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

44 Comments on Rafael Nadal

  1. Lucky: Thanks for the detailed response. I didnt appreciate you were referring to peaking on hard courts. I think the tailing off in the Autumn was understandable. As you’ve said before, keeping up the level of intensity month after month is nigh impossible these days and I guess he was pretty spent after his heroic efforts so it was no real surprise autumn 2014 was no different from previous years particularly as indoor H/C has been his least good surface . I just wish he had been able to pull off the WTF but by that time Nole had the bit between his teeth.

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    • No different than previous years in terms of winning titles perhaps, but going deep often even into finals was remarkable on his come-back year.

      Reply

  4. Tennis World, 05 Apr 2014: ¤¤ Rafael Nadal has been voted favorite drinking buddy in Spain.
    World number one tennis player Rafael Nadal has once again been chosen as the sportsman most Spaniards would like to drink beer with. The 13-time Grand Slam winner has won this competition for the fourth straight year.
    Nadal easily beat Real Madrid goal keeper keeper [and the captain of the Spanish national football /soccer/ team] Iker Casillas and Formula One driver Fernando Alonso as they got second and third position respectively.
    Madison Market Research conducted the survey called ‘Who would like to have a beer with?’ on behalf of Spanish brewers association Cerveceros de España, with 2000 people participating in online interview. ¤¤
    http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Rafael-Nadal-has-been-voted-favorite-drinking-buddy-in-Spain–articolo17121.html

    🙂

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  5. It is nice to read Lucky’s optimistic posts. But till I see Rafa winning against Nole, I am not keeping my hopes high. The Miami match was a shocker. Rafa had nowhere to go.
    Maybe on clay, Nole’s serve and return will not be so effective because there will be more time to react but Rafa still has to show that he can counter Nole’s attack on his forehand and backhand making the fearsome forehand appear almost innocuous. It is easy for armchair specialists to say Rafa can win if he is more aggressive. I am sure smart Rafa knows this too. The problem is with execution. Why is Rafa not able to execute? Clearly Nole is not allowing him to. To say that Rafa is not aggressive because he is not confident is begging the question why is Rafa not confident?
    I am sure Rafa fans here would be upset with me but I am upset with Rafa’s performance at AO and Miami.
    Last year when nobody thought Rafa would win USO, I predicted it way before he won Canada and in fact soon after he crashed out in Wimbly first round. So I am normally optimistic. But my optimism is based on my observations and after watching Miami, I need to see something better to make me feel Rafa has answers to Nole.

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    • Hang in there @holdserve19, Rafa is working hard to find the answers to Nole. What gives me hope is his current demeanor vs his demeanor post 2011 Nole. After 2011, Rafa seemed beaten both on and off the court. Post Miami, he was beaten on court but off court he looked relaxed.

      At AO, Rafa was beset by a back injury during the final, nothing he could do about that. At Miami he was beaten by the better player, Novak. At Miami, it was clear Novak worked on a strategy to beat Rafa, just as Rafa worked on a strategy to beat Novak post 2011. This is how it goes with these 2, ebbs and flows. The ball is now in Rafa’s court, he has to find a strategy to beat the new Novak. Makes for excitement in the game, love it!

      Novak out-played Rafa in Miami, fair and square, let’s see how Rafa responds.

      This new Novak is important for Rafa, we know Rafa loves a challenge.

      As far as the clay season is concerned, the other thing with makes me optimistic is this: Rafa has only one challenger on the clay, Novak; Novak has Rafa, Dimitrov, Wawa, Fed, even Berdy as challengers on clay. Rafa only has to focus on a strategy to beat one guy, Novak has to work on strategies to beat multiple guys.

      Vamos Clay season!

      Reply

      • rafaisthebest@April 6, 2014 at 9:16 am
        I remind you what Rafa said. I repeat what nadline28 quoted in another thread.

