They say Nadal is uncomfortable at the net. Do you believe that Fed wil win RG by punishing Nadal at the net?

Question

You know even Djokovic who is brilliant in making drop shots and volleys fail to fool Nadal at the net. And Nadal techniques at the net is also awesome. I have seen Potito Starace made a lot of dangerous drop shots in Hamburg but still Nadal defeated him. Tell me if you really think Nadal can be beaten by outplaying him at the net, and why?

Answer 1

I think the Federer tactic this time would be to end the point quickly at the net, and not to lure Nadal to the net coz Rafa can play at the net with fantastic results....Rafa may not be a natural volleyer like Federer but he can play at the net...End points quickly at the net and try to outbalance Nadal should do wonders for the Fed Express...but i doubt it if he can do this to perfection...Nadal can counter these with his high looping topspin groundstrokes which forces opponent to rush things by trying to end it quickly...

Answer 2

No Raffa will win!!

Answer 3

nadal is not that bad at net

Answer 4

No. I dont think this tactic will work for roger. He cant keep winning points at the net throughout the entire match besides Nadal is very fast on any surface he`d get to the net pretty quickly. do you really expect Rafa not to no federer has a trick up his sleeve? i mean its Roland Garros Federer has dreamed of this title and everytime he plays Rafa his dreams are shattered lol sure he`s gonna want it bad this time and do his upmost but the s**y spainard isnt just gonna bend over and say on you go Federer he too will fight till the end.

Rafa can win this for 4th time in a row im pretty confident.

Vamos Rafa x*x

Answer 5

Good question. You rate a star. I've been wondering about this myself and I'm glad you brought it up.

I've just seen a replay of Fed's match against Monfils and Fed made some beautiful shots at the net in the second and 3rd sets that I thought were impossible to get BUT Monfils managed to return almost every single one. If Monfils could do it,shouldn't we expect Rafa to do the same?

However,I must say,Monfils is incredibly FAST and agile and he appears to be more flexible than Nadal.( I'd like to see a match of Monfils against the Rafa we are witnessing at this FO!!)

I don't think Fed should rely on too much net strategy because, in the end,it's not what helped him against Monfils and Rafa is an even more formidable opponent.

Fed has the Spanish clay genius Gimenez coaching him here for RG and, so far,whatever he's teaching him has gotten Fed out of the woods on several difficult occasions.

I'd say Fed's only chance is not to let Nadal take the initiative because Nadal is on a roll - a steamroller from the looks of it , bulldozing its way to the trophy.

Ha,ha...if my advice were worth anything somebody would be paying me to give it to them.

EDIT: to answer your additional details: I already noted that fed played a close to the net game against monfils but that was when he almost lost as Monfils wasn't any bad shakes at the net either and i THINK rafa is just as good at the net,(if not better?,) than Monfils.

Answer 6

Nadal is by no means a bad net player because he has very good hands and fantastic footwork.  However, if you bring him at the right time, with a well timed drop shot, you can take him out of his comfort zone at the baseline and make him vulnerable.  Likewise, Roger can do the same by coming in at the right time on the right approach shot and forcing Nadal to hit a tough passing shot.  Federer will not win by rallying at the baseline so he will have to change things up alot and that means either bringing Nadal in or coming to the net himself.  He will have to time it correctly though or it could backfire very easily.

Answer 7

Fed has a great volley so I yes I think he can win this way. He also has an amazing drop shot. Yes Djok is good, but Federer is a far better net player and he picks his time well. I think therefore Rafa can be beaten by Fed at net. Thats not to say I think it'll happen.