Topic: Rafa's game plan against Djokovic

[williamchung7]

Some features determine who is winners (Sorry bad drawing, I don't know how to use computer drawing software).

1. Good Return
Many of Djokovic's return drop in the middle of the court with good deep. Nadal always has tourble with this return. No time for him to set up and it force him to hit short ball. Also, this reutrn does not give Nadal any angel. Djokovic return well , especially second serve. He see the chance and go for winner.



2. Baseline rally
It is very interesting to see how Djokovic deliver the ball on the court. He deliver the ball to Nadal's backhand and move Nadal to right concorn, and wait for right moment for the forehand down the line. For most time, Nadal is chasing that forehand down the line. If Nadal can get the ball and make the shot. No worry, Djokovic has backhand down the line. Then Nadal chase the ball again. In entire match, Djokovic do it again and again, move Nadal away baseline rally. Also, Djokovic does not make big shot. It is his routine groundstroke shot.




If Nadal still can get ball back, then cross court backhand and use the same tactic again.




3. Slice serve
Djokovic serve some slice serve to Nadal's backhand which very effective. Gain short return and make volley to other direction which alway move away. However, sometime he choose wrong direction cause himself by passing shot.





My consideration is it is all about good return to set up point. Because these good reuturns allow Djokovic from start to the end in many point by using this tactic. So I said that Nadal has to keep his 1st serve percentage high to get short return and cheap point. The poor 2nd serve win percentage prove my theory. 

[williamchung7]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

[Start da Game]

i know the answer, nadal and uncle toni too.......

[Emma]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

That's because Nole doesn't allow Nadal to be in that position. One of his main strategies is to keep Nadal off balance throughout the match and ulitmately break that forehand down of his, which is Nadal's most powerful weapon. Once you are successful, it automatically puts pressure on his rest of the game as well as his mental game. And the way to do it, is to keep Nadal off balance at all time. So Nole will never give him a ball where Nadal has plenty of time to set up his down the line forehand or forehand in general. Nadal has to moonball at that point to get himself back to in a more comfortable position. Nole does it consistently well and quite subtly. The results speak volume. In order to produce my best shots, I'll have to be in those positions too, no?

[Start da Game]

that off balance issue is mainly because nadal is not comfortable with the backhand.......he's always looking to run around and take i ton forehand........that's what robbing him of time against djokovic.......do you see djokovic running around his backhand? no, very rarely.......


it's like one shot against two shots out there.......all nadal needs to do is find that deep cross court backhand again........he doesn't even need to go for wicked angles or too much power.......just deep and consistent backhands.......that will neutralize 70% of what djokovic is executing at the moment and nadal's ever reliable great forehand will takeover from there........that is how he tackled djokovic in the previous years.......

[propstoart]

What is impressive in all this is how Djokovic now (and Davydenko previously), managed to out-manoeuvre Nadal.. The fact that Djokovic can finish a point on the backhand or forehand must be a serious plus. Still, Rafa is alright and can expect to beat Novak in the future.. Nole's form is just uncommonly good at the moment..

[Alex]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

That's because Nole doesn't allow Nadal to be in that position. One of his main strategies is to keep Nadal off balance throughout the match and ulitmately break that forehand down of his, which is Nadal's most powerful weapon. Once you are successful, it automatically puts pressure on his rest of the game as well as his mental game. And the way to do it, is to keep Nadal off balance at all time. So Nole will never give him a ball where Nadal has plenty of time to set up his down the line forehand or forehand in general. Nadal has to moonball at that point to get himself back to in a more comfortable position. Nole does it consistently well and quite subtly. The results speak volume. In order to produce my best shots, I'll have to be in those positions too, no?

well said. Emma I'm so impressed with you lately  .

