Nadal and Moya

[brokenshoelace]

I'll take a stab as well. I think the most significant change is the backhand and his court positioning. Moya has drilled into Nadal's head to take the ball early on the backhand. This was evident even starting from clay season in F.O 2017. In the past, you could attack Nadal's backhand and push him back. Now he does a much better job of not retreating, hitting on the rise, and therefore takes time away from his opponent. The DTL backhand is also flattened out more. It used to be more of a elevated spinny shot to set up his forehand previously.

I actually think his forehand has NOT changed significantly for the better. He has hit it better in the past. IMO with age his off-forehand (inside-out) is just not as good/accurate as it used to be. That said, under Moya Rafa does a good job of 1-2 punch. Meaning trying to dispatch a forehand winner after serving.

I'm also NOT a big fan of serving changes under Moya. Yes, they seemingly have changed the action to have it go faster through the air and tried to improve the 2nd serve. But Rafa has not been able to consistently serve well. His AO 2019 serve was nowhere to be seen in RG 2019 for ex. Statistically his AO 2019 did not look any more superior.

I think Fall 2010 was the best ever serve period for Nadal followed by 2013. Nadal's serving since then has never been as good. Let's take some numbers:

2010 UsOpen: Nadal was broken just 5 times in 7 matches. 3 of those were against Novak in the final.

2018 AO: Nadal was broken several times against Schwartzmann and Cillic. With the latter he lost his serve twice in a row.
2018 F.O: Nadal was broken by Bolleli, Marterer and 5 times against Schwartzmann. That's just in 3 matches in a tournament he won..
2018 UsOpen: Khachanov, Basilashvili, Thiem, Del Potro - all broke Nadal and feasted on his serve. Consequently he worked harder than he needed to and got injured.

I think Nadal's serve needs to get better and faster, if possible.. That would help him win matches much easier than he does and maybe he wouldn't get injured and skip entire seasons like he did in 2018 and 2019. He might also be a bigger factor then in non-clay slams.

Nadal's inside out and DTL forehands haven't been the same since 2009. But his rally cross court forehand is much MUCH better now than it was then, and that's more important overall IMO.

 

[imjimmy]

Nadal's inside out and DTL forehands haven't been the same since 2009. But his rally cross court forehand is much MUCH better now than it was then, and that's more important overall IMO.

I don't disagree with that. However, I do think Nadal hit his inside-out forehand better earlier. In 2010, 2013 and prior to that.
These days he plays it relatively safe away from the corners. Whenever he tries to force the issue, he usually ends up pulling it wide or dumping into the net.

This gets Nadal into trouble especially when he runs around his backhand to hit the inside out forehand and is not able to hit an outright winner. The problem is that the whole court is open. The top players usually lean towards their forehand side and hit DTL into the open court and Nadal gets into defensive right away. In the past his i/o forehand just used to be harder and better placed.

Personally, I think there is not much need to run around the backhand any more. His backhand is good enough and he can avoid the running. I don't see much payoff because he is not able to get that kind of penetration from his off-forehand any more - in fact the backhand gets through the court faster.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Okay I probably jumped the gun saying Moya has not done much for Rafa's game,though I still think he should be with Rafa at all GS events,Toni was.I know he has a young family,still he could rearrange his break like Toni did during the year,remember Toni also has young children.Agree with Broken regarding the serve,also being more aggressive,ending points more quickly.Also a good post from Imjimmy,agree with not having to run around the backhand anymore,yes his bhand is good enough,it does get through the court faster,I have seen that in his matches so far at Wimbledon.
Excellent posts from Broken and Imjimmy.

 

[Moxie]

My issue is mainly when the breaks occur, such as during a major. I know Toni didn’t go to IW, Cincinnati, and only occasionally Miami, etc., but he was absolutely there for majors. At least I can’t think of a single one when he wasn’t there. And I get that coaches can’t be there 24/7. But Wimbledon? Come on. Can’t Moya move his family vacation by a week or two? Ultimately I’m thinking like a fan, I realize, but it’s irritating during a tournament of this magnitude that Moya hasn’t been there since becoming his coach.

I take your point about Wimbledon. But I can't imagine this isn't a team decision...if Rafa felt he needed him, wouldn't Moyà be there? I had this thought: Toni was more of a Buddha or guru for Rafa...a family member, a stabilizing factor, a touch-stone, especially when Rafa was young. Carlos is more of an equal. He can actually hit with him and council him vis-à-vis active players in a way that Toni couldn't. Perhaps it is that what Carlos does effectively is more behind-the-scenes. Maybe Rafa doesn't need to see his face in the box, when he has a box full of familiar faces. It's possible that what they communicate can happen over the phone. Rafa is a 33-year-old man, now, and may not need the one rock in the box. But as I pointed out earlier, when his clay season was shaky and his RG was on the line, Toni came to Paris. I think they have served different roles and filled different needs for Rafa.