Rafael Nadal #4: Weer Master in Montreal

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Op woensdag 15 september 2010 12:02 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:
RAFA = GOAT.
Federer = lammetje.

Suck on that.

VAMOS!

Volgend jaar proberen alle 4 de slams binnen te harken.

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Op dinsdag 14 september 2010 20:06 schreef Outlined het volgende:
oh ja . . . en fuck de Olympische Spelen. Als ik prof zou zijn dan had ik denk ik liever een Atp 500 toernooi op mijn palmares willen hebben dan een gouden medaille.

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Op dinsdag 14 september 2010 19:34 schreef Lagrinta het volgende:
Toch mooi die rivaliteit tussen Nadal en Federer-aanhangers. Ik heb het zelf ook dat ik Federer geen leuke speler vind - tennist als een Zwitsers uurwerk maar bewonder hem wel - en Nadal wel. Was met Agassi en Sampras net zo. Het is zoiets als een BMW en Mercedes op de oprit hebben. Niemand heeft het. Je bent of Federer fan of Nadal fan.

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Dat is dan een uitzondering, want de meeste sporters (of het nou voetballers zijn of boksers) vinden het uitkomen voor hun land op de OS het hoogst bereikbare

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Op woensdag 15 september 2010 12:02 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:
RAFA = GOAT.
Federer = lammetje.

Suck on that.

VAMOS!

Volgend jaar proberen alle 4 de slams binnen te harken.

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Op donderdag 16 september 2010 00:53 schreef Outlined het volgende:

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de een heeft 16 slams
de ander heeft 9 slams

Wie is hier de GOAT en wie het lammetje

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Op zondag 19 september 2010 16:29 schreef Lagrinta het volgende:

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Heeft er toch helemaal niets mee te maken. Lance Armstrong is ook een watje vergeleken met een Vinokourov. Die man is van Kazachs graniet.

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Op zondag 19 september 2010 17:40 schreef Outlined het volgende:

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oh ja, je hebt gelijk, ik herzie mijn standpunt 180 graden, dat ik dat zo niet gezien heb, stom zeg.

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Op maandag 20 september 2010 22:56 schreef Lagrinta het volgende:

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Mooi zo. En nu niet weer in de fout gaan.

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Op donderdag 16 september 2010 00:53 schreef Outlined het volgende:

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de een heeft 16 slams
de ander heeft 9 slams

Wie is hier de GOAT en wie het lammetje

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Op dinsdag 21 september 2010 01:21 schreef Rolmaat het volgende:

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En Nadal heeft er negen op 24-jarige leeftijd. Toen had Federer er zes.

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Op dinsdag 21 september 2010 02:00 schreef Rolmaat het volgende:
Ik hoop zelf ook Federer, maar ik vind het kansloos dat je de laatste tijd voor of Nadal of Federer lijkt te moeten kiezen. Het is geen Ajax/Feyenoord-verkiezing . Het zijn beide fantastische tennissers en ik heb respect voor allebei.

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Op dinsdag 21 september 2010 08:25 schreef Morthill het volgende:

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Tsja, het zijn de rivalen van deze generatie, krijg je al snel een tweedeling tussen supporters. Zit gewoon in de mens denk ik. Zolang we geen middagje organiseren om elkaar in elkaar te rammen...

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Op dinsdag 21 september 2010 01:32 schreef Outlined het volgende:

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In mijn klas zat iemand die was op jonge leeftijd al vrij lang, langer dan ik, vele jaren later ben ik langer.
Iedereen groeit anders. We zullen zien over 10 jaar wie de GOAT is. Ik hoop en denk fed.

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A week after Rafael Nadal’s historic win at the US Open, six-time ATP World Tour Champion Pete Sampras weighed in on the 24-year-old Spaniard’s chances of breaking Roger Federer’s record of 16 Grand Slam titles.

“I think if he’s smart with his schedule and the fact that he has so many at a young age he can very well do it,” said Sampras on a conference call to promote the upcoming BNP Paribas Showdown. “He obviously has a lot more work ahead of him. The only question with Rafa is physically how much his body can handle the pounding of how hard he works for every point. If you just watch him play the kid is relentless.

