Photo by AFP

Andy Murray played a smart tactical game when winning the semi-final match at the 2008 US Open against Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4.

Nadal’s aggressive baseline game has been an unsolvable problem for Federer and most other players in 2008 but Murray found a crack in it.

Here’s how most players play against Nadal:

1. They play to his backhand since his forehand is a stronger shot. While this stops Nadal from attacking for a few shots, it doesn’t really win points. Nadal’s backhand may be weaker than his forehand but it’s far from being a weak shot especially if he doesn’t have to move much!

2. They position themselves at the normal spot when returning his serves – 1m or so behind the baseline. Nadal’s serve cannot compare to Andy Roddick’s rockets but it’s still a very good shot and keeps the returner on defense.

3. They force the shots since they know that Nadal will bring every ball back. Forcing the shots means playing with more and more risk and this eventually doesn’t work since the long term probability of winning the point goes to Nadal. (more…)