Rafael Nadal - What Do You Do?

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Rafael Nadal is having quite a difficult year. Lost his Wimbledon and US Open Crowns. Has lost his lion's share of the Clay titles. Infact this year he has lost 15 matches. That is his worst run of defeats since 2007 and his Hardcourt record loss sheet is it's worst since....correct 2007. So where has it all gone so wrong for the former World No.1? I like Rafa and I like his style of play and what he brings to the game of tennis, but I am very concerned. The hard work he has put in since 2007 to improve on all surfaces and win Grand Slam titles in the process. That cannot be faulted. If you are Rafa what do you do? What needs changing? Even when he won in Roland Garros, it still didn't seem like the Rafa of the year before that blitzed the field of Clay the year before. I have noticed the lack of 'Vamos's' by Rafa and Uncle Toni in the last 6 months. I think ever since Djokovic defeated him in those 4 successive finals, both Toni and Rafa have seemed dumbfounded by this new threat that has completely surpassed him this year. If I was a die-hard Rafa fan I would be annoyed at the lack of urgency that has gone missing in his game. I can't comment on the relationship between Rafa and Toni and whether things are slightly fragile between the two. I just don't know. All I know is what I have seen is quite negative in his game this year. In a way Murray like. He has gone into a slump and it appears at times he is clueless. Take the defeat to Tsonga yesterday. After that second set Rafa of old would've cleaned up that 3rd set 6-1 or 6-2. The foot would've been down and that was it. Now players have seen that in a BO3 Rafa is still vulnerable and now the game can be taken away from him. His flat BH up the line which is such a devastating shot and the best in the game is not working. His depth on the BH cross court is no longer containing the depth of old. The first serve is letting him down. He is giving a lot of free points away now in matches. It is sad to see. I would hate to see him vanish into the wilderness. He is a much better player than that. On the Hardcourts this year he has looked out of sorts and almost scared of the surface. It looks like he might prioritise Clay and give up on the Hard stuff like he did to 2007.

Having said all of that. If you were Rafa what would you do? What do you think needs addressing? Does Uncle Toni get his P45? Do you look to increase the power in the serve that served him well in 2010? Work hard on the BH and get it working again at it's potent best? Should he just focus on Clay from now on in?

his forehand and backhand have been too ragged for it to be just the surfaces fault, it looks like the weight in these new balls have made it difficult for him to get the power right.

oh yeah, he needs to get down with shakira once more.