“It’s a huge goal, it’s a lot of majors and it’s a lot of work. Quite honestly, I don’t think he needs to. He’s won all the majors, he’s won the Olympics and he’s dominated his main rival in Roger. I don’t think his goal is 16 or 17 or 18. I think he’s just going to try to improve as a tennis player and if it happens great. He could do it but if you look at what’s ahead it’s a lot of work and he’s got to work so hard for every match he plays, but he’s a beast.”

Sampras, who won his 14th Grand Slam title at the 2002 US Open, saw Federer eclipse his mark in July 2009 at the All England Club and dismissed the notions of the Swiss’ decline since breaking the record.

“I don’t think it’s the record; I just think he’s done everything in the game and you get to a point in your life where things slow down a little bit and you’re not quite as fresh as you were when you were 22 and mentally it’s a grind week in, week out on the tour,” said Sampras, who won his final Slam at 31 years of age. “I still think he’s still a strong favourite for every major that he plays. He had two match points against [Novak] Djokovic, could have very well been in the final.

“He’s played fine. I don’t see any decline. I just think guys are getting a little better and he’s lost some close matches here and it’s going to happen. He’s 29 and the next few years or sort of a challenge but I think Roger is up to the task. He can win more majors, but these guys are getting a little bit better and confident against him.”

Sampras still maintains the record for most weeks at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings – 286 weeks to Federer’s 285 – and said in response to the on-going greatest of all-time debate: “It’s hard to answer. Each decade has their guy. I think now we have Rafa who’s had done everything in the game. He’s won all the majors, he’s won the Olympics, and he has a winning record against Roger. You could very well put him on the top of the list, but it’s so argumentative. There’s no clear best player of all-time.“

The American will join three other former World No. 1 players on 28 February, 2011, at Madison Square Garden for the BNP Paribas Showdown. Sampras will renew his old rivalry with Andre Agassi in a best of three sets exhibition match, while John McEnroe squares off against Ivan Lendl. Tickets for the BNP Paribas Showdown go on sale 27 September and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office and all Ticketmaster outlets.

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As a gangly 8-year-old, Rafael Nadal picked up a new racket at the suggestion of Uncle Toni, his coach, and began to swat around a ball. Toni liked what he saw. The Babolat Soft Drive was exactly what he had been searching for: light and easy to maneuver with a tiny grip.

It was originally designed for a woman, which was fine by Toni, because he wanted a racket his young nephew would be able to control easily. A former table-tennis champion turned tennis pro, Toni Nadal liked the feeling of waving his ping-pong paddle back and forth quickly through the air like a magic wand.

Why, he wondered, couldn't a tennis player replicate this motion on the court? "It seemed to me that this [new] racket was easier to whip around," said Toni. "For that same reason I like a small grip."

As Mr. Nadal continues to cruise through the U.S. Open field this year—he plays countryman Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals on Thursday—the impact of his uncle's small epiphany on professional tennis is hard to underestimate. In fact, it has helped to fundamentally change the way many top pros approach rackets.

When he started using the whippier racket, the young Rafa, who is naturally right-handed, was using two hands on both sides. It wasn't until he was 10 that he started playing about 20 minutes at a time with a one-handed forehand. "I thought he should be left-handed because he was using his legs like a left-hander," Toni said. "We started hitting serves with his left arm and then with his other arm and the reality is he wasn't very good with either," he added, laughing. "We had to choose and we chose left."

When he played his first tournament—also at 10—the light racket and small grip helped Rafa make the transition to a one-handed forehand on his nondominant side. But the flimsy frame made it harder for him to get speed on his serve.

Fourteen years later, Mr. Nadal plays with a different Babolat racket—the top-selling black and yellow Aeropro Drive—but the specifications he uses haven't changed much.

As the topspin-heavy, clay-court style of play that Mr. Nadal has perfected takes over tennis, there has been a shift in how many of the top pros approach rackets. Players like Mr. Nadal and fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya, who stay glued to the baseline with big forehands and double-fisted backhands, have abandoned the heavy, thick-gripped weapons of the past that players such as Pete Sampras and John McEnroe favored.


Today, thin is in. Skinny grips and lighter frames that carry more weight in the head rather than the shaft help baseliners generate more racket-head speed so they can use their wrists and forearms to roll through their shots. Updated polyester strings only add to the effect, as players finish their swings with their rackets up around their ears to get crazy amounts of spin.

