Nadal's playing style and personality can be summarised by Jimmy Connors: "He's built out of a mold that I think I came from also, that you walk out there, you give everything you have from the very first point to the end no matter what the score.
And you're willing to lay it all out on the line and you're not afraid to let the people see that."

Former ATP world no.
1 and coach of Nadal, Carlos Moya, remembers the first time he played Nadal in Germany, when he was 22 and Rafa was just 12.
He shared the account in the book "Facing Nadal" by Scoop Malimowski: "I met him for the first time in Stuttgart.
He was playing an under 12s and I was playing the Masters event.
We actually played that day and he was twelve and I was twenty-two.
I think he was a very great player under twelve, he was very shy off court.
But then we saw something different on court.
But he was very hungry to play and compete and that’s something you could see right away.”

Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage, thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher.
Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions.
He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court.

Nadal employs a semi-western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow-through, where his left arm hits through the ball and finishes above his left shoulder – as opposed to a more traditional finish across the body or around his opposite shoulder.
Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin – more so than many of his contemporaries.

San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal.
Yandell concluded:
The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi.
They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute.
Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right?
2,700 revolutions per minute.
Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900.
His average was 3,200.

While Nadal's shots tend to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieve tend to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball.
Although his forehand is based on heavy topspin, he can hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners.

Nadal's serve was initially considered a weak point in his game, although his improvements in both first-serve points won and break points saved since 2005 have allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces.
Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners.
However, before the 2010 US Open, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose.
Before the 2010 U.S. Open, Nadal modified his service grip to a more continental one.
These two changes in his serve increased his average speed by around 10 mph during the 2010 US Open, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km), allowing him to win more free points on his serve.
Since the 2010 US Open, Nadal's serve speed dropped to previous levels and was again been cited as a need for improvement.
From 2019 onwards, several analysts praised Nadal's improvement on the serve, and noticed the speed of his serve had notably increased.

After signing the new coach Carlos Moyá in December 2016, Nadal's game style acquired a more offensive approach.
Under the direction of Carlos Moyá, Nadal improved his serve, and also incorporated serve-and-volley as a surprise tactic in some of his matches.

Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extreme
Nadal's playing style and personality can be summarised by Jimmy Connors: "He's built out of a mold that I think I came from also, that you walk out there, you give everything you have from the very first point to the end no matter what the score. And you're willing to lay it all out on the line and you're not afraid to let the people see that."
Former ATP world no. 1 and coach of Nadal, Carlos Moya, remembers the first time he played Nadal in Germany, when he was 22 and Rafa was just 12. He shared the account in the book "Facing Nadal" by Scoop Malimowski: "I met him for the first time in Stuttgart. He was playing an under 12s and I was playing the Masters event. We actually played that day and he was twelve and I was twenty-two. I think he was a very great player under twelve, he was very shy off court. But then we saw something different on court. But he was very hungry to play and compete and that’s something you could see right away.” 
Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage, thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court.
Nadal employs a semi-western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow-through, where his left arm hits through the ball and finishes above his left shoulder – as opposed to a more traditional finish across the body or around his opposite shoulder. Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin – more so than many of his contemporaries.
San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal. Yandell concluded:
The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200.
While Nadal's shots tend to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieve tend to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball. Although his forehand is based on heavy topspin, he can hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners.
Nadal's serve was initially considered a weak point in his game, although his improvements in both first-serve points won and break points saved since 2005 have allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners. However, before the 2010 US Open, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose. Before the 2010 U.S. Open, Nadal modified his service grip to a more continental one. These two changes in his serve increased his average speed by around 10 mph during the 2010 US Open, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km), allowing him to win more free points on his serve. Since the 2010 US Open, Nadal's serve speed dropped to previous levels and was again been cited as a need for improvement. From 2019 onwards, several analysts praised Nadal's improvement on the serve, and noticed the speed of his serve had notably increased.
After signing the new coach Carlos Moyá in December 2016, Nadal's game style acquired a more offensive approach. Under the direction of Carlos Moyá, Nadal improved his serve, and also incorporated serve-and-volley as a surprise tactic in some of his matches.
Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extreme
Rafael Nadal