei wins it all which wont happen. He has chance to pick points up as he may mostly play 2 clay tourneys in Feb.750 points up for grab.

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