Djokovic V Nadal: The Secrets of Nole's Success

First topic message reminder :

There have been many thoughts on how/ what Djokovic has changed in his approach to playing Rafa. I, like many others, feel that Nole seems to have "worked out" Nadal, and always seems firmly in the driving seat in their matches these days. Here are my thoughts on this:

1. The Importance of Strength

Novak hits the ball more with strength, as opposed to someone like Federer, who is a technical striker of the ball. This gives him an advantage, particularly against counter-punchers. Consider this common scenario- your opponent hits a short ball, and you move in to hit a winner, either into the open court or by wrong-footing them and going behind. Often the opponent will simply have to guess where you are hitting and hope for the best. However, Nadal, with his exceptional quickness, is able to wait until the last moment and read the shot. This is how he is able to retreive so many seemingly lost causes, and win points he has no right to. Watch when he plays Federer- he seems to move earlier than against Nole. The technical striker will always telegraph the shot more, since he needs to apply body weight to the shot, whereas a strong player like Nole hits more with arms/ shoulders, allowing him to create terrific angles without really signalling it.

2. Punish the Nadal backhand

There's something kind of ironic about this one, given how long Nadal has used the tactic (succesfully) against Federer. To be honest, I only just noticed it, but Nole seems to be serving almost exclusively to Nadal's backhand (look for Youtube clips). This puts him on the back foot from the start of the rally, as he can't hit with the same authority off this wing. Djoko also targets the backhand during rallies, taking Nadal out of his comfort zone, as he can't hit as many winners there.

3. Flat hitting/ Point construction

Nole obviously hits the ball very flat, and also very hard. This is a nightmare match up for an, essentially, defensive player like Nadal. As good a retriever as he is, a good attacking player always has the advantage. Nole's point construction is also superior. To be honest, I never really thought that point construction was a strength for Nadal, he always just seems to hang back and wait for an opening to hit a winner. It's Novak who looks to seize the initiative in the exchanges, and is also more willing to come forward. Combine this with the fact that his defense now seems to be as good, if not better, than Nadal, and it's easy to see why Rafa has had such a hard time.

4. The importance of angles

This one really feeds into the previous point, as it relates to point construction. As good a player as Nadal is, he is not very good at creating angles; he will usually wait for the opponent to create the angle, which he will often hit a winner from (he does this time and again against Federer). Due to Djoko's superior physicality, he is able to play more patiently than Roger, often playing the ball down the middle of the court, and not giving Rafa any angles. Again, this takes Rafa out of his comfort zone, and maybe forces him to force the issue more than usual, resulting in more unforced errors.

5. Psychological Edge

This may be controversial, but I feel this is less important than many believe. I feel that the gulf that currently exists between these players is largely a technical one, based on the elements I have outlined above. Sure, Djoko is confident against Rafa now, and feeling that he doesn't have the answers on a technical level must make Rafa doubt a little more than usual. But I believe that a confident Rafa will still struggle against Nole now, as it seems he will have to completely reinvent his game to counter that of the new improved version of Novak.

Oh come of it BB - you're stepstepping the point. I know full well about match-ups but nonetheless we have somebody who can regularly beat this "once in a century talent" in Federer across all surfaces and yet is roundly denounced on here as lacking talent, etc.

Nadal clearly has to be a hugely talented player to have done what he's done in the game, a fact that seems to constantly elude you and Tenez...(I wonder why....) so what we get instead is copious postings and justifications (as Laverfan has shown) of why Nadal isnt a talent and is only a "beast", "animal", physique, stamina, etc, etc...this is what is rammed down the throats of 606v2 Tennis forum members every day and is driving people mad, not just me. This is the way its been on 3-4 forums I've seen Tenez on...it will never change, you know that as much as I do.

Djokovic vs. Nadal is turning into Federer vs. Nadal.

Federer made several finals at RG and lost, as Lydian says, due to the match-up. The other bad-match up for Federer is Murray.

Berdych and Tsonga may also become bad match-ups in the future for Federer, like Federer is to Djokovic.

Berdych has some interesting wins against Federer. The 2004 Olympics stands out the most, followed by the W 2010 QF, a gap of six+ years.

Berdych and Tsonga may also become bad match-ups in the future for Federer, like Federer is to Djokovic.

Berdych always was a difficult match up for Federer and as I remember was the player to eliminate Federer in the Athens Olympics. Shame he can't do this very often though only going past the 4th round on 4 occasions. Tsonga is not a bad match up for Federer imo.

laverfan wrote:Djokovic vs. Nadal is turning into Federer vs. Nadal.

Federer made several finals at RG and lost, as Lydian says, due to the match-up. The other bad-match up for Federer is Murray.

Berdych and Tsonga may also become bad match-ups in the future for Federer, like Federer is to Djokovic.

Berdych has some interesting wins against Federer. The 2004 Olympics stands out the most, followed by the W 2010 QF, a gap of six+ years.

Berdy and Tsonga aren't bad match-ups, they'll generally only beat him as he declines. They're good players of course.

Murray hasn't been a problem for Federer when it really, really mattered. He's another good player though.

The Nadal thing is obviously match-up - how else do we explain that he had this good record when generally he could do anything at certain Slams (was in 2009 before he beat a seed at the USO?).