Tennis: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Averages
By antiMatter
If Rafael Nadal had chosen to look like how he currently looks from the first time he burst into the scene, from what I hear, he would probably have had many more lady fans—probably a sizeable number from Federer's camp.
And the way he has been playing tennis lately, it seems he will grab a sizeable amount of Federer's points this year.
The deep top-spin forehand is never a bad weapon to hit. However tall you are, you really don't want to be facing top-spin strokes skidding off the baseline for over three hours. Yes, the depth which had disappeared midway last year, and the lack of which had allowed the likes of Juan Martin del Potro to step well inside the baseline and dispatch Nadal's top-spin forehand for inside-out winners, has returned on that same stroke, his mainstay.
The backhand looks frighteningly good crunching flat winners off both flanks. The serve surprisingly has more pace than one could remember. The one-two punch for service holds is back. And one was witness to a few great volleys too, off serve and off beautifully constructed points.
And he is indeed hitting the ball harder, deeper, and more aggressively. And more importantly, he is hungrier than ever as seen from his body language.
This holds in both his games at Qatar, against Simone Bolelli and Potito Starace. Except on a few occasions against Starace in the first set, when for sometime he seemed to be harbouring some special dislike for the ball, Nadal kept his level of play pretty high throughout the match, running away with the match when the opportunities presented themselves.
I have not seen Federer's second match at Qatar, but from what I saw of the first match, he played like the best man on the planet to play tennis, in the first set of it, finishing it off in 18 minutes. Christophe Rochus literally got schooled in the first set.
It was amazing all court display with great serving, volleying an...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis