Rafael Nadal: What to Expect from the Great Warrior in 2012?

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at Internationaled.org

Published: December 8, 2011

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Rafael Nadal has not had a bad year. He’s had the kind of year that most tennis players would be willing to trade their entire careers for. Moreover, compared to the past, Nadal has been quite lucky with his health through 2011, with only minor injuries to deal with.  

Yet, compared to his 2010, Nadal’s 2011 both looks and feels worse. Most prominent is perhaps the slam count. In 2010, Nadal made three slam finals and won them all. In 2011, he made another three slam finals but only won one.

The main reason for the change? A man by the name of Novak Djokovic, who put together one of the best seasons in tennis history and surpassed Nadal at the tennis zenith.

And while winning “just” one slam instead of three may appear bad, it is even worse that Nadal has lost six straight finals to a man he used to own when it mattered most (Novak had never beaten Nadal in their five previous finals nor in a slam tournament prior to 2011).

While some have argued that Nadal has played significantly worse in 2011 and that that is the reason for his downfall, I am not one of them. I’m not saying he played better or at the exact same level, but that it is hard to see a significant decline.

From January to September, Nadal did just as good against the field, Djokovic excluded, played and beat far more top 10 players and made more finals compared to 2010.

While his serve and hold game have dropped somewhat, his return game has improved just as much (see my full arguments here and here).

What Djokovic has done to Nadal this year has got to affect him mentally. While his general level hasn’t dipped much, he’s not as rock solid mentally as he used to be. When the chips were down between the two this year, Nadal was usually the first one to blink.



I would argue that the reason for this is that Djokovic has been the first man to stand up to ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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