[Emma]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

That's because Nole doesn't allow Nadal to be in that position. One of his main strategies is to keep Nadal off balance throughout the match and ulitmately break that forehand down of his, which is Nadal's most powerful weapon. Once you are successful, it automatically puts pressure on his rest of the game as well as his mental game. And the way to do it, is to keep Nadal off balance at all time. So Nole will never give him a ball where Nadal has plenty of time to set up his down the line forehand or forehand in general. Nadal has to moonball at that point to get himself back to in a more comfortable position. Nole does it consistently well and quite subtly. The results speak volume. In order to produce my best shots, I'll have to be in those positions too, no?

well said. Emma I'm so impressed with you lately  .

Lately? LATELY??? Liar.

Well anyway, enjoy it while it lasts. I will be in a different mood next week and you will go back to hating me...again.

[Alex]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

That's because Nole doesn't allow Nadal to be in that position. One of his main strategies is to keep Nadal off balance throughout the match and ulitmately break that forehand down of his, which is Nadal's most powerful weapon. Once you are successful, it automatically puts pressure on his rest of the game as well as his mental game. And the way to do it, is to keep Nadal off balance at all time. So Nole will never give him a ball where Nadal has plenty of time to set up his down the line forehand or forehand in general. Nadal has to moonball at that point to get himself back to in a more comfortable position. Nole does it consistently well and quite subtly. The results speak volume. In order to produce my best shots, I'll have to be in those positions too, no?

well said. Emma I'm so impressed with you lately  .

Lately? LATELY??? Liar.

Well anyway, enjoy it while it lasts. I will be in a different mood next week and you will go back to hating me...again.

nothing lasts. However, I want to be politically correct  . What should I be enjoin while it lasts? Here is my advice for you ... you just enjoy it, like NOW. (one day at a time) that's what my psychiatrist  said to me 

[williamchung7]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

That's because Nole doesn't allow Nadal to be in that position. One of his main strategies is to keep Nadal off balance throughout the match and ulitmately break that forehand down of his, which is Nadal's most powerful weapon. Once you are successful, it automatically puts pressure on his rest of the game as well as his mental game. And the way to do it, is to keep Nadal off balance at all time. So Nole will never give him a ball where Nadal has plenty of time to set up his down the line forehand or forehand in general. Nadal has to moonball at that point to get himself back to in a more comfortable position. Nole does it consistently well and quite subtly. The results speak volume. In order to produce my best shots, I'll have to be in those positions too, no?

What I find is that to off balance Nadal, you can have three ways to do it.

1. Attack Nadal's serve which I find Nalbandian do very well to beat he couple of times. Every groundstroke start here!

2. Keep attack Nadal's backhand side and move him to his right handside, then see the chance to play down the line shot to his left hand side. That is clear tactic which Davydenko, Djokovic and Nalbandian who have performed during their matches.

3. Players who have really good backhand can use their backhand to out play Nadal's forehand. Again, Davydenko, Djokovic and Nalbandian prove that.  Because they have good backhand, they able to keep changing the direction and changing their pace of their shot by using normal groundstroke. Not like Federer has to use slice allow Nadal to set up.

[Alex]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

That's because Nole doesn't allow Nadal to be in that position. One of his main strategies is to keep Nadal off balance throughout the match and ulitmately break that forehand down of his, which is Nadal's most powerful weapon. Once you are successful, it automatically puts pressure on his rest of the game as well as his mental game. And the way to do it, is to keep Nadal off balance at all time. So Nole will never give him a ball where Nadal has plenty of time to set up his down the line forehand or forehand in general. Nadal has to moonball at that point to get himself back to in a more comfortable position. Nole does it consistently well and quite subtly. The results speak volume. In order to produce my best shots, I'll have to be in those positions too, no?

well said. Emma I'm so impressed with you lately  .

Lately? LATELY??? Liar.

Well anyway, enjoy it while it lasts. I will be in a different mood next week and you will go back to hating me...again.

How can I hate you? I love you so much. My love will not go away  . Uhm, this love thing is so complicated 

[propstoart]

One thing still unsolve, Nadal's movement.....
No running forehand down the line from Nadal.....it occur onece I remember.

