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By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, Could 30, 2024
Rafael Nadal wears his iconic bull emblem on his chest, however he is a tennis chameleon at coronary heart, says Novak Djokovic.
Reigning champion Djokovic dismissed Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 charging into the Roland Garros third spherical for a males’s report nineteenth consecutive 12 months.
Nadal: Three Factors Will Decide My Future
Requested afterward to evaluate peak play from the king of clay, Djokovic started his response by detailing certainly one of Nadal’s most underappreciated property— excellence evolving his sport.
The Grand Slam king stated Nadal grew to become a greater participant a few decade into his historic profession as a result of mounting damage compelled him to vary his type and change into a extra aggressive participant.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic stated Nadal made three major modifications about 10 years into his profession:
1. Beefed up his backhand
2. Adopted extra aggressive court docket positioning
3. Dealt with the excessive ball to his two-hander higher as he received older.
“I truly assume that he has improved his backhand as he was getting older. He was in all probability aware of, , bodily struggles that he had, and he needed to be extra aggressive on the court docket,” Djokovic advised the media in Paris at the moment. “So he was, , nonetheless topspinning the forehand higher than anyone has ever accomplished it, and he nonetheless saved that unimaginable protection and offense within the forehand.
“However I believe with backhand he was simply capable of deal with the excessive balls to his backhand higher than he was possibly at the start of our encounters.”
Collectively, the long-lasting champions created essentially the most prolific rivalry in ATP historical past. They’ve confronted off 59 occasions with Djokovic holding a 30-29 head-to-head edge over Nadal.
Nonetheless, the soon-to-be 38-year-old Nadal gained their final match on the 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinals and so they’ve cut up the final eight conferences of their historic head-to-head sequence.
Relentless revision is important to Nadal’s ongoing evolution.
“As we speak I’ve to adapt my sport to the brand new time and to my age,” Nadal stated after his run to the 2022 Roland Garros title. “That’s what I did throughout all my profession, simply attempt to adapt my sport. That’s the one purpose why at this second I’m nonetheless right here competing at a excessive degree.
“I do know throughout my profession, I’m going to lose issues on my means, so I want so as to add new issues.”
In the course of the first decade of their rivalry, Djokovic stated Nadal was shifting higher and was so bodily imposing it felt like dealing with a tennis terminator on court docket. Because the two-time Olympic gold-medal champion aged and accidents mounted, he wasn’t the identical bodily power, nonetheless he developed right into a knockout artist of each wings.
Whereas Djokovic leads the rivalry and the Grand Slam race, he says Nadal’s backhand enhance made it “inconceivable to harm him” in baseline exchanges on dust.
“He was in all probability shifting higher and had higher bodily situation within the first ten years of his profession right here in Roland Garros, however then after that he needed to modify,” Djokovic stated of Nadal. “I believe he did very nicely with the backhand notably. I discovered his backhand very, very, very constant and actually an enormous weapon.The type of sample in opposition to Rafa was type of all the time looking for that backhand, get him out of the court docket and open up the forehand.
“However, , then he improved a lot on that backhand and court docket positioning that it grew to become, , inconceivable to search out type of a weak spot from the baseline, , to harm him.”
Djokovic appeared like his punishing self in his straight-sets win at the moment as he continues his quest for a record-extending twenty fifth Grand Slam championship in Paris with one other report in sight.
Ought to Djokovic attain the French Open fourth spherical, he’ll equal Roger Federer’s all-time Grand Slam wins mark with 369 main match victories.
Photograph credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty
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