"If you give Nadal a heavy racket with a big grip, it's impossible to do what he does," said Roman Prokes, part of the team of U.S. Open stringers handling Mr. Nadal's sticks.

The world No. 1 is also not a racket diva. Mr. Nadal doesn't travel with a personal stringer unlike many other top tour players. Nor does he take his frustrations out on his equipment. The only time Toni Nadal saw his nephew break a racket is when he was playing at Roland Garros—he hit his shoe on a serve and cracked the frame. The serve was good.

Aside from treating his rackets kindly, what Mr. Nadal does is put a lot of action on the ball. A maneuverable frame lets him execute his signature lefty forehand: instead of following through over his right shoulder, Mr. Nadal snaps his racket back after hitting the ball. (Kind of like a ping-pong player.) The result is a hyper-rotating spin with the ball jumping high off the court.

Rafa's racket weighs a flimsy 10.6 ounces unstrung, plus an extra 0.4 ounce he adds to the head, for a total of 11.5 ounces with strings, practically pixie dust in the hands of a 6-foot-1 hulking guy. By contrast, the 5-foot-10, 128-pound Caroline Wozniacki, the U.S. Open's top seeded woman, plays with the same Babolat Aeropro Drive as Mr. Nadal; her frame is just two ounces lighter than Mr. Nadal's.

If Mr. Nadal picked up Mr. Sampras's old racket today, his shots would probably hit the fence. The hefty, unforgiving Pro Staff Original Mr. Sampras used en route to 14 Grand Slam titles is 12.6 ounces unstrung. It was already cumbersome, but Mr. Sampras added lead tape to get more power and control, for a total mass of almost 14 ounces with strings. To manage it, he used a grip with a circumference of 4 5/8 inches.


Mr. Nadal's svelte handle is but a toothpick in comparison: 4¼ inches around, a size smaller than the grip Ms. Wozniacki and many women use. "A 4 3/8 grip was considered a ladies racket," said Mr. Prokes, "but now across the board players have gone to small grip sizes, at least one size smaller or more."

Still, Rafa's grip size is extreme. "That's unusual to create that much head speed and the racket not twist in your hand with that grip," said Nick Bollettieri, coach of 10 No. 1 players. "None of my students use that."

Before Mr. Nadal came of age, Mr. Moya, his countryman and mentor, was one of the first guys to use a minuscule 4¼ grip. "With heavy topspin, the grips are smaller so the guys can pronate their wrists fast on their forehands," said Stan Smith, U.S. Open winner in 1971 and former No. 1 player in the world. Mr. Moya uses an even lighter Babolat racket—with most of the weight in the head—than Mr. Nadal does today.

Still, the trend isn't for everyone. Don't expect a player like Roger Federer to go all tiny and light. With more of a classic style game, Mr. Federer's strokes benefit from the old-fashioned heavier frame. "Federer is not that far around on his forehand, so he uses a heavier racket," said Mr. Smith. "The heavier racket gives you more mass around the ball for power, but you can't maneuver it around quite as much."

Mr. Nadal might have the most punishing topspin on tour, but Team Rafa is always looking for equipment tweaks that will help him get more rotation and power. Each November, Babolat CEO Eric Babolat visits Mallorca to talk to the Nadals and test new ideas.

Two years ago Toni and Rafa gave suggestions for developing a string that would give him more topspin with less effort—he had been using the same yellow Babolat Pro Hurricane strings for more than 10 years. The transition wasn't easy. "Rafael is difficult to change," said Toni. But a hesitant Rafa liked the feeling: "The ball stays more time on the racket, so is easier to have the control," he said.

He made the switch at the Australian Open and went on to win the French and Wimbledon with the black strings. Other players took note: three out of the four French Open finalists used them. Four months after the launch, Babolat said it accounts for 10% of its annual string sales.

The question going forward is whether Mr. Nadal can continue to generate enough power. "Each year he is playing he is getting a little less powerful," Toni Nadal said. "That is normal. The older he gets the more difficult to have the same energy."

His solution: a heavier racket. "We are thinking at the end of the year we are going to add a little more weight at the head of the racket to get more power on the serve," said Toni, smiling. "But don't tell him that."

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Op donderdag 3 februari 2011 22:20 schreef senswal het volgende:
Nadal speelt begin maart het Daviscupduel tegen Belgie.
Wat voor mij dus een kans is om hem te kunnen zien spelen.
Maar er zijn kaarten voor de vrijdag, zaterdag en zondag beschikbaar.
Welke dag moet ik gaan, dat ik hem gegarandeerd kan zien spelen?
Ik kon zo gauw geen Daviscuptopic vinden, dus ik post het maar hier.
Misschien kunnen andere Rafa-fans er ook nog wat mee.

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Op donderdag 3 februari 2011 22:20 schreef Ambrosius het volgende:

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Vrijdag heb je de grootste kans dan denk ik. Zaterdag is de dubbel, en zondag kan het al beslist zijn en is de kans groot dat de nummers 3 en/of 4 aan de bak mogen.

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Op zondag 24 april 2011 21:59 schreef Morthill het volgende:
jammer voor Rafa dat hij op hardcourt voorbij gestreefd is door Djokovic

jammer ook voor Ferrer, zo'n briljante gravelspeler zijn in het tijdperk Nadal

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Op zondag 24 april 2011 22:02 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:

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Op basis van wat baseer je dat eerste deel? Die 3 toernooi winsten van afgelopen maanden?

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Op zondag 24 april 2011 22:06 schreef Morthill het volgende:

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nee, want dat zou betekenen dat ik waarde hecht aan de winst van Ferrer op Nadal in Melbourne en dat zou dom zijn.

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Op zondag 24 april 2011 22:08 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:

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2 vragen, 1 antwoord. Het is mij nog niet helemaal duidelijk waarop je het baseert.

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Op zondag 24 april 2011 22:12 schreef Morthill het volgende:

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Op zijn overwinningen op de masters, Djokovic liet daar tennis zien wat gewoon net een stapje hoger is dan wat Nadal liet zien bij zijn winst in NY (en uiteraard dit seizoen, want hij won twee keer). Maar ook buiten de duels met Nadal was Djokovic gewoon beter en indrukwekkender.
Djokovic heeft ergens tussen de twee seizoenen enorme stappen gezet en is daarmee gewoon beter geworden dan Nadal, dat bewees hij in Miami en Indian Wells waar Nadal wel fit was.

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Op zondag 24 april 2011 22:50 schreef Morthill het volgende:
ik had ook niet anders verwacht

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Op maandag 25 april 2011 20:28 schreef Federer-fan het volgende:

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Ik vind het ook voorbarig wat je zegt hoor. Op dit moment is Djokovic top, maar ook bij hem is het de vraag of zijn lichaam het houdt. En qua HC-grandslams staan ze vooralsnog gelijk.

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Op zondag 24 april 2011 21:52 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:
Dank Ambro.

Rafa heeft vandaag in Barcelona gewonnen. De 6de keer dat hij daar de titel pakt. Enige speler in het Open Era die 2 toernooien (Monte Carlo en Barcelona) 6x weet te winnen. Hij kan daar in de komende weken nog eens 2 toernooien aan toe kunnen voegen (Rome en Roland Garros).

Wat een beest is het toch. Zijn toernooiwinsten op gravel zijn toch wel heel erg indrukwekkend.

Als ik stiekem droom dat hij de normale levensduur van een toptennisser zou kunnen hebben, dan kan hij echt beestachtige records (op alle ondergronden) neerzetten. RAFAAAAA!!!

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Op maandag 25 april 2011 20:43 schreef Morthill het volgende:

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Federer loopt voor in grand slams op iedereen, dat zegt niks over zijn vorm en kwaliteiten nu. Dat is wel gebleken. Djokovic is momenteel gewoon de betere op HC, misschien is dat over een jaar weer anders, maar het zou net zo goed kunnen dat Nadal geen slam meer pakt op HC.

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Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 07:38 schreef Federer-fan het volgende:

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Da's waar en momenteel is Djokovic inderdaad het best en inderdaad kan het zijn dat het straks weer verandert. Of Murray wordt een soort lachende derde, als Nadal en Djokovic allebei opbranden - en ik hoop natuurlijk dat dat niet gebeurt. Ben enorm benieuwd naar RG en Wimbledon dit jaar.

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Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 12:55 schreef TheGeneral het volgende:
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Op zondag 5 juni 2011 19:27 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:
Weet iemand waarom er niet in dit topic gereageerd kan worden? Dank. Ambro weer misschien?

Rafael Nadal #4: Weer Master in Montreal