MELBOURNE – Against Rafa Nadal, it’s always easier said than done. After all, for the past three years, dozens of armchair strategists have offered theories as to how to beat him on clay, and more recently, on grass and at hardcourt majors, too. Co
me in more to net they cry. But Nadal can kiss the back corners from 10 feet off the court and revels in his passing game.
After scoring a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 win over Federer in the Aussie Open final he left Melbourne with an impressive 13-6 record against his tearful foe. Some claim the head to head stat is somewhat deceiving, but it’s really not, unless one is willing to dismiss clay as a surface. Dirt counts as much as grass does and perhaps more, as there are many more tournaments played on clay. Some slow hardcourts are a more neutral, others are super quick. Nadal has proved himself on… everything.
For all the talk of Fed’s anointment as the greatest of all time, it has been the much-improved Nadal who has been the more ambitious and resourceful player over the past 13 months. “Roger can’t be called the greatest ever yet,” said US Davis Cup captain Pat McEnroe.
Since June, Nadal has won three of the last four majors as well as the Olympic gold medal. He torched Federer in the ‘08 French final for his fourth straight crown, stopped Federer’s five title Wimbledon streak in a five-set classic for his first major on grass and then in Melbourne, won his first major on the surface that has troubled himself the most, hard courts, by contesting a near perfect fifth set, committing only two unforced errors to 14 from his worn down foe.
Nearly all by himself, Nadal put a serious dent in the claim that Fed can be called the sport’s most dominant player. If the Swiss does not turn the rivalry around and say, retires with 15 majors but with an 8-18 record against the Spaniard, who will be able to explain away all of his losses to Rafa at the majors?
“I don’t think there is one greatest of all time,” insisted Pete Sampras. “Each generation has their guy: Laver, Borg, myself, Roger, and when it comes to the numbers, Roger could have the most. He dominated the game much more than I ever did. The greatest of all time is an open-ended question. He’s 6-13 against his rival and he has to figure out how to beat this kid. He has the game, but greatest of all time — look at Rafa and what he’s can going to do in his career, he could go on and win all the majors.”
Other legends, such as John McEnroe and Stefan Edberg, have won marathon semis and went on to win Slam finals, but Nadal’s feat, a 5 hour and 14 minute marathon victory over the red hot Fernando Verdasco in the semis, followed up by a 4 hour and 23 minute win over Fed (who BTW went into the last day with a 8-0 record in hard court major finals) owns its own niche in the record books.
“It was the greatest physical achievement in history,” said Justin Gimelstob. “People talk about Wimbledon because of the drama, but you take the level of players and that the surface is so equitable, it was the greatest tennis shotmaking ever. There has never been anything close to that, how they challenged each other to come up with great stuff, until the beginning of the fifth set when there was huge depreciation Federer’s side. It was sick.”
As for Sampras – great champ that he is – he envisions how Fed might go after the Spaniard. He imagines mixing up his serves and suffocating Rafa before he gets a chance to start throwing lefty hooks and clubbing two-handed backhands crosscourt. He thinks of pulling the white lines closer together, making sprinting along the back wall seem like running in place.
“I would try to come in a bit more, especially on my serve — Rafa stays so far back,” Sampras said. “Just serve-volley every now and again to put it at the back of his mind … As soon as Rafa hits the ball to his backhand, he’s in control of the point and it’s tough for Roger to keep up. He came in … less than what I thought he would. He’s close just the way he’s doing it, but he’s frustrated. He’s playing fine, Rafa’s just an animal. The guy can play at a high level for hours. I have tons of respect for that kid.”
Given that Rafa had worn down at the hard court Slams before and had trouble knocking off offensive players at past Aussie and US Opens (think Gonzalez, Tsonga and Murray), Nadal needed to show that he could successfully combine defense and offense. While his core in Melbourne was much the same — kick and slice serves into his foes’ backhands, hammer away with his huge forehand and use his legs to run down even impossible balls — Rafa-watchers noted that his slapping two- handed backhand has become more powerful, he was more sure handed at the net, he changed the direction of his groundies more intelligently, and his one handed slice had improved, as had his use of drop shots.
There is more to beating Nadal than just serve and volleying on occasion. At this point, Fed has to actually believe he has the goods to beat Rafa and in the fifth in Melbourne, he clearly was nervous and lacked the inner fortitude to pull off the win. Hence, his slightly embarrassing waterfall of tears when all the deep emotion poured out after the defeat. “God, it’s killing me,” he blurted to the crowd.
Perhaps the Swiss would be better off smashing a couple of rackets during a match when he gets tight, rather than battling so hard to contain his emotions. A relieved Fed might be more effective launching forehands than contending with a tight right elbow that was jabbing into his ribs.
“I felt for him,” Sampras said. “He was frustrated and he wants it’s so bad and to be at the breaking point — it was affecting him a lot more than I thought. He’s an emotional guy. He internalizes a lot like I did and he hit the breaking point. It caught me off guard but it shows how much he cares and wants it.”
Sampras added that it’s clear that Nadal is in Roger’s head and Jim Courier added that “Rafa believes in a different level than Federer does. Federer only believes in that level against other players.”
Sampras poured it on, saying that Nadal was an “incredible athlete, one of the strongest in the mental side with Borg that I’ve ever seen. Rafa has the mentality of a marathon runner that, as tired as he is, he’s so mentally strong he just keeps going, he never gives up. He moves great, he has a heavy forehand, he’s serving a little better, his backhand is a little deeper and he’s improving. Now he’s got a bit of a fear factor where guys are a little scared of him. …As soon as Roger breaks my record, Nadal will be after him.”
McEnroe believes that Fed could make simple tactical adjustments that would allow him to play on his own terms and win. Fed does not do enough in his return games, rarely attempting to step around and hit forehands and allowing Nadal to go into his backhand 90 percent of the time with his serves, even when those serves aren’t always high quality.
It might be time for Fed to do more than micro-manage his own career and realize that the Slams that seem to have come so easily from the ages of 23-26 might not arrive without massive struggle from the ages of 27-30.
“He needs a coach,” said Mac. “He’s never had to adjust to something because he’s been so talented he could go out there and figure it out. All of sudden he’s playing guy he can’t do it against. He’s so stubborn.”