That's because Nole doesn't allow Nadal to be in that position. One of his main strategies is to keep Nadal off balance throughout the match and ulitmately break that forehand down of his, which is Nadal's most powerful weapon. Once you are successful, it automatically puts pressure on his rest of the game as well as his mental game. And the way to do it, is to keep Nadal off balance at all time. So Nole will never give him a ball where Nadal has plenty of time to set up his down the line forehand or forehand in general. Nadal has to moonball at that point to get himself back to in a more comfortable position. Nole does it consistently well and quite subtly. The results speak volume. In order to produce my best shots, I'll have to be in those positions too, no?

What I find is that to off balance Nadal, you can have three ways to do it.

1. Attack Nadal's serve which I find Nalbandian do very well to beat him couple of times. Every groundstroke start here!

2. Keep attack Nadal's backhand side and move him to his right handside, then see the chance to play down the line shot to left hand side. That is clear tactic which Davydenko, Djokovic and Nalbandian who have performed during their matches.

3. Players who have really good backhand can use their backhand to out play Nadal's forehand. Again, Davydenko, Djokovic and Nalbandian prove that.  Because they have good backhand, they able to keep changing the direction of their shot by using normal groundstroke. Not like Federer has to use slice allow Nadal to set up.

Totally agree. The key is to attack him and seize the momentum. Let Rafael dominate on the court and he will kill the opponent, every time..

[Babblelot]

Quick play Djokovic. Speed up the tempo when Nole is gassed and don't let him catch his breath.

[Alex]

It's not happening. Sorry but Novak is moving better than Nadal. I hate to be so brutally honest as I do love Rafa and his fans here but .... there is not much Rafa could do

[Start da Game]

Quick play Djokovic. Speed up the tempo when Nole is gassed and don't let him catch his breath.

winning the toss and serving first will do no harm either.......

[propstoart]

It's not happening. Sorry but Novak is moving better than Nadal. I hate to be so brutally honest as I do love Rafa and his fans here but .... there is not much Rafa could do

Not too sure Rafa is capable and willing to play a high-tempo tennis match.. His deliberate nature somehow precludes it. Nevertheless, in the relative cool of North America, with the comparatively faster hard courts, even Rafa will pick up the pace of play?? 

[Babblelot]

It's not happening. Sorry but Novak is moving better than Nadal. I hate to be so brutally honest as I do love Rafa and his fans here but .... there is not much Rafa could do

Not too sure Rafa is capable and willing to play a high-tempo tennis match.. His deliberate nature somehow precludes it. Nevertheless, in the relative cool of North America, with the comparatively faster hard courts, even Rafa will pick up the pace of play?? 

Well, Montreal may be cool.   Cincy will be brutal!

It is interesting that the top players have recently reduced the US HC season to 3 tourneys. Wasn't too long ago that Pete and Andre were winning LA and Washington, too. So much for the US Open Series challenge.

[monstertruck]

The only time Rafa plays fast is when he's losing badly and completely rattled.

I think I've seen it happen twice.
He actually played 2 complete service games without once going over the 20 sec. time limit!    Yes, shocking, I know.

[Emma]

I think that ^^^^ happens when he's very sure he's going to lose the match regardless and can't wait to get off the court.

[Start da Game]

It's not happening. Sorry but Novak is moving better than Nadal. I hate to be so brutally honest as I do love Rafa and his fans here but .... there is not much Rafa could do

Not too sure Rafa is capable and willing to play a high-tempo tennis match.. His deliberate nature somehow precludes it. Nevertheless, in the relative cool of North America, with the comparatively faster hard courts, even Rafa will pick up the pace of play?? 

nadal is just a great hardcourter these days........just ignore the rambling about the time taking.......they fail to realize that if every point was monitored and the time violation rule was enforced every time the clock ticks over 20 seconds, half the players on the tour would retire mid way in the matches with respiratory issues........they just don't understand the requirements of the modern day sport.......