        “I had to deal with a back problem after the Australian Open and it made it difficult to recuperate,” declared the Spaniard. “In Rio, I didn’t have a good tennis level, I played with quite a bit of pain and I managed to win. Then, I received a treatment that allowed me to train but without serving. In Indian Wells, I played without serving correctly so I quickly lost. In Miami, it could have been the same story, but that was not the case. Lleyton Hewitt and Denis Istomen gave me rhythm. Milos Raonic didn’t and a semi-final against Berdych could have made me reach the optimal level in order to better address the final against Djokovic.”
        [By Amandine Reymond, 03/04/2014, translated by Moondancer on VB]
        http://www.eurosport.fr/tennis/atp-tour/2014/rafael-nadal-a-quand-meme-aime-miami_sto4198719/story.shtml

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      • Yes, thank you @augusta08, no use crying over spilt milk, Rafa lost to Novak. I hope Rafa gets a good draw in MC and quickly gets into his stride. Good thing is he is fully fit unlike last year when he was clearly hobbling during the clay season. I expect him to rise to a higher level this year.

        Vamos!

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      • RITB, he does seem more positive . From his responses post AO, it seems he wasn’t expecting too much of himself at Rio, IW or Miami and he is happy he did as well as he did. But I will continue to worry till I see him beat Nole.

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    • Simple, it’s slow HCs. If Rafa chose to defend more than he attack, then he’s giving Novak all the opportunities to beat him, because on the slow HCs, Novak could both attack and defend well. In fact I feel no one could defend better than Novak on the slow HCs. I feel too that not even peak Fed could beat Novak often on slow HCs. Why would Rafa feel confident facing Novak the king of slow HC, when he had so much problem beating Raonic on a slow HC? I feel his confidence was dented by that close shave!

      I was more disappointed about his two losses to Novak at end of last year, when he had the winning momentum with him. Why would he revert back to defensive court position on the quick HCs of Beijing and Shanghai and the indoor HCs I really don’t understand. The way he was so soundly beaten by Delpo at Shanghai and Ferrer at Paris too! It’s as if once he got to the no.1 ranking, he began to relax a bit and reverted back to his old way of playing on the HCs.

      His aggressive game, IMO, was good enough to counter Novak’s aggressive game on the HCs, at least he won’t be giving Novak the chances to step inside the court to control points. He was giving too much space for Novak to work with at Miami, and it’s not only Miami; even at MC or Madrid or Rome on clay as long as Rafa continues to play defensive game, he’ll most likely lose to Novak.

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      • Strange comment. So, other players were not tired? If he was tired, all the more he should finish his matches ASAP, so he should attack more and not running himself ragged defending from so far behind the baseline! I thought he would have learned something from the Beijing loss, and changed the way he played at Shanghai, at least a little bit less defensive. Still, at Shanghai, nothing happened, still the same tactics. And then we had Paris, and looked what little fella Ferrer did to him! Ferrer was even more aggressive than Rafa and Rafa looked totally lost out there; it’s the same story at the WTF! So, Rafa’s energy level was just good for two third of a season, ie about 60+ matches! May be Rafa should learn something from Ferrer, Ferrer at least knows that he’s not going to defend and defend all the time as he’s not getting any younger, and so Ferrer would play more aggressively, moves up the court and tries to attack more. Rafa, when tired, still prefers to run and run so far behind the baseline, and allows even a retriever type player like Ferrer to pushed him all over the place! Rafa certainly didn’t play like the no.1 player in the world back then, at least the no.2 player played his best tennis when facing the no1 player; the no.1 player OTOH played like he’s a lower ranked player! I was disappointed in Rafa back then, it’s not because he lost, it’s the way he lost! He lost so meekly to Novak, Delpo and even Ferrer!

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      • Surely the cyclical effect of the ‘hunter v. hunted’ applies to most, if not all, the current top players. True Rafa seemed to take his foot off the pedal post USO but hasn’t the tendency to tread water in the fall season been the pattern for most of his career?

        In 2013 it was more understandable than normal he should run out of steam and/or motivation after the herculean efforts and emotional see-saw of his comeback year.

