By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, Might 30, 2024
Rafael Nadal wears his iconic bull brand on his chest, however he is a tennis chameleon at coronary heart, says Novak Djokovic.
Reigning champion Djokovic dismissed Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 charging into the Roland Garros third spherical for a males’s report nineteenth consecutive 12 months.
Nadal: Three Components Will Determine My Future
Requested afterward to evaluate peak play from the king of clay, Djokovic started his response by detailing one among Nadal’s most underappreciated property— excellence evolving his sport.
The Grand Slam king mentioned Nadal turned a greater participant a few decade into his historic profession as a result of mounting damage compelled him to alter his fashion and turn into a extra aggressive participant.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic mentioned Nadal made three main adjustments about 10 years into his profession:
1. Beefed up his backhand
2. Adopted extra aggressive court docket positioning
3. Dealt with the excessive ball to his two-hander higher as he bought older.
“I really assume that he has improved his backhand as he was getting older. He was in all probability acutely aware of, you already know, bodily struggles that he had, and he needed to be extra aggressive on the court docket,” Djokovic instructed the media in Paris at the moment. “So he was, you already know, nonetheless topspinning the forehand higher than anyone has ever completed it, and he nonetheless saved that unimaginable protection and offense within the forehand.
“However I believe with backhand he was simply capable of deal with the excessive balls to his backhand higher than he was possibly at the start of our encounters.”
Collectively, the enduring champions created probably the most prolific rivalry in ATP historical past. They’ve confronted off 59 occasions with Djokovic holding a 30-29 head-to-head edge over Nadal.
Nonetheless, the soon-to-be 38-year-old Nadal gained their final match on the 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinals and so they’ve cut up the final eight conferences of their historic head-to-head sequence.
Relentless revision is significant to Nadal’s ongoing evolution.
“Right now I’ve to adapt my sport to the brand new time and to my age,” Nadal mentioned after his run to the 2022 Roland Garros title. “That’s what I did throughout all my profession, simply attempt to adapt my sport. That’s the one motive why at this second I’m nonetheless right here competing at a excessive degree.
“I do know throughout my profession, I’m going to lose issues on my method, so I would like so as to add new issues.”
Through the first decade of their rivalry, Djokovic mentioned Nadal was transferring higher and was so bodily imposing it felt like going through a tennis terminator on court docket. Because the two-time Olympic gold-medal champion aged and accidents mounted, he wasn’t the identical bodily pressure, nevertheless he developed right into a knockout artist of each wings.
Whereas Djokovic leads the rivalry and the Grand Slam race, he says Nadal’s backhand increase made it “unimaginable to harm him” in baseline exchanges on grime.
“He was in all probability transferring higher and had higher bodily situation within the first ten years of his profession right here in Roland Garros, however then after that he needed to regulate,” Djokovic mentioned of Nadal. “I believe he did very nicely with the backhand significantly. I discovered his backhand very, very, very constant and actually an enormous weapon.The type of sample towards Rafa was type of all the time looking for that backhand, get him out of the court docket and open up the forehand.
“However, you already know, then he improved a lot on that backhand and court docket positioning that it turned, you already know, unimaginable to search out type of a weak spot from the baseline, you already know, to harm him.”
Djokovic regarded like his punishing self in his straight-sets win at the moment as he continues his quest for a record-extending twenty fifth Grand Slam championship in Paris with one other report in sight.
Ought to Djokovic attain the French Open fourth spherical, he’ll equal Roger Federer’s all-time Grand Slam wins mark with 369 main match victories.
Picture credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty
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