Flipping around through the Tennis Week blogs I found an interesting read... I edited for length!
Nadal Will Never Win a Career Grandslam by Redhead and Tommyboy
Nadal has been crushed the last two times he faced hard-hitting, tall opponents in Juan Martin Del Potro at the US Open Semifinals, and just recently Marin Cilic at the China Open.
It's one thing for Nadal to lose, but when he loses 1 and 3 like he did to Cilic then you have to doubt he'll ever, ever win the US Open, where the courts are very fast. Nadal doesn't hit through the ball enough, and he's clearly lost a step in mobility and his serve isn't a weapon that has to be reckoned with.
On the slower courts of the Australian Open which is at the beginning of the season when he's not worn down from globe-trekking during the season Nadal will always be a huge threat. But on the fast hard and indoor courts, Nadal doesn't have what it takes to get the 'W'...
I think Nadal is a great player on all other surfaces don't get me wrong, he's the modern day king of clay, and a definate force to be reckoned with on Grass. But if he wants a shot at contending to win the US Open and other tournaments played on faster hardcourts and indoors he's gotta fix his serve, he needs to drop his elbow more below shoulder level on the wind-up, and please stop running around the backhand to hit a forehand, work on your backhand, and stop leaving yourself open like that Rafa!!!
But other contenders have other weaknesses as well.
Roddick/Federer-Getting older..but Fed is still in the top three.
Djokovic/Soderling-Gotta improve their footwork, they move poorly.
Cilic/Murray-Their forehands plain stink.
Del Potro-Not a five-peat in the making.
Rafa's serve and strategy are easily fixible, so I wouldn't rule him out completely.
Thoughts?
What's on your mind?
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