Rafael Nadal is one of the best players in the world because he has a very smart plan on how to play key points.

The perfect example of that were the two tie-breaks he won against Nicolas Almagro today in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros.

The first tie-break was played in a very controlled way (playing high percentage tennis) but the second tie-break was a masterpiece of tactics and intelligence.

Rafael Nadal hits a forehand against Nicolas Almagro / Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Here’s what happened:

1. Nadal played a serve & volley on the first point. Almagro returned the serve on the T with a sliced backhand and Nadal had an easy volley. This was Nadal’s only third serve & volley in the match so far.

He played the first one on a break point in the first set and won it easily too as Almagro of course didn’t expect Nadal to serve & volley.

The reason why Nadal serve & volleyed on the first point of the tie-break was because Almagro returned most of the serves down the T with a sliced backhand.

Nadal recognized the pattern and knew that Almagro would most likely return the serve with a slice again. Combine that knowledge with a surprise approach to the net and Nadal has simply outsmarted Almagro.

2. Almagro took control of the rally in the second point and had Nadal stretched out wide on the forehand side. Nadal has neutralized those attacks in most cases (my best guess is in 9 out of 10 times) with a loopy cross court shot to Almagro’s backhand and that’s what Almagro was expecting.

Nadal knew that and decided to play a wrong footing counter attack forehand down the line which Almagro was not expecting. Again, Nadal outsmarted Almagro.

3. On the third point, Nadal again played a shot that he has never played until that point in the match. He attacked Almagro’s second serve with an inside out forehand and of course surprised him again. That was a third point in a row where Nadal played shot that surprised Almagro…

4. Nadal served the fourth point of the tie-break and stretched Almagro wide. Almagro returned the ball down the middle and the most obvious shot for Nadal was to play to open court.

But again Nadal played a shot that was not expected by Almagro – the short cross court wrong footing forehand winner. 4-0 to Nadal…

5. and 6. Almagro won next two points with very aggressive forehands where Nadal didn’t stand a chance.

7. He again took control of the seventh point where he attacked Nadal’s backhand from which Nadal played a neutralizing deep shot in most cases until that point. But he again chose a shot that Almagro didn’t expect – a very aggressive counter attacking backhand cross court shot which was a winner.

8. On the eighth point Nadal played one of his favorite patterns of play (choosing a tactical combo with the highest probability of winning the point he served out wide, forced a sliced backhand return from Almagro and won the point with an inside out forehand winner.

9. With a 5:2 lead he again attempted a courageous backhand counter attacking shot but missed it.

10. He made a backhand winner from behind the baseline on the final point of the tie-break.

And that’s what Nadal does to his opponents on key points. He is very intelligent and recognizes the patterns of play that happen most of the time during the match and then plays something else on purpose. Those are his aces up the sleeve and he simply outsmarts his opponents on key points.

It’s what really separates the top few guys in the rankings from the guys who are ranked slightly below.

It was a joy watching Almagro taking Nadal without fear and I hope he learns some new ideas from that match and eventually reaches the rankings and success that he is capable of.