Nadal to take it All?

No

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by Les Zsoldos

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Rafael Nadal is truly an exceptional player. His claycourt record is impressive, but he doesn't have the same results on hardcourts. One of the Grand Slams, the French Open, is played on clay, but the other three, the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon, are not. As great a player as he is, I don't think he'll become number one.

Rafael Nadal has a game that is ideal for clay. He uses a lot of topspin, is very fast on the court, slides well and makes few unforced errors. On harder surfaces, though, his game simply sn't as effective. To become the number one player in the world, he needs to make certain improvements in his game.

Compared to the number one player in the world, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal lacks the serve and net game to surpass him. On claycourts which neutralize the bounce of the tennis ball, a hard serve is not as effective. For this reason, Rafael Nadal is able to return a higher percentage of serves and his second serve is rarely punished. On a hardcourt it's a different story. Hard servers are more difficult to break and it becomes more difficult to win on second serve.

The advantages that Rafael Nadal has going for him are that he's young and extremely fit. It's unlikely that an opponent will wear him down physically. He has the ability to outlast his opponents on the court. This makes it possible for him to win very long points, a strategy that he employs brilliantly on clay. When he plays on a harder surface, though, the ball bounces faster and points tend to be considerably shorter. The style is also very different. On clay it's easier to make a winning drop shot and rely on spins and angles. On a hardcourt, power hitters are far more effective than they are on clay. Dropshots, speeds and angles need to be more precise than on clay for them to be effective.

When he plays on clay, Rafael Nadal tends to make few unforced errors and uses a heavy amount of topspin. This works well because he's very fit and steady. For harder surfaces, though, players can hit the ball flat and try to end the points early by putting away short balls and approaching the net. If Rafael Nadal wants to become the number one player in the world, he needs to adjust his game when playing on a harder surface. The way he accomplishes this is by hitting a higher percentage of winners, making his first serve harder and more accurate and hitting deeper balls. He may be successful on clay by being steady, but he needs to hit more winners to have equal success on hardcourts.

Many young players are poised to challenge for the number one position in the world. As good a player as Rafael Nadal is, the fact is that he doesn't have the game's best serve nor the best net game. Andy Roddick has an excellent serve, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has great touch at the net, Roger Federer has superb volleys and Novak Djokovic has terrific groundstrokes, so there are many players capable of being the best in the world.

Rafael Nadal is an incredible claycourt player, undoubtedly one of the best ever if not the best. He has great stamina, moves very well on the court, hits balls with a tremendous amount of topspin and at times also with heavy slice and usually makes very few unforced errors. This is ideal for the claycourt game. On hardcourt, however, this is not as effective. He needs to become equally dominant on hardcourt if he ever wants to become the number one player. If he develops a stronger serve, a better net game and the ability to hit more winners, he can become the number one player in the world. However, I don't think he will become the world's number one.

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