Rafael Nadal: King of Clay en route to becoming King of Grass
Rafael Nadal Parera, nicknamed ‘Rafa’, is a left-handed Spanish Gun hailing from the town of Manacor on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Majorca. He started playing tennis at the age of three, when his uncle and coach to date, Toni Nadal, an ex tennis pro, introduced him to the racket. He recognized the natural talent Nadal had for tennis and started coaching him. Noticing that the boy played forehand strokes with two hands, Toni made him switch from Right-Handed to Left-Handed. This explains Rafa writing with his right hand and being Left-Handed at the court. His impressive winning streak at the ‘Roland Garros’ French Open from 2005 to 2008 earned him the title of ‘King of Clay’. His loss to 23rd seed Robin Soderling in 2009 in the fourth round of the French Open brought an end to his 31 match winning streak on clay. The match, which was termed as one of the biggest upsets in tennis, brought Nadal down from No. 1 ranking that he held for most of that year. In June 2010, Nadal regained his lost pride when he beat Soderling, now 5th seeded, in a straight sets victory of 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Nadal’s strong arm helped him clinch his 5th French Open title and 7th Grand Slam.
Nadal is often compared to Björn Borg due to his clay court dominance. This doesn’t come as a surprise as his coach Toni admired the Swede. "Because I remember Borg," Toni Nadal said, "Borg was the best. It's difficult to win a point against him.” After his 5th French Open title, he is only one title behind Borg’s record of six French Open titles.
His major victories in the French Opens already proved Rafa’s strength on clay court. What wasn’t expected by most was that the young player could also score on grass, that too against Roger Federer, ‘The Greatest Player of Tennis’. In a fierce battle of archrivals, Nadal beat Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 to clinch his first Wimbledon title in 2008. In what was the longest and perhaps the most dramatic final of all time, Nadal proved the evolution his game was going through.
Grass courts are both slower and slipperier in contrast to clay courts. The players that generally do well on grass courts are the serve and volley players. Due to the bad bounces that often occur on grass courts, the speed with which the shot is returned matters the most on such courts. As a result, the aggressive players gain a distinct advantage over defensive players. Generally, the players that are great on clay courts aren’t so good on grass courts, and vice versa. The grass courts used in Wimbledon are 100% rye grass courts. This makes the courts even slower compared to the other grass courts.
Nadal, who is known for his ferocity, is basically defensive in his style of play; hence he gains advantage on clay courts. But the left handed shots don’t come naturally to the right handed Nadal. As a result, he struggles with serves and volleys, a major advantage on grass courts. At the same time, his chronic knee problem is somewhat subdued on grass courts, thanks to the easy on knees rye grass. Playing style on grass also means taking shorter fast steps which prevents any major strain on the knees.
Despite the fact that the odds of winning on grass were against him, the Spaniard scored again. This time he beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to clinch his second Wimbledon title. This victory came unexpectedly, especially to his critics. A major part of this success was impacted by him improving his ground shots. This tilted the advantage on low bouncing grass courts to his side. Although Tomas’s immense serve power was a force to reckon with, it couldn’t stop Nadal from lifting the Wimbledon title. This victory was the 8th major crown for him and came at an age of just 24. This makes him halfway through to Federer’s 16 Grand Slams. The young player, although majorly powerful on clay, is still evolving, as was proved in his Wimbledon win. He surely has a long way to go, but the future seems bright for him if he can effectively tackle his knee problem and put more control in his game. His known defensive style has also seen a shift towards an aggressive one during this year’s Wimbledon. The prospects for Nadal to join the club of those few dominant on both clay and grass are high if he can get more wins on grass. His evolving game might in the future lead him to become ‘The King of Grass’.
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