Is Nadal declining ?

[markus1]

I don't think so. He has recently won RG.. what kind of a decline is that?

 

[Front242]

I don't think so. He has recently won RG.. what kind of a decline is that?

The way he won it. His opponent was puking during the match and they were both in bits physically towards the end. A low quality final. It was there for the taking more than other years along with 2011.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

The psychology part was visible and obvious.

When he lost to somebody from Mallorca in AO 2009, Roger cried; Why, he had
only 13 Slams at that time.

When he lost to JMDP in USO 2009, there was no regret seen from Roger's
post match interview; Why, he had 15 slams at that time. Incidentally,
this was another one of those matches that Roger "should have won".
He was leading and in command and then took the foot off gas.

Federer didn't take his foot off the gas he just starting playing sh!te tennis and got rattled..as del potro shook off the nerves he was displaying and starting dominating the court with his weaponry.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The psychology part was visible and obvious.

When he lost to somebody from Mallorca in AO 2009, Roger cried; Why, he had
only 13 Slams at that time.

When he lost to JMDP in USO 2009, there was no regret seen from Roger's
post match interview; Why, he had 15 slams at that time. Incidentally,
this was another one of those matches that Roger "should have won".
He was leading and in command and then took the foot off gas.

Federer didn't take his foot off the gas he just starting playing sh!te tennis and got rattled..as del potro shook off the nerves he was displaying and starting dominating the court with his weaponry.

JMDP was hitting winners off both wings at over 100 mph and basically Fed was
blown off the court. But, that was the case only in the last two sets. As far as I can
recall, Fed lost the second set tie breaker as he was not aggressive enough.

Anway, this can be considered as a nice gift that Fed gave to JMDP for not
defeating him in RG of that year despite having him on ropes (remember, that is
one of a rare kind of RG).

 

[Kieran]

A very nice gift. Roger is that kinda bloke. He gives them away to deserving causes... :snigger

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

^^yes lol. and del potro does not get enough credit for winning the usopen. the narrative is always about what Federer did or didn't do rather than what del potro did as the match went on.

too many folk decided before that 2009 uso final that Federer would win, and deep into the 2nd set with del potro shanking and slapping nervous shots wide that view still prevailed..and that federers new "green W square could be already inserted into feds Wikipedia career stats at majors section.

when the match was turned on its head..ing a lot to del potro folk couldn't cope with the new reality of Federer not winning and ending up with only a purple F square in wiki.

 

[herios]

In order to declare a decline, it has to be a firm trend, and at this moment it is not.

 

[isabelle]

Now he's injured one more time, it could make him decline more and more especially if he misses USO

 

[nehmeth]

Now he's injured one more time, it could make him decline more and more especially if he misses USO

Rafa's career is one highlighted by peaks and valleys... never because of poor play, but due to injuries. After every injury, he has come back strong and run rough shod over the rest of the players.

I was musing with a friend (off-board), that if he would subtract the total amount of time Rafa didn't play due to injury (13-15 months), his stats would be even more unbelievable than they already are.

Not sure how this most recent injury manifested itself, but even though Ralf has slowed some since 2008, he has also added to his game to compensate for the lost foot speed. I think he's at plateau stage and will probably come back in 2015 hungry and ready to win slams again.

 

[herios]

Now he's injured one more time, it could make him decline more and more especially if he misses USO

Rafa's career is one highlighted by peaks and valleys... never because of poor play, but due to injuries. After every injury, he has come back strong and run rough shod over the rest of the players.

I was musing with a friend (off-board), that if he would subtract the total amount of time Rafa didn't play due to injury (13-15 months), his stats would be even more unbelievable than they already are.

Not sure how this most recent injury manifested itself, but even though Ralf has slowed some since 2008, he has also added to his game to compensate for the lost foot speed. I think he's at plateau stage and will probably come back in 2015 hungry and ready to win slams again.

I agree, only if his 2015 will be worse than his 2014, we could call the "decline"

 

[El Dude]

One thing to consider is that Rafa's Slam results in 2014 are actually better so far than they were in 2013.

2013 vs. 2014
AO: Absent vs. Final
RG: Win vs. Win
Wimb: 1R vs. 4R
USO: W vs. ?

His winning percentage is quite a bit lower, 85% this year compared to 91% last year - so it shows up there.

Since he broke through in 2005, Rafa seems to have two types of years according to win percentage, those in the 88-91% range (2005, 08, 10, 12, 13) and those in the 82-83% range (2006, 07, 09, 11). 2014 (85%) seems to be teetering between the two.

 

[sid]

Seems some are abit quick 2 wright off Rafa & Andy,i look forward to those people eating those words.uzzled

 

[Fiero425]

Seems some are a bit quick to write off Rafa & Andy. I look forward to those people eating those words. uzzled

It's wishful thinking on my part; just some of the ugliest tennis out there! Both Rafa and Andy offend my sensibilities so much with the way they play the game! :nono uzzled :angel:

 

[Moxie]

Seems some are a bit quick to write off Rafa & Andy. I look forward to those people eating those words. uzzled

It's wishful thinking on my part; just some of the ugliest tennis out there! Both Rafa and Andy offend my sensibilities so much with the way they play the game! :nono uzzled :angel:

Fiero, maybe you can explain this to me. I tried to get someone to on the Villains thread, but no one did. What is it that you find so ugly and offensive about their tennis? I'm asking sincerely. Thanks.

