It Grew to become Inconceivable to Harm Him

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, May 30, 2024

Rafael Nadal wears his iconic bull brand on his chest, however he is a tennis chameleon at coronary heart, says Novak Djokovic.

Reigning champion Djokovic dismissed Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 charging into the Roland Garros third spherical for a males’s report nineteenth consecutive 12 months.

Nadal: Three Factors Will Decide My Future

Asked afterward to evaluate peak play from the king of clay, Djokovic started his response by detailing one in every of Nadal’s most underappreciated belongings— excellence evolving his recreation.

The Grand Slam king mentioned Nadal grew to become a greater participant a couple of decade into his historic profession as a result of mounting damage compelled him to vary his type and change into a extra aggressive participant.

Three-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic mentioned Nadal made three main adjustments about 10 years into his profession:

1. Beefed up his backhand

2. Adopted extra aggressive courtroom positioning

3. Handled the excessive ball to his two-hander higher as he obtained older.

“I actually think that he has improved his backhand as he was getting older. He was probably conscious of, you know, physical struggles that he had, and he had to be more aggressive on the court,” Djokovic informed the media in Paris in the present day. “So he was, you know, still topspinning the forehand better than anybody has ever done it, and he still kept that incredible defense and offense in the forehand.

“But I feel with backhand he was simply in a position to deal with the excessive balls to his backhand higher than he was possibly at the start of our encounters.”

Together, the iconic champions created the most prolific rivalry in ATP history. They’ve faced off 59 times with Djokovic holding a 30-29 head-to-head edge over Nadal.

Still, the soon-to-be 38-year-old Nadal won their last match at the 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinals and they’ve split the last eight meetings of their historic head-to-head series.

Relentless revision is vital to Nadal’s ongoing evolution.

“Today I have to adapt my game to the new time and to my age,” Nadal said after his run to the 2022 Roland Garros title. “That’s what I did during all my career, just try to adapt my game. That’s the only reason why at this moment I’m still here competing at a high level.

“I know during my career, I’m going to lose things on my way, so I need to add new things.”

During the first decade of their rivalry, Djokovic said Nadal was moving better and was so physically imposing it felt like facing a tennis terminator on court. As the two-time Olympic gold-medal champion aged and injuries mounted, he wasn’t the same physical force, however he developed into a knockout artist of both wings.

While Djokovic leads the rivalry and the Grand Slam race, he says Nadal’s backhand boost made it “unimaginable to harm him” in baseline exchanges on dirt.  

“He was in all probability shifting higher and had higher bodily situation within the first ten years of his profession right here in Roland Garros, however then after that he needed to modify,” Djokovic said of Nadal. “I feel he did very properly with the backhand notably. I discovered his backhand very, very, very constant and actually an enormous weapon.The type of sample in opposition to Rafa was type of all the time looking for that backhand, get him out of the courtroom and open up the forehand.

“But, you know, then he improved so much on that backhand and court positioning that it became, you know, impossible to find kind of a weak spot from the baseline, you know, to hurt him.”

Djokovic seemed like his punishing self in his straight-sets win in the present day as he continues his quest for a record-extending twenty fifth Grand Slam championship in Paris with one other report in sight.

Should Djokovic attain the French Open fourth spherical, he’ll equal Roger Federer’s all-time Grand Slam wins mark with 369 main match victories.

Photo credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty