SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER!
 
 
Facebook Social Button Twitter Social Button Follow Us on InstagramYouTube Social Button
NewsScoresRankingsLucky Letcord PodcastShopPro GearPickleballGear Sale

Popular This Week

Net Notes - A Tennis Now Blog

Net Posts

Industry Insider - A Tennis Now Blog

Industry Insider

Second Serve - A Tennis Now Blog

Second Serve

 

Look, we've seen enough hot shots from Rafael Nadal to know what one of them looks like. Practically every down-the-line forehand the Spaniard hits is a hot shot, as are most of his crosscourt forehands—the ones that curl off the court so wide that poor right-handers have to hit their backhands from the first row of the crowd—but this little reaction volley at the net (a response to a complete mind-fade volley from Andreas Seppi, who had all but won this point), we're sorry to say, is not a hot shot.

It's a big mistake by Andreas Seppi is what it is, and one you simply can't afford to make if you want to even entertain the hope of competing with the world's best clay-courter on the surface that he has owned for the last decade.

Nadal, who owns a 300-21 record on clay over the course of his brilliant career, does not need any help from his opponents on a clay court. Today he got some, and it made his 6-1, 6-3 victory even easier.

All the better, we suppose. The victory will keep his legs fresher so he can hit more of those scintillating hot shots that he's become famous for over the weekend in Monte-Carlo.

Posted: