Many posters said here before Nadal has to improve his serve and net game, has he really listened to them?

Question

Throughout this year when we were discussing on rooms for improvement for Nadal, many have pointed out the issue regarding his serve and net game, and that improvement needed had really sparkled significantly during French Open and Wimbledon, and not only that, he has also improved his backhand. Do you think our inputs here have played a role in his development? And wasn't his good serve that has rescued him this time from being beaten by Federer?

Best poster will get my 10 points...!

Answer 1

it has been reported in the past that pro tennis players spent a lot of their times between games or before them on the net and the laptop has become a compulsory tool of the pro tennis player along with their rackets. free wifi access is granted to players in the player's lounges and it might happen that mr Nadal browses through sports news websites or through yahoo answers and he might have read the posts about him. It is common knowledge for a professional (artists, chefs, sportsmen) to look at their critic with the naked eye.

therefore it is probable that he looked at comments posted on  yahoo for that matter. Otherwise he must have a great coach that improved his training in those fields because (yeah obviously) players watch back their games on video and then they can see where they are lacking.

Answer 2

Hey there.

As fervent and religious our dedication to analyzing tennis is, I don't think our Yahoo Answers made an impact on Nadal's coaching decisions.  The need for his improvements are and were well known.  The battle between his style and Roger's style of play have been discussed long before he and Roger were even born.  

Consider Evert and Navratilova.  Evert was considered the one with the steady and "mistake" free game.  Like Nadal, she won more FOs.  

What is significant to our experience is that Nadal did improve his serve, backhand, slice and net game.  For us, that provided the heart-stopping "skill-battle" for the epic game 2 days ago.  Not only did we enjoy that game, it was satisfying to see that Nadal was able to improve the parts of his game that were lacking.

Last:  I want to remind all the tennis fanatics reading this that Nadal is only 22.  Roger was just shy of 22 when he won his first Slam, Wimbledon.  Nadal was turning 19 when he won his first Roland Garros.  Roger has been dominant for 5 years since then with Rafael just behind him for 3 years.  There is a chance that Nadal will surpass Federer not only in rankings but number of Slams won.  The reason many people don't count on that is because they worry about his injuries ending his ability to play the way he does.

With sports medicine developing as it has, I wonder if Nadal can/will continue his assent to the ranks of the tennis super-greats-of-all-history?  I hope so.  I actually enjoy his style of play.

Nadal, if you're reading this: congratulations and keep it up.  Stay healthy and keep your eye on the prize.  Thank you for your humility and all you've done for our game of tennis.

Answer 3

Perhaps it's not this forum, but I do believe that Nadal has listened to expert advice from commentators and former players (or at least his coach has). That's another thing you have to admire about the guy, and yet another indictment against Federer.

Federer has been very arrogant regarding advice. He doesn't want advice from anyone. He is the great almighty Federer, who are you or anyone to tell him how to play? Do you have 12 grandslams? That's what you would get if you go to rogerfederer.com and suggest any advice for Federer to improve his game. And isn't that the reason why Federer has not hired a coach? He doesn't want anyone's advice.

Nadal on the other hand, was much more humble. Now he's reaping the benefits. Kudos to him. He is a great champion. And I'm going to bet on him winning hte US Open. Why? Because he listens to advice. Someone is going to tell him to forget Stutgart and these other meaningless tournaments. Focus on the important ones so he can optimise his form for the US. Nadal CAN play on hardcourts. He has beaten Federer twice - Miami and Dubai. He has also won Indian Wells. He just needs to finetune his game and form.

Answer 4

No, I don't think the inputs in the forum make his change. I do think most of the players and couches do know what they need to do to improve their game. It is just the matter of if they could or would do it.

For his toughness and superior physic, he is able to improve many areas of his game. The area for him to be careful is trying to keep healthy since his game involves much more running than say Federer's. It is so great that he is presenting an actual rival against Federer which I think in this era, men's tennis is actually not as competitive as before. I am looking forward to the future to see the new and up coming guys as well.