That's another thing. I guess this merits its separate thread but I'll post it here for now:
There's a trend in which he's blowing leads, not capitalizing on moment, losing tight matches/tie-breaks/etc...
Now, most of us just use broad and general terms like "that's normal when you're not confident" and cliches like "winning is a habit." Sure, both are accurate, but how do you regain your confidence? The answer for most is "winning."
But the question, how the hell do you win? And that's where we have to look at specific aspects of tennis, instead of generalities. Yes, everyone understands injuries, confidence, loss of form, age, etc... have affected Nadal. This isn't news.
But if you're going to approach every match/tournament the same way and simply hope that one reverse of fortune gives you something to build on then you could wait a long time, and as I previously mentioned, it's been happening for two years.
Why does Nadal lose these tie-breaks nowadays? And why was he so good at winning them in the past despite never having a great serve? It's because Nadal was the one of the best at raising his intensity and aggression in key moments. Nowadays, he's playing these tie-breaks/key games/key points so tentatively, and more of than not, his opponents, who are trying to make things happen, are succeeding. Pouille didn't play a perfect tie-break. He missed. But he believed in his approach, and kept going for it. He got his reward. I'm not saying it'll work every time. This tie-break could have easily went the other way, but that's not sustainable.
Nadal needs to go for his shots. I'm not even saying go for your forehand earlier in the rally (although I'm sure I actually said that lol), I'm saying go for your shots when you have them lined up. Despite my issues with it this tournament, his cross court forehand is still good enough to set up some situations where he can just unleash the forehand up the line, and he's either taking racket head acceleration off, or avoid going for that shot altogether.