        What is noticeable is the ability to change his game plan mid-match when needed seems to have diminished. This used to be one of his great strengths.

        .

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      • Yes I’m sure Rafa wishes he could swap with Ferru. Hilarious.

        Look, Novak Djokovic in my opinion (I repeat, in MY opinion) had the best most impressivistic greatasticest season of all time in 2011 yet he did nothing after the US Open.

        We must look at the big picture and not get hung up on a bad spell. Rafa is a cyclical player. Always has been, always will.

        Greatest player of the history, no?

        #VamosRafaNoMatterWhat

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      • No need to be sarcastic hawkeye. Rafa is humble enough to learn from anyone if he thinks that may help in his tennis. He observed and learned how Murray does his serves, and at one stage Toni made him learn how to hit a flatter forehand like Fed does and finishes the follow through across his body instead of over his head. Like i said before, he should learn his ROS and court positioning by observing how Murray plays, ie how Murray moves up to the baseline and even inside the court to return serves after reading his opponent’s serves, and how Murray takes a more neutral position at the baseline to have enough time to cover both wings when under attack; while Rafa always leaves his forehand side of his court wide open for attack and used to camp at his backhand corner. Certainly he could learn a thing or two after being badly beaten by Ferrer at the Paris Masters last year!.

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      • Not forgetting Novak had injured his back during USO in 2011 and so had to skip the Asian swing; who knows how much more damage he could have caused if not for that back injury? Rafa didnt suffer any injury during and after USO last year, did he? Its not a matter of bad spell or not, its a matter of him losing so meekly, to not only Novak but Ferrer and Delpo!

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      • luckystar@April 9, 2014 at 6:06 am
        —Rafa didnt suffer any injury during and after USO last year, did he?—

        Rafa has had PERMANENT knee problems. Last year, he still suffered from Hoffa’s syndrome in his left knee. He didn’t wear tape below the knee during the second half of the year because it was useless – it didn’t help him.

        Rafa in the beginning of this year: “It is true that (in 2013) I played a lot of days with anti-inflammatories.” [Source. Sport24,2013-12-30]

        Reply

      • I dont think Rafa was still having Hoffa’s Syndrome on his left knee during late 2013. I thought he had that healed before coming back in Feb last year? I think its more his usual tendinitis problem. Again its puzzling that Rafa stick with his defensive play and had to run more even with tendonitis problems. Old habits die hard.

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      • luckystar@April 9, 2014 at 8:02 am

        Rafa’s tendons above the knee cap have healed. PRP (platelet-rich plasma ) theraphy has really helped him.
        But, PRP treatment hasn’t helped reduce pain below/behind the knee cap – i.e. to heal Hoffa’s disease. In December, he tried stem cell treatment and he was quite optimistic after that.

        Reply

      • “Strange comment. So, other players were not tired? If he was tired, all the more he should finish his matches ASAP, so he should attack more and not running himself ragged defending from so far behind the baseline!”

        Well @Lucky, that is why he ends the season so tired compared to the others: he has not been finishing his matches ASAP! Simple, really.

        Of course, if he adopts your prescription he will not end the season as tired as he has been doing. And I think we have seen signs Rafa is becoming more aggressive, even his competitors, like Djokovic, have said as much.

        Reply

    • jpacnw,

      Thanks for this picture of Rafa cleaning up after practice! Nice to know that he is out there practicing to get into his best form for clay!

      Reply

  10. Have I got tunnel vision, but I don’t see any thing on the internet on tennis sites or otherwise, even in the media about extra curricular activities that other top tennis stars get up to but Rafa’s every move is reported all over the place and I am not talking about fan sites.

    Reply

  13. I am trying very, very hard to wrap my head around this:

    Nadal, who has the best winning percentage on clay (.934), is two victories away from becoming the 11th player in the Open Era to win at least 300 matches on the surface. Guillermo Vilas owns the most clay victories with 644. Nadal has 43 clay court title to Vilas’s 46.

    http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2014/04/15/April-Preview-Nadal.aspx

    Vilas had to play (and win) twice as many matches as Rafa to win actual titles.

