It was one of those boring days between Christmas and New Years I sat myself down and rewatched the Wimbledon mens finals of 2008 and 2009 ! Having only ever watched each final live, it was great to sit down with a critical eye and watch the gameplay without any of the emotion . What struck me in the famous 5 set 2008 final was Rafael Nadal, he hit the ball so hard and so deep, wereas Federer on the other hand was so bad. Sure he had patches of play were he dominated the Majorcan, but for the rain delay Nadal could have had the trophy sewn up in 3. Rafael played phenomenally, I have never seen him play as well. He was simply ferocious with the topsping forehand and incessant hitting to Rogers backhand, it was awesome to watch. I would recommend all tennis fans go buy it and watch a great performance.
Between July 2008 and then, Nadal has won the Olympic Games in Beijing and won another marvellous 5 set Aussie Open final 2009, however having dominated last years clay season, his game was picked apart by Robin Soderling. If the truth be told we havent seen a shadow of the Nadal we know. His enforced layoff with tendonitis of the knee shattered Rafas confidence and left him seriously lacking in match practice when he did return to the tour in late summer. But for his early season form, he may not have made the end of season Masters Cup in Londom but in hindsight I suppose Rafa wished he never went to London. He played 6 sets and lost them all, his game lacking that top end zipp that had every opponent quaking in their boots. This season hasnt been great either, I predicted that Nadal would beat Murray in the AO but clearly suffering with his knee problems still, he eventually retired at the start of the third.
I am a great admirer of the Spaniard, hes similar to every weekend warrior out there. Sure who has a beautiful one handed backhand like Roger or a delicate drop shot a la Murray? Not many of us, but they quality that is most admirable about Rafa,isthe guy is a street fighter he never gives in and plays to his strenghts even if that is running after every ball inches from the back court. It is in Rafa’s style of play that has seen him suffer so many problems, because his play is so attritional Rafa takes so much out of his body every time he plays. His knees have been the problem for some time now, who knows will he ever rediscover the level of 2008 when de destroyed albeit a Federer not close to the top of his game? The answer is probably no. Since Australia we havent seen Rafa and once again it is his knees that have kept him out.
So it appears unlikely that Nadal can dominate as he has before. But the question still remains, how does Nadal re-analyse his career goals? Does he go flat out on the surface he loves and win Roland Garros again with the risk of a career ending injury or does he pick and chose the most important events ?( a la Ledley King of Spurs). If Nadal was to change his style, we would loose what we like most about Nadal, his emotion, charisma and his never say die attitude on court. A more conservative Nadal say in last years French would see the hard/flat baseliners run him ragged around the court which wouldnt do the longevity of his career any good. Prior to the start of this season Nadal was pictured on the magic carpet in Doha with Federer. The guy had clearly lost weight and many presumed that this was to reduce the wear and tear on his joints. Nadal denied this, but the photos speak for themselves. Maybe he is trying to reduce the strain through his knees and kick start his career. From now on I think we will see Nadal becoming more aggressive and winning points earlier to reduce that strain on his body. The lower tier ATP 250 events will also be scored off the timetable in favour of Masters 1000 and of course the Grandslams! Surely it must now be time to prioritise.
I for one along with tennis fans everywhere would love to see Rafa and Roger renew their rivalry this summer, Andy, Nole and Delpo dont cut it with me just yet!












