Rafael Nadal needs no introduction in the world of tennis, understandably so, considering his feats spanning the last decade or so.
When he started off, most observers regarding him as the next Lleyton Hewitt. He proved to be that, but so much more.
His records speak for themselves, considering he has played in one of the most competitive times tennis has had to offer with the likes of Federer, Djokovic and Murray, all in their prime at some point or the other, during his career.
KEY STRENGTHS:
Great Return Of Serve:Widely regarded as one of the best returners of serve the game has ever had to offer, this plays to his advantage as once the ball is kept in play after a serve, his agility, power and presence of mind take over to work possible wonders.
Court Coverage:One of his great strengths has always been his sure footed and nimble court coverage. Fancying that a winner can be conjured out of somewhere and anywhere once the ball is in play, he is never short of ideas and energy to make them materialise whenever possible.
Heavy Topspin:The Nadal forehand supercharged with a topspin ranging between 3200-5000 rpm (revolutions per minute) is a formidable force to reckon with, for most in the tennis fraternity. No one comes close in this regard. Federer's topspin is estimated to be around 2500 rpm whereas Agassi and Sampras only ever managed somewhere around 1800 rpm. Maybe it's just fitting that his usage of "rpm blast" racquet strings has yielded him most success over the years.:)
This works best on clay and some hard courts because the ball stops and grips the surface a bit before coming on, allowing the spin to take full effect. In fact, it's surprising because of the same that he only has one Australian Open title till date.
Great Jam Serve:Initially regarded as a weakness by many when he started off, it has actually turned out to be his strength in the better half of his career with a great first serve percentage and a troublesome jam serve to the body (typically the 2nd serve). This has greatly helped him prosper on faster courts where points are shorter.
Adaptability to Surface:He started off as a clay court specialist on account of his relatively weak serve but great movements, returns and shot making on clay.
But with timely adjustments to his game like his serving and willingness to come forward to finish points early on faster courts, he has garnered some pretty famous victories on other surfaces.
Great Work Ethics & Attitude:Nadal may be a very physical player, but it's not all about brawn with him. His strategies on and off the field has more often than not, helped him come out of several slumps.
An off-field example would be his physicality often leads to injuries like wrist injuries, shoulder lesions, hamstring injuries, tendinitis in his knees, various tendon injuries in his foot and even back injury. He's about had it all which often forced him out of the game altogether.
But he purposely chose extended layoffs for proper healing and alternative recovery methods to surgery to ensure his longevity in the sport. This is as opposed to several others in tennis history who pushed themselves too far only to have a detrimental surgery or fatal injury halt their career altogether.
An on-field example would be his willingness to move away from his natural game at times, to do the needful to figure out and beat opponents in their own strongholds.
Of course, his "never-say-die" attitude was never in question. I doubt there has ever been anyone in the sport who has fancied his chances of a win from being 1-5 or 0-5 down in a set, more than Nadal. The many dramatic turnarounds he has orchestrated in his favour, over the years from losing scenarios was a thing to behold at times.
On the other hand, as opposed to his prolonged healing layoffs, he also took calculated risks playing important tournaments with serious injuries to be the eventual winner with several famous victories, although we only learnt of his injury later.
ONLY DULL POINT IN HIS REPERTOIRE:
I would say it is his tendency to be overtly defensive at times because of his natural propensity for a good return of serve and court coverage, which occasionally takes over when not on song. But this is more related to his frame of mind rather than anything lacking in skill.
NOTABLE FEATS:
There are many, but I would list down a few to highlight some unique ones.
1)Only player to win a Grand Slam on first attempt at the age of 19.
2)Youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam at the age of 24. In fact, if he wins another Australian Open, it would a double Career Grand Slam.
3)Only player to win 3 consecutive Grand Slams on 3 different surfaces.
4)Only player to have won at least 2 Grand Slams on each surface.
5)Only player to have won a single Grand Slam 9 times (French Open).
6)Only player in open era to win the French Open and the Wimbledon in a calendar year in succession and that too twice.
Considering the gap between both tournaments is small and one has the lowest bounce with very fast courts compared to slowness and the high bounce of the other, it is a laudable feat. Only Borg did it thrice back in 1978-80.
7)Only player to win one or more Grand Slams for 10 consecutive years.
8)Only player to have won one or more Masters 1000 events for 10 consecutive years.
9)He and Federer are the only players to have reached the finals of all 10 Masters 1000 events and 4 Grand Slam events ever.
10)Only player to have won a Masters 1000 event a record 9 times (Monte Carlo Masters).
11)Has had a lot of success for his country with 4 Davis Cup titles and an Olympic Gold Medal.
12)Has spent close to 150 weeks as ATP #1 and more than 250 weeks as ATP #2 in this competitive era of tennis, having reached finals of over 100 tournaments.
13)Has the most clay court title victories ever at 49.
14)Has the longest clay court winning streak at 81.
15) Has the distinction of having a pretty favorable head to head record over almost all of his peers and a comparable one against ones he doesn't.
If one thinks of Nadal's marathon match-ups, there would be no end. What sticks to mind is that he dethroned Federer by beating him in his own backyard in Wimbledon final in 2008 and Australian Open final in 2009 when both were in their prime.
He was also the one who ended Federer's longest streak on grass at 65.
He might be the king of the slow clay courts, but he has 2 Grand Slam victories on the fastest court (U.S. Open), beating Djokovic in the finals on both occasions, both at a time when both were at the top of their game.
He also overcame Djokovic in 2008 on a hard court surface en route to his sole Olympic Gold Medal till date.
Even when he lost to Djokovic in the 2012 Australian Open final, he initially lead in the fifth set and that too was a record for being the longest Grand Slam final ever, clocking over 5 hours.
Of his 14 Grand Slam Final victories till date, 10 have been against Djokovic(5) & Federer(5).
SOME QUOTES BY THE WHO'S WHO OF TENNIS:
John McEnroe, Tennisone.com Nov 2010: “I have never seen a guy who was that good already be able to improve that much. To be in such defensive positions and hit outright winners is something I had never seen in this sport before Nadal arrived.”
Andre Agassi, Foxnews.com May 2010: "It's like climbing Mt. Everest with bad weather trying to get over the line with Nadal in a three-out-of-five set match on clay."
Roger Federer, Mail Online Jun 2011:“Maybe in the beginning Rafa was still looking a little bit for how good [he could be]. We all knew he was good on clay, excellent on clay really, very good on hard courts. As time went by, he showed how good he was; he's won a couple of times here [Wimbledon] in the meantime.”
Jimmy Connors, Asapsports.com Aug 2011: “You know, to find a player who goes out and gives the kind of effort, say, for instance that Nadal does every time, plays like he's broke, that's pretty special. To feel like that's the way he is, that's what his game is, and he forgets about everything else, that's a special attitude. I like that.”
Gustavo Kuerten, Dnaindia.com Sep 2011: “I just don’t think so; I’m quite sure about it. Nadal is probably the best tennis player of all times.”
Pete Sampras, BBC Jan 2014:"I think he's incredible, " Sampras told BBC Sport. "I saw him play live for the first time on Friday night and the movement he has is incredible."
"He's able to adjust his shots on the run. I've never seen anything like it."
Novak Djokovic, Espn.co.uk May 2014: "Even though you look at Rafa's game five years ago, you would think he has not much to improve, but he keeps finding the little edges and room for improvements, " Djokovic said. "He's a hard worker. He's somebody that is very committed to the sport, and that's why he has had so much success."
To conclude:I'd have to say that considering the small proportion of clay court majors compared to the faster court major tournaments, the fact that his statistics still compare well to other greats who were regarded better on faster surfaces, that itself is a stupendous achievement and makes a great case of him being the greatest of all time. Not to mention he has held most of the important records at some point.
What would make his achievements even more spectacular, is if he manages to win another Australian Open and French Open and the ATP World Tour Finals, where he has been a finalist twice. Whether his body allows him to do it at his age, remains to be seen. Till then, we can only marvel at the phenomenon that Rafa has proved to be, over the last decade or so.