    Stupendous!

    Someon has to write a book on Rafa’s clay court prowess, it’s ridiculous……..

    Reply

  14. Comparing Vilas to Rafa on clay is like comparing apples to oranges. Vilas won 2 clay slam titles – RG and the USO (yes, the USO was on clay once.) His other wins are Buenos Aires (8), Kitzbutel (4), Washington, Louisville (3) M. Carlo, Sth Orange, Gstaad, Munich, Terhan, Hilversum (2), then once in Madrid, Rome, Paris, Boston, Delray Beach, Houston, Cairo, Mar Del Plata, Palermo, Aix en Provence, Hamburg, Santiago, Bogota and Columbus.

    It’s impossible to compare different eras.

    Reply

    • That link mentions Vilas’ success rate on clay (the most played surface in his time): 69%, while Rafa’s is 93%. No comparison.

      And as you point out, nadline, Rafa played much more often in the main tournaments (slams and today’s ‘ATP1000s’).

      Reply

  16. Via Rafael Nadal Fans.

    Rafael Nadal is the most famous Spanish athlete in the world.
    According to a survey conducted by market research firm Personality Media, Rafa is the best known Spanish athlete in the world, ahead of Fernando Alonso (Formula One racing driver), Iker Casillas (the captain of the Spanish national football /soccer/ team) and Pau Gasol (a professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA)
    Rafa leads the popularity contest by an average of 75% of votes in 12 countries surveyed: USA, Australia, Russia, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.
    http://rafaelnadalfans.com/2014/04/08/rafael-nadal-is-the-most-famous-spanish-athlete-in-the-world/

    Reply

  17. Yes I agree with luckystar about feeling disappointed with the manner of Rafa’s losses. His three losses to Novak post USO are really disappointing. Novak adopted new strategy but Rafa failed to find an answer even till Miami? I would like to think he is reserving his new tactics for the clay season so as not to show his hand too early. But I am afraid it is wishful thinking. If he was reconciled to losing to Novak why did he not at least try aggressive tactics? He would at worst have still lost in straight sets.
    The ever present fear in my mind is Is Rafa still carrying the back problem? He had said it had surfaced pre-USO. Is it the explanation for his tame showings?

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  20. Yep, it seems that his ability to change his game plan mid match has somewhat diminished, at least a little bit. Perhaps playing with too much mental focus has caused him to have some mental burnout, that sometimes he isn’t able to think clearly out there. It looks like as he grows older, he needs even longer time between points to think, and so he’s adding on all those fidgeting before each point, be it when he serves or receiving serves. Those fidgeting are also to calm his nerves before each point.

    In the past it’s his serving that may cause him problems but it seems that lately it’s his ROS that’s giving him so much problems. It seems that he’s mistiming his returns so frequently these days, either over hits, or hits into the net. What’s wrong with him, with so many missed chances on the BPs? Is he getting slower now as he is approaching 28, like Fed was shanking his shots when he’s a step or two slower since 2008?

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    • lucky,

      I agree with your thoughts here. I can deal with Rafa’s losses, if not then I couldn’t keep watching him. But at Beijing and WTF and now at Miami it was the way he lost, not merely the fact that he lost. Reverting to his old defensive stance way behind the baseline and allowing Novak to dictate the points and get the better court position.

      You just may be on to something in saying that this could be some kind of mental burnout at times. I couldn’t be too upset with him losing in the latter months of 2013 after the great comeback he had. I thought that maybe it all caught up with him. It’s true that he didn’t play a full year, what with missing the AO and then skipping Miami and crashing out early in Wimbledon. But he was coming back from seven months off, so all those great wins were still amazing.

      Rafa has been such a great fighter. That’s why it’s hard to see him lose in that way to Novak.

      Reply

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