By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, Could 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 document nineteenth consecutive 12 months.
Nadal: Three Components Will Resolve My Future
Requested afterward to evaluate peak play from the king of clay, Djokovic started his response by detailing considered one of Nadal’s most underappreciated belongings— excellence evolving his recreation.
The Grand Slam king stated Nadal turned a greater participant a couple of decade into his historic profession as a result of mounting damage pressured him to vary his type and turn into a extra aggressive participant.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic stated Nadal made three main modifications about 10 years into his profession:
1. Beefed up his backhand
2. Adopted extra aggressive court docket positioning
3. Dealt with the excessive ball to his two-hander higher as he obtained older.
“I truly suppose that he has improved his backhand as he was getting older. He was in all probability aware of, you realize, bodily struggles that he had, and he needed to be extra aggressive on the court docket,” Djokovic advised the media in Paris right this moment. “So he was, you realize, nonetheless topspinning the forehand higher than anyone has ever achieved it, and he nonetheless stored that unimaginable protection and offense within the forehand.
“However I believe with backhand he was simply in a position to deal with the excessive balls to his backhand higher than he was perhaps in the beginning of our encounters.”
Collectively, the long-lasting champions created essentially the most prolific rivalry in ATP historical past. They’ve confronted off 59 occasions with Djokovic holding a 30-29 head-to-head edge over Nadal.
Nonetheless, the soon-to-be 38-year-old Nadal received their final match on the 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinals and so they’ve cut up the final eight conferences of their historic head-to-head collection.
Relentless revision is significant to Nadal’s ongoing evolution.
“At the moment I’ve to adapt my recreation to the brand new time and to my age,” Nadal stated after his run to the 2022 Roland Garros title. “That’s what I did throughout all my profession, simply attempt to adapt my recreation. That’s the one purpose why at this second I’m nonetheless right here competing at a excessive degree.
“I do know throughout my profession, I’m going to lose issues on my means, so I want so as to add new issues.”
Through the first decade of their rivalry, Djokovic stated Nadal was transferring higher and was so bodily imposing it felt like dealing with a tennis terminator on court docket. Because the two-time Olympic gold-medal champion aged and accidents mounted, he wasn’t the identical bodily power, nonetheless he developed right into a knockout artist of each wings.
Whereas Djokovic leads the rivalry and the Grand Slam race, he says Nadal’s backhand enhance made it “inconceivable to harm him” in baseline exchanges on filth.
“He was in all probability transferring 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 regulate,” Djokovic stated of Nadal. “I believe he did very nicely with the backhand significantly. I discovered his backhand very, very, very constant and actually a giant weapon.The sort of sample towards Rafa was sort of at all times looking for that backhand, get him out of the court docket and open up the forehand.
“However, you realize, then he improved a lot on that backhand and court docket positioning that it turned, you realize, inconceivable to search out sort of a weak spot from the baseline, you realize, to harm him.”
Djokovic regarded like his punishing self in his straight-sets win right this moment as he continues his quest for a record-extending twenty fifth Grand Slam championship in Paris with one other document in sight.
Ought to Djokovic attain the French Open fourth spherical, he’ll equal Roger Federer’s all-time Grand Slam wins mark with 369 main match victories.
Photograph credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty