After his Monte Carlo loss to David Ferrer, he now lost in three sets to Almagro in Barcelona... Think he has a mental problem... has lost confidence...
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Regards, Phil -
Anybody else cheering he is losing to fellow spaniards? Maybe they started using the same stuff he is. Imo. -
That Ferrer loss in Monte Carlo sent a ripple of belief to all other players in the locker room. There is a small chink in the armor and the Tour players are now foaming at mouth like Pavlov's dog trying to seize the opportunity.
I watched the match. Nadal was hitting many short balls. Credit to Almagro for going after his shots.
With that said, how significant will these losses be if Nadal still ends up winning the French Open? At this point in his career, will winning Monte Carlo or Barcelona again change his career. At this point in Nadal's tennis life, the only thing that matters are grand slams. Same goes for Federer.
If Nadal loses to someone at the French Open that he probably shouldn't (Anyone but Djokovic) then I'll start believing the decline. But until then...e'll have to wait and see.
In completely unrelated and insignificant news, Tomas Berdych received a wildcard for the Portugal Open in Estoril. Good move for Tomas to get some clay court wins under his belt and perhaps a title going into Roland Garros.
Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca RatonComment
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It's a dip, nothing more...
I'll second Klacr's theory. It's a dip in form...so what. It's better not to have a punishing clay court season and have nothing left for Wimbledon, anyway. If he loses at the French to anyone other than Djokovic, I would be very surprised.StottyComment
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Could it be that as he ages he no longer is able to run around his backhand as aggressively as he has done as a young man?
His forehand is one of the best shots in tennis history -- his backhand is mediocre at best and I consider it a liability.
If someone had the time, I would ask them to chart the percentage of backhands Nadal hit a few years ago to the percentage he hits now. I would be willing to bet that he he has to hit a higher percentage of backhands now.
He's never had a good down the line backhand like Djokovic, Murray, or Nalbandian. Essentially, he plays defensively off his backhand hoping that he can get a forehand on the next ball. His slice as discussed on another thread is totally defensive.Comment
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His bh has a lot less rpms than his fh, on topspin shots. He can tag it, but he's hitting too many short balls, which Almagro had the guts to go after full throttle. A win born of courage.Comment
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When's the last time he taggged a down the line backhand?Comment
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Not as bad as many think...
He is showing no signs of slowing up as far as I can see. If anything he is quicker since his seven month layoff.
His backhand could be looked at as mediocre compared with the backhands Djokovic and Murray, but it's more a case of their's being so good than Nadal's being so bad. Compared to many on the tour, his backhand stands up pretty well, certainly no worse.
To date, Djokovic has been the only one who can box him in and give him awkward enough backhands to make it count.
What I like about Djokovic is he so balanced off both wings. He's not lopsided like Nadal and Federer. Much has been made of running round backhands to hit forehands over the last ten years and indeed many coaches base their coaching philosophy around it. Djokovic doesn't need to. He can devastate off both wings. I like that. I think it's better.Last edited by stotty; 04-26-2014, 01:18 AM.StottyComment
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Well, he has not had such a bad start in the clay court season since I can remember...Regards, PhilComment
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Almagro's backhand in that match looked a lot like Wawrinka's has looked in his big wins. Almagro really hurt Nadal with his one handed backhand, and looked very comfortable doing it. It was the best match I think I have ever seen him play. And he probably has the best serve among all the Spaniards, except maybe Feliciano Lopez.Comment
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Almagro is usually near the top for aces, close to fed. He is at 7.63 aces/match, while fed is at 7.33/match. 04/21/14
Last year he was at 622 aces/65 matches, at 9.57 aces/match.Last edited by GeoffWilliams; 04-26-2014, 07:00 AM.Comment
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And now Almagro loses in two sets against Santiago Giraldo...Regards, PhilComment
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Another hangover? Nishikori beats Giraldo 6-2 6-1 (Just kidding, Nishikori plays great tennis. He can go very far in Roland Garros...)Regards, PhilComment
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[QUOTE=gzhpcu;26646]Another hangover? Nishikori beats Giraldo 6-2 6-1 (Just kidding, Nishikori plays great tennis. He can go very far in Roland Garros...)[/QUOTE
No doubt, Nishikori is very solid off both sides, great movement even by the very high standard out there, and takes the ball pretty early off both sides.Last edited by stroke; 04-28-2014, 02:10 AM.Comment
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