How is Nadal taking his claycourt game to grass and being so successful?

Question

The surfaces are so different and top spin is not a big weapon on grass. You got to hit flatter and bounces are lower and more slippery on grass. Is his technique fundamentally so sound that is doesn't matter what surface? If so, why does he struggle (relatively) on hard courts where he has been blown out many times. Is the hard surface hard on his knees?

Answer 1

I think it's also worth mentioning how his heavy topspin not only pushes players behind the baseline, but it makes him extremely consistent. If you get a really flat hitter making a slew of unforced errors, don't expect them to take Nadal down easily, if at all.

Answer 2

Hardcourts...he`s had pretty bad results last year due to the fact he was injured.

Answer 3

Because he doesn't play exactly the same way on grass.  Nadal plays much further into the court on grass, especially to return serve, and he shortens his swing a lot more too.  Although he still hits with topspin, he does flatten his shots out a bit more due to the shorter swing, and he also comes to the net a lot more on grass (even more than Federer did in last year's Wimbledon final).  Also, he uses his sliced backhand a lot more on grass, with great effect.  Grass is much softer and easier on his knees, which obviously take a pounding on hard courts.  If he played on hard courts with more of the same style he uses on grass, he would probably have better results.

Answer 4

Well, he has improved his serve a lot and is setting the points up to hit easy winners. The grass at Wimbledon also is slower than regular grass, giving him a bigger advantage.

Answer 5

ball anticipation.

nadal has great anticipation, just like federer. nadal also has relatively short backswings, unlike most clay court players. he has the best physics to grind out long two weeks grand slam tournament. he also can flatten out the shots now when he needs it.

The U.S. Open is way into the September, it is very late in the season, i don't care how physically gifted he is, it is very hard on the body, especially on the knees, particularly his style of play.

Answer 6

To be honest, the grass at Wimby has been slowed down quite a bit. Baseliners are getting all kinds of time now on the grass, as is evident by the wear at the two baselines by the time the fortnight is up. Furthermore, Rafa's has tweaked his game from when he first appeared on tour, so that the faster surfaces don't bother him as much. This is evident from his win at Queen's club over Djoker. As for the hard courts, he hasn't been blown out recently as much as he has in the past. His game is slowly becoming more all-court than what it was. And given his style of play, the hard surface is very tough on his knees.

Answer 7

I think a key factor here is Nadal's movement on grass.  The kid moves well on the surface - I understand he has a grass court in his backyard - so he has had ample time to practice on grass - a clear advantage.  Most ATP/WTA tour players only are exposed to the grass surface for three/four/five weeks a year.  I looked at Nadal's match with Djokovic and Queen's and the poor dude - Djokovic was falling over the place - he was clearly not comfortable moving on grass.  Another factor seems to be that Nadal's lefty serve is especially effective on grass - especially the serve out wide in the ad court - which translates to a few more free points for him.  It will be interesting to see what happens - he does have a difficult draw at this year's Wimbledon but I would not be surprised to see him in another final or perhaps even holding up the trophy at the end of the fortnight.