Couch Umpire
Louie
Yinette PerezThis year's French Open
June 17th 2009 03:12
Why Nadal Lost
No one can really answer this question, but to put it simply, he lost his mojo on clay. Tennis, a game primarily decided by match-ups (as opposed to team sports like football and basketball), depends totally on the fact that your skills are going to work against your opponent.
Nadal is a great all around player, but when faced with Roger's amazing pace and spin in a Roland Garros (FO) warm-up tournament, and his new mastery of the drop shot (or utilization, no one is really sure), Rafael lost. This was the first ting that contributed to his loss at the French Open. When he was asked about his loss to Federer on clay, he said the conditions at the tournament were very wet, and that helped Roger's game. This is a great example of how to keep optimism when things look relatively bleak. Shift the blame onto something reasonable and think that next time you have the chance, you'll succeed (look in any psychology text book and you'll find this).
That brings us to the French Open. Now, the reason Nadal lost isn't because he played very badly. Obviously, he played relatively badly, but Soderling played a great match. His hard hitting won him the match. He just outplayed Nadal. Up to the finals, Soderling looked like he was going to go all the way. Unfortunately, the second best clay court player on tour made it to the finals also, and with his new drop shot, finished off Soderling like it was his job.
Oh yeah, it was.
Either way, it was a great French Open for Soderling and Federer, and a dismal one for Nadal. He lost a lot of points (and face) and to stay at number one in the near future is going to be difficult if he keeps dropping titles. More on that later, Wimbledon will be a whole 'nother story.
No one can really answer this question, but to put it simply, he lost his mojo on clay. Tennis, a game primarily decided by match-ups (as opposed to team sports like football and basketball), depends totally on the fact that your skills are going to work against your opponent.
Nadal is a great all around player, but when faced with Roger's amazing pace and spin in a Roland Garros (FO) warm-up tournament, and his new mastery of the drop shot (or utilization, no one is really sure), Rafael lost. This was the first ting that contributed to his loss at the French Open. When he was asked about his loss to Federer on clay, he said the conditions at the tournament were very wet, and that helped Roger's game. This is a great example of how to keep optimism when things look relatively bleak. Shift the blame onto something reasonable and think that next time you have the chance, you'll succeed (look in any psychology text book and you'll find this).
That brings us to the French Open. Now, the reason Nadal lost isn't because he played very badly. Obviously, he played relatively badly, but Soderling played a great match. His hard hitting won him the match. He just outplayed Nadal. Up to the finals, Soderling looked like he was going to go all the way. Unfortunately, the second best clay court player on tour made it to the finals also, and with his new drop shot, finished off Soderling like it was his job.
Oh yeah, it was.
Either way, it was a great French Open for Soderling and Federer, and a dismal one for Nadal. He lost a lot of points (and face) and to stay at number one in the near future is going to be difficult if he keeps dropping titles. More on that later, Wimbledon will be a whole 'nother story.
| 40 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Marc (Sports Righting)
I'm a relative newcomer as well and I'm still trying to find my feet. It's great to see another tennis enthusiast.
I'm going to be making several posts over the next few days leading into Wimbledon, so feel free to comment, challenge them or completely disagree!
I'll certainly keep my eye on your site and I'm sure it will be good reading.
Cheers,
Marc