2013 French Open...Roland Garros, Paris, France

[stotty]

What were Nadal's tactics...

Don_budge,

And could you explain a little bit more about what you believe Djokovic's tactics were in general to beat Nadal?

jbill

I think the question is more fitting if reversed. What were Nadal's tactics to beat Djokovic? It's Nadal that's had to come up with the answers...solve the puzzle...not the other way round.

[jbill]

Tactics of Nadal and Djokovic

Yes, a discussion about both players' tactics would be informative.

Thank you, gentlemen.

jbill

[jbill]

forehand reverse crosscourt

Also, I would still like to know what a "forehand reverse crosscourt" is.

Jbill

[don_budge]

Reverse Cross Court...and "Who's Zoomin' Who?"

Also, I would still like to know what a "forehand reverse crosscourt" is.

Jbill

When for example...Djokovic runs around his backhand and hits his forehand from his backhand court to the backhand court on the other side of the net. Normally to a right hander it would be to their backhand but in this case it is into the teeth of the Nadal forehand.

I started a thread down below...Nadal vs. Djokovic...a Tactical Discussion (to jbill). Just in case you didn't see it. Tactics is of course a two way street...that goes without saying. It takes two to tango and it takes two to tangle.

The match tactics and the ensuing struggle often boils down to "Who's zooming who?"...which again is a song about love by Detroit native Aretha Franklin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnwDkT0lUWI

Who's Zoomin' Who...Aretha Franklin

You walked in on the sly
Scopin' for love
In the crowd, I caught your eye
You can't hide your stuff

You came to catch
You thought I'd be naive and tame
You met your match
I beat you at your own game

(chorus)
Who's zoomin' who, take another look, tell me baby
Who's zoomin who...oh
Who's zoomin' who, now the fish jumped off the hook
Didn't I baby...Who's zoomin' who (x2)

Guess you believed the world
Played by your rules
Here stands an experienced girl
Nobody's fool...

Don't speculate
you thought you had me covered, but
I've got your bait
You're bound to be my lover...oh
(chorus)

You think you're smooth
That you can pickand choose
When the time is right...
But, just look behind, you'll be surprised to find
I'm gonna make you mine tonight...oh
(chorus)

[stotty]

Nadal tactics

Nadal showed good tactics in the final. Simple but good. The main thing he must do when playing Djokovic is keep the ball as deep as possible. Djokovic can command the midcourt in a way Nadal never can. When he starts motoring he can clean winners left, right and centre from that position. Not only does hitting deep keep Djokovic at bay it also deprives him of angles. This is really important. Djokovic loves to see angles. When he gets them he can start working Nadal off the court. If he can see enough angles often enough, it’s game over. Nadal kept a very good length throughout the match. He returned serve consistently well, looping many high and deep. He did a great job in this respect. He returned better than Djokovic on the day.

I haven’t checked out Nadal’s court position in their previous ATP matches compared to the RG final but something seemed different. I haven’t quite put my finger on what it was yet.

Nadal seemed happy to offer up his forehand wing by showing Djokovic a slightly larger gap there than usual. Djokovic overplayed his usual key tactic of hitting Nadal’s forehand to open up the way to attack the backhand. He repeatedly thumped balls into Nadal’s forehand corner to open up the backhand instead of choosing the more perfect moment. All too often there were times when hitting to the backhand straight away was the better option. He fudged these decisions a lot. This is what used to happen in the days before Djokovic learned to dominate Nadal. Djokovic has to hit absolute screamers if he starts overplaying this strategy. Nadal was leaving the gap...but on to Djokovic’s inside out forehands like a shot...knowing they were coming...he fished Djokovic’s bullets back comfortably at times, and back to a length, too. Sometimes he was there so quick he hit a thumper back himself. You can only hit into the lion’s mouth so often.

Another factor is the one major scenario Nadal doesn’t have to cover. He knows Djokovic will not be moving to the net behind his bullets to mop up the easy kill. So uncomfortable is Djokovic at the net. Edberg and McEnroe would be having a field day with Nadal’s scooped retrieves. This takes huge pressure off Nadal who, knowing this, defends beautifully by lofting balls high over the net and deep in the court...so the rally starts again...with Djokovic the main risk taker.

Nadal has to serve well against Djokovic, and he certainly did that. He served only slightly slower than Djokovic on the day and his lefty serve can be awkward to deal with even for Djokovic. His first serve percentage was 64%. That’s decent. He can’t let Djokovic see too many second serves and his second serves had to be good. They were.

That said Djokovic never really settled. His backhand let him down for periods during the match. Much is made of his backhand, and it is exceptionally good, but it doesn’t have the same reliability that bestowed the Connors backhand all those years ago. When Djokovic’s bedrock backhand lets him down it’s a problem. That backhand is like having another forehand. It’s the shot that has made taming Nadal possible. The only other backhand comparable is Murray's.

Nadal executed what he had to do perfectly, Djokovic faltered. Djokovic fudged his tactics reminiscent of when he first played Nadal in their earlier days. Whether this was because of Nadal’s slightly altered court positioning (this could just be my imagination) or because he lacked clarity of mind on the big occasion, I’m not sure. When opportunities came around to use angles against Nadal he didn't always take them. This is another sign he was unsettled. The nerves have to be calm and still where any kind of intricacy is concerned.

Another area where I feel Nadal scores over Djokovic is at the net. He volleys better and has a better overhead. Djokovic has a less than world-class overhead in my opinion. It’s decidedly shaky on big points.

gsheiner's point about the inside out backhand is interesting. I miss that shot. It was staple of many a good grass court player. The problem is the ball has to be knee height or below to be able to play that shot. The inside out slice cannot be played off higher bouncing balls or even waist high balls. In today’s clay and hard court tennis there are precious few low bouncing balls...just rearing bullets. The shot therefore has become a dinosaur, except on grass where there is still a place for it one would hope.

In one of don_budge’s post he talks of Nadal having to learn to flatten out his backhand to better combat Djokovic. Most of the time he hasn’t adhered this advice, but out of nowhere in that fifth set he punched out two flat backhands that caught Djokovic’s unawares, in a game that was vital in that it stopped Djokovic steamrolling the fifth. Nadal played a brilliant fifth set matched only by Borg’s fifth set against McEnroe at Wimbledon 1980.

I’d love to re-watch the match to examine the court positioning of Nadal and compare it to other matches. You always see much more second time around, too. Sadly, I never have time to do this sort of thing.