Mike, you make some good points but for the most part you are full of shit on this issue. Djokovic has beaten Nadal 7 times on clay. Do you seriously think he played perfectly every time? Do you think he never made a mistake in those wins? That is ridiculous. Stop making Nadal out to be some invincible superhuman for Djokovic to overcome.
Moya, Diego, Fed, Novak, Ferrer, Thiem, Fabio and more have beaten Nadal on clay. In FO? Nadal has only lost twice before finals and against Soderling, he was not 100% physically and against Djokovic, in 15, Nadal was coming back from the abyss. In finals? 13-0? Do you think it's a coincidence that Theim fed, novak, ferrer and others have beaten Nadal on lesser tournaments but in FO final, they get beaten handily? Rafa is the greatest clay courter of all time and when he makes finals of RG, he more difficult to beat (exponentially) than in other tournaments. Nadal is not unbeatable but to beat him, is almost impossible, in RG final. The closest i have seen Nadal los at his best was in 2013 semi-finals when Djokovic was at his very very best.... Nadal had to come up with something extra and he did, he started hitting unbelievable forehand winners, down the line and inside out... and edged Djokovic. Djokovic, was at his very best and still lost. The point is, everything has to go perfect - hitting big without missing, good tactics, variety, mental strength, defense and a bit of luck.
Second, my point about serving is not that Djokovic needed to be Kevin Anderson. My point is that he needed to be better than a qualifier. Is it too much to ask the #1 player in the world to serve between 60 and 70% in the first set of a Grand slam final? He served 40% today in the first set. That is abysmal. And there is no excuse for it.
Djokovic wasn't at his best today, that's why score was 0,2... do you think it would've been 0,2 against other players? NO. That's the point, Nadal will destroy you if you don't bring your best and even when you do, you can lose.
The match didn’t even open up until the 3rd set because of how bad Djokovic’s serving was.
and in the 3rd set did you see how well Djokovic was hitting his groundstrokes, hard, deep.... and it still wasn't enough. That's the thing, if you are not at your best, you can lose 0,2.. at your best, still lose. That's Nadal., in RG final.
As for Nadal’s natural offense, you are of course overrating it. If he had the offensive talent you are talking about, he would have a much better overall record at Wimbledon and he would have won more early in his career at the US Open. My own opinion of Nadal shifted 2007 to 2009 with his US Open losses. He was immensely athletic and I was rooting for him against Ferrer and Murray so that a Fed-Nadal final could happen. But then we saw his limitations on full display in those two matches, as we also did against Delpo in 2009.
Nadal has tremendous power and spin but his forehand is a type of shot that needs a little time... clay gives him that time. When he has that extra time, he can generate as much power and spin as anyone... Nadal can also hit many winners on grass and hardcourt, during his US wins, he has won them by hitting many winners... that is just a fact. But on clay cali, he has a bit of extra time to fully uncoil and extend his swing....
just spend a few mins checking this video out, this is insane... Busta is being toyed with here, the power of Nadal is too much. Have you seen nadal cali? I have, in person, at 2017 FO... boy, can he generate power. Watch below so you can fully appreciate what you are facing when you are up against Nadal.
