Professionals do not agree with the assessment of the causes that have led to poor performance of Nadal after two months of inactivity Some believe that his body has changed and will never be the same as before Others believe that it is a conversion technique and tactics to reduce wear Most trusts will find the formula. It is not finished, says Becker
Abundant long opinion among his rivals that Nadal hits with every effort, as before, but lost the ball flight and, above all, money. Su-topspin-not enough depth or the pot of good times. He insists he has not lost weight since the tendons of his battered knees, mainstay of his upper body, threatened to tear and stopped a beginning of course unlikely to improve-five titles, including the Australia Open and three Masters 1.000 - But in London many highlights an apparent reduction in muscle volume to relieve the burden on their lower joints.
Coincidentally or not, Verdasco began last winter in the hands of Gil Reyes, a champion of working with weights, significantly increased its scale, rose quickly in the standings and is now beginning to complain about their knees. Equal or less heavy, those two months of rest, physiotherapy and a lot of trouble back to a player anesthetized, capable of advancing in the tournament based on race, and because it is very good, but defeated always run into some other member of the aristocracy of the circuit.
"My level is not to be number one, my level is to work hard and train to be ready as soon as possible and compete on equal terms with my rivals, with complete confidence in my game. Nadal further stresses the mental side of the problem . constantly denies any impediment physical, but it is precisely his body, sore or not, the engine of this loss of confidence. Some opponents also argue that the ball travels slower Nadal because today so above the reach and therefore, their supports are not as consistent as before.
Mats Wilander offers another point of view. "Nadal is not playing in a different way, though perhaps not as strong, said the Swede. He has lost weight, perhaps by his knee problem, but rather than play your right ".
This path already found before Blake, Berdych and Youzhny, the difference is that now everyone dare. Something similar happens at the Bernabeu and the Nou Camp in times of crisis, where equipment used to not venture beyond the midfield sense the fragility of the giant and eventually lose respect. That does not mean that the dead giant. "Nadal has not reached his best form after those injuries, and no indoor tennis his forte, but do not share the view that it is finished. Next year will see again the best Nadal, Boris Becker bet.
Jose Perlas points in an article published in the world that the player Balearic long began to draw the different path that requires Wilander. "Nadal starts to dial distances from its original version. Try to live closer to the baseline, greater attention to service and expand their repertoire, as with the wrong, it's Robin Soderling at Roland Garros discovered how to defeat him. Since then, Nadal has lost many games. Even players like Nicolas Almagro and Tommy Robredo have learned to play against him in the right way. You can not play against Nadal on the defensive because then soon control the point. You have to hit the ball very ponto, flat and as hard as you can. Everyone looks for that now, so Nadal will do different things, especially with reverse cut, sometimes performed excessively, "says the coach." Without losing its identity, to go leaving behind the burned tennis shoe that slowed the momentum of the opponent at the expense of undue sacrifice. For now must get used to living in an area that he is still employed. And that, like everything in life takes time. "
Roger Federer knows that all that is aggravating the problems of Nadal indirectly negatively impact on the merit of identified two more titles in his career, Roland Garros, the only Grand Slam this season until missing in his resume-and sixth-fifteenth largest Wimbledon, one more than the previous record of Sampras. "I think we should not exaggerate," he said recently. "Nadal has signed some first five months of incredible. Vale, Wimbledon has been lost, could not defend the title, but apart from that period, he has been good. He has won the Australia Open, has played tremendous games and still has options to finish the season as number one. I do not think a scene so horrible. "
The number one was postponed for next year. A win for Federer against Murray (now, not before 2145) or Del Potro at the Swiss to recover enough mathematically, definitively, the Crown ceded in 2008. Only Ivan Lendl has been able to regain first place in the final standings (1989), Lendl and Sampras only have five Masters on his resume, one more than the Swiss.
Nadal does not think now in the 'ranking' intact but in getting to the finals of the Davis Cup and without a single week of respite, start preparing the Australian summer where you'll find a defense of 2,000 points. Djokovic looms. If the Serbian, 95 games already this year in the suitcase, the last 11 successfully resolved proclaim undefeated champion (1,500 points), Nadal should have added another two victories in the group stage, before Djokovic and Davydenko, two of the players who have beaten in recent weeks, not to surrender his position Balkan inspired.