 

[Iona16]

Seems some are a bit quick to write off Rafa & Andy. I look forward to those people eating those words. uzzled

It's wishful thinking on my part; just some of the ugliest tennis out there! Both Rafa and Andy offend my sensibilities so much with the way they play the game! :nono uzzled :angel:

Fiero, maybe you can explain this to me. I tried to get someone to on the Villains thread, but no one did. What is it that you find so ugly and offensive about their tennis? I'm asking sincerely. Thanks.

How anybody can find Andy or Rafa's tennis ugly is beyond me. Each to their own I guess.

 

[Fiero425]

Seems some are a bit quick to write off Rafa & Andy. I look forward to those people eating those words. uzzled

It's wishful thinking on my part; just some of the ugliest tennis out there! Both Rafa and Andy offend my sensibilities so much with the way they play the game! :nono uzzled :angel:

Fiero, maybe you can explain this to me. I tried to get someone to on the Villains thread, but no one did. What is it that you find so ugly and offensive about their tennis? I'm asking sincerely. Thanks.

How anybody can find Andy or Rafa's tennis ugly is beyond me. Each to their own I guess.

Easy enough to say! It's what they do to allow absolute nobodies to extend them to the limit; usually playing so defensively! The stroke production is ugly; esp. with Rafa and the way he cocks that stupid forehand! Then there's the backing up like Monica Seles when they're half way to the net on short balls! I could go on, but just thinking about how they play bothers me! There's more style and grace with other players like Federer, Wawrinka, Nole, Gasquet, and of course "Baby-Fed," Dimitrov!

 

[Front242]

Murray's become a lot more aggressive since Lendl came along but before then I'd agree he was defensive and passive as hell. He can veer back into passive mode a lot but then so can Federer. They all deviate from the plan A gameplan at times. Must say though I do find Murray's game style a lot more watchable since Lendl came along. Before that it was very much like Wozniacki and Radwanska pusher tennis, just hoping to make the opponent lose rather than trying to win. Thankfully he doesn't play like that anymore most of the time.

 

[Iona16]

What I love most about Andy is his defensive skills. That's not to say I don't like attacking tennis - I do - but I like watching a match to see Andy win points he had no right winning. I like to see defensive skills in all sports. Watch this point from the Commonwealth Games.

[video=youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ligFhR7c6qI[/video]

 

[Moxie]

Seems some are a bit quick to write off Rafa & Andy. I look forward to those people eating those words. uzzled

It's wishful thinking on my part; just some of the ugliest tennis out there! Both Rafa and Andy offend my sensibilities so much with the way they play the game! :nono uzzled :angel:

Fiero, maybe you can explain this to me. I tried to get someone to on the Villains thread, but no one did. What is it that you find so ugly and offensive about their tennis? I'm asking sincerely. Thanks.

How anybody can find Andy or Rafa's tennis ugly is beyond me. Each to their own I guess.

Easy enough to say! It's what they do to allow absolute nobodies to extend them to the limit; usually playing so defensively! The stroke production is ugly; esp. with Rafa and the way he cocks that stupid forehand! Then there's the backing up like Monica Seles when they're half way to the net on short balls! I could go on, but just thinking about how they play bothers me! There's more style and grace with other players like Federer, Wawrinka, Nole, Gasquet, and of course "Baby-Fed," Dimitrov!

Interesting that you've mentioned 4 of 5 who have 1 handers on the BH side, (though your favorite does not.) But we're discussing aesthetics here, and that is certainly a matter of taste with a lot of people.

I'm not sure what this means: "The stroke production is ugly; esp. with Rafa and the way he cocks that stupid forehand!" It's a pretty effective forehand, both DTL and CC, so I don't suppose it's "stupid." You just don't like the way it looks?

Clearly what you don't like is the cat-and-mouse game that Murray and Nadal like to play. That seems fair enough, since we're talking matters of taste. Though I think they both get credit for intelligent point construction, whether you like that style, or not. It seems you like first strike tennis, but not all the ones you mention control it well. I don't even know that I'd credit Gasquet with that. His game is pretty, but not that effective, at the upper-echelons. And Dimitrov is still learning to handle all of his tools, and his head, so we'll see if he can amalgamate that into a winning formula.

Still, as Iona says, to each his own.

 

[Fiero425]

Murray's become a lot more aggressive since Lendl came along but before then I'd agree he was defensive and passive as hell. He can veer back into passive mode a lot but then so can Federer. They all deviate from the plan A gameplan at times. Must say though I do find Murray's game style a lot more watchable since Lendl came along. Before that it was very much like Wozniacki and Radwanska pusher tennis, just hoping to make the opponent lose rather than trying to win. Thankfully he doesn't play like that anymore most of the time.

The last several years, I have complained about Federer reverting to defensive tennis! It's like he thinks he's 10 years younger and can outlast or wait other players out when he does lose to people we don't even know! He probably should have won that Wimbledon match against Nole, but he thinks he can slug it out with 30 stroke points and it's just not true! He may have a nice showing, but in each match that he loses, esp. if it's close, it's because he becomes passive, being very stubborn and not attacking when he has opportunities! Gasquet's not in the top echelon of the pros, but he has a beautiful game; esp. if "he's on!" :clap :angel: