Here is my take how Nadal beats The Mighty Fed -
1. When rallies turn into Federer's backhand and Nadal's forehand, Nadal wins most of the exchanges.
2. To neutralize the deficit, Federer has to move out of the court to take a forehand. That leaves the whole tennis court wide open for Nadal. At this point, Federer is in do-or-die situation and he tried to hit a down-the-line forehand winner - which goes to Nadal's backhand. Nadal take the power from Federer's forehand and hit a cross-court backhand winner. And that happens alot. We have seen Federer scrambling to his forehand side of the court after he hit his forehand winner.
3. Federer 42 of 75 = 56% vs. Nadal 22 of 31 = 71% (Net Point won). It is true that Federer approached to the net more than Nadal but the winning percentage is low. Most of the time, Federer approached to the net in desperate situation. In other words, Federer went to the net when he exhausted other options and he was doing based on Nadal's term.
If I have to pick a game that made Fed lost the 2008 Championship, it will be 4-3 in the second set. Not sure it was a lapse of concentration - but Fed played a very loose game.
Of all the mistakes, that mid-court forehand drive volley that sailed well behind baseline was the shot that lost the championship.
But .. Rafa played a great match and he deserved the championship. Congratulations Rafa.
Post a Comment