Nikolay Davydenko Tames Rafael Nadal in Miami Tennis Final
At the press conference:
"I played a very good tournament," said Nadal. "I won against very good players. I played at my best level against Berdych, against Blake, against Mathieu. So for that reason I won against these top players. Today I didn't play my best. He played well and I lost."
Those were some of the comments Rafael Nadal made of his opponents performance, but when you reflect upon those last words, you realize that Nadal is not truly giving credit to his opponent and rather dismissing the whole affair as a case of, I did not play my best, Davydenko did, and I lost it! In other words, if I had played my best I would have beaten him.
For us learners of the game what is, The Truth?
The tennis truth is, Davydenko just did not let Nadal play! How?
Simple, Davydenko is an aggressive baseliner and plays like a metronome, nevertheless with years of experience, he has learned to add elements to his game like; the occasional net attack, a well placed drop-shot and some great angles.
If you compare the speed, nimbleness and fluidity of Davydenkos movement to Nadals effort full and forceful displacement, you have a case of the light weight vs the heavy weight, with great advantages to the first.
You are starting to see where I am going to, but that is not the whole thing. Yes, it translates into time and distance. Davidenko puts enormous pressure on Nadal in almost every point, because he moves a lot faster and is almost always earlier at the ball then Nadal. With every ball exchange Nadal has ever less time and has to run more distance than his opponent.
Next, because Davidenko is earlier at the ball, he also hits the ball earlier then Nadal, which makes it a double whammy, added to the fact that once in control, Davidenko boldly gets inside the court and starts running a Nadal ever more distant from the baseline, swings him from side to side like a puppet on a string and occasionally finishes points with the humiliating drop-shot or a net foray.
Since tennis is mostly about percentage play and Davidenko is a metronome, the ultimate tennis percentage machine, the odds start looking pretty bad for Nadal. But, I have not told you what really hurt Nadal the most.
“Today I didn't play my best. He played well and I lost." Raffa said.
No, no Rafael, it was not that!
What really hurts you and does not let you play your game is:
- Nikolay Davidenko hits the ball early with tremendous pace and “keeps it very low”. Yes, skidding low and fast balls, which you do not like because:
- With your extreme forehand grip and a double handed backhand you are not able to get under the ball as much as you would like to.
- You do not have as much time as you would like to have to take your huge loopy backswings, therefore half of your playing rhythm is gone!
- Finally, even though you like to play 3 to 4 meters behind the baseline, with guys like Davidenko, Federer and a few others, it is a recipe for disaster. Because you are at the mercy of their mistakes and they are not going to make many!
And by the way, Rafa did not lose the match himself as he claims. To give honest credit to his opponent at the press conference, he should have said instead; “ Davidenko played well, did not let me play my game and deserved to win the match. Congratulations to him.”
What is in all of this from the tennis instruction point of view for you?
If you are playing anyone with extreme grips and huge wild swings, get early to the ball, hit it early, keep the ball fast and low, make them dig for every shot, cash in on the stream of short balls and wisely put them away as opportunities arise.
Keep on improving your game.
Sergio Cruz
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It is curious, however, that right before the Press Conference, during the awards cerimony,Nadal has expressed the unbelievable way Davidenko has played that afternoon.
Right after, he had slighltly different words as you have said.
Maybe short memmory.
Regards,
Luis Cruz
Comment by GUEST on 2008-04-10 04:01:27 Thanks for your comment Luis. It is hard to swallow defeat, any defeat! It takes great humbelness and true sportmanship to admit that on that day your opponent was better than you.
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, the odds start looking pretty bad for Nadal. But, I have not told you what really hurt Nadal the most.
