Rafael Nadal scored another win in the Grand Slam finals against Roger Federer with the recent win at the Roland Garros 2011.

Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer in Roland Garros 2011 Final (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Nadal now leads 6-2 in the Grand Slam finals against Federer.

The question that many ponder is what would have happened if Federer won the first set.

He was a break up and missed a drop shot by a centimeter at a set point which would have given him a 6-2 first set. That would surely send a very strong message to both players.

Federer would really start to believe that he has a chance. (more…)

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal met for the 23rd time in their careers yesterday evening in the semifinals of Miami ATP 1000 Masters tournament.

I probably watched at least 20 of their 23 meetings and this time I saw again Federer self-destruct with tons of unforced errors as it happened in most of his defeats against Nadal. (Nadal leads 16:8 in head to head).

Nadal and Federer at Miami Masters 1000 / (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Let’s take a look at the stats and then I’ll share my idea of why Federer refuses to play “smarter tennis” even when he is losing to Nadal… (more…)

Roger Federer is back on the top! While Rafael Nadal deservedly holds the #1 ranking for the 2010 ATP rankings, Roger deservedly won the ATP Finals in fashion we haven’t seen for quite some time.

Roger Federer Wins ATP Finals 2010 against Rafael Nadal - AFP PHOTO / GLYN KIRK

Roger hasn’t lost a match in the whole tournament and beat Ferrrer, Soderling, Murray, Djokovic and finally his arch-rival Nadal with some amazing tennis.

Let’s look at some interesting stats from the match…

1. The players hit 585 shots in the 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 score. That’s 585 shots / 25 games = 24,4 shots per game and 585 shots / 130 points = 4,5 shots per point on average. (more…)

Rafael Nadal has just won his first US Open and completed a career Grand Slam which is a remarkable achievement considering his age and that he is playing in the era of Roger Federer.

But there was a certain pattern occurring in the last 3 Grand Slams – Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.

The player who beat Roger Federer in each tournament eventually faced Rafael Nadal in the final – and lost.

Robin Soderling beat Federer at Roland Garros with 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, reached the final and then lost to Rafael Nadal easily with 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Tomas Berdych beat Federer at Wimbledon 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and then lost in 3 straight sets again to Nadal in the final with 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Novak Djokovic beat Federer for the first time at the US Open with 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 and again lost to Nadal with 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. (more…)

Rafael Nadal won his second Wimbledon title against Tomas Berdych today and his 8th Grand Slam title.

Rafael Nadal beats Tomas Berdych for the Wimbledon 2010 title / Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

I watched the whole match and here are some of my thoughts that I wrote down during the match…

I knew that Nadal would play solid tennis at the start of the match. So my focus was on Berdych as I was looking to see any signs of pressure.

I was looking at the rhythm of shots from the baseline, how clean was Berdych hitting the ball and whether he’d go for the shots when he had an opening and whether he would be successful. (more…)

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: (more…)

Rafael Nadal has beaten Roger Federer for the 14th time in their 21st meeting at the Madrid Masters 2010 by 6-4, 7-6 (7:5).

It was a rematch of the Federer-Nadal 2009 Madrid final which Roger won 6-4, 6-4.

Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer in the final of the Madrid 2010 / Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Rafa and Roger have not played since last year’s final and it was evident that they were both searching for the most effective tactic against each other.

I’ve analyzed the match and here are some interesting facts when it comes to unforced errors: (more…)

If you’ve ever watched the coin toss at the start of the match when Rafael Nadal is one of the players on court, you’ve definitely noticed his sprint to the baseline after the players decide on which side they’ll play and who will serve first.

I believe there is a reason why Nadal starts his warm up in that way as I have personally done a few similar things before matches to get into the right state.

The following article will explain what the state is, why we have three different responses to perceived threats and how we can trigger the right one to perform well at the start of the match.

Did you know that your performance at the beginning of the match depends almost entirely on your state?

State can simply be described by how you feel (tense, relaxed, activated, …) and what is your mental state (calm, alert, upset, …). (more…)

I just ran across this article on Wozniacki by James Martin of Tennis.com. On the surface, the article might appear to equate offense with power. “She needs to hit harder and go for more winners.’ But if you read a little deeper you will see that there is more to it than that.

James Martin also talks about a mindset.  It is an assertive mindset that distinguishes the true champions.  Sampras does not have the most powerful serve. Federer does not have the most powerful strokes. They hit hard but there are others who can hit harder.

They both have fluidity and variety. In fact, if you think about Federer, Sampras and McEnroe everyone would agree they have incredible hands. So does Borg and so does Nadal. It is not as natural but they have used variety to augment their games.

And all of them used offense.   But the overall theme of the article seems to bottle up the essence of a higher level of tennis.

(more…)

Rafael Nadal has announced just a three days before the Wimbledon 2009 that has will not play. While withdrawing from a tournament because of an injury is the right thing to do for a professional tennis player who plans to play many more years, Nadal said a few things that don’t sound very professionally.

He just lost an exhibition match to Stanislas Wawrinka and said:” Today was the last test. I didn’t feel terrible but not close to my best. I’m just not 100 percent. I’m better than I was a couple of weeks ago, but I just don’t feel ready.”

Rafael Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon 2009 - Photo by AP

Nadal also lost an exhibition match a day before against Lleyton Hewitt. If it were only the knees holding him back, that would make nothing controversial but this statement in my opinion may be controversial: “When I start a tournament like Wimbledon, it is to try to win,” the No. 1-ranked Nadal said, “and my feeling right now is I’m not ready to play to win.”

This is something a top player should not say. (more…)