Before you talk about Nadal’s game you have to talk a little bit about Federer’s fall.  As great as the Wimbledon final was, I don’t think we’ve seen both men playing at their peaks.

For Nadal, so much of his improvement is confidence, being able to bring his clay court game to other surfaces consistently as he showed on grass. Although, he has yet to be tested on hard courts.

Then, there’s his work ethic. The guy may practice as hard as he plays, and nobody plays harder then Nadal.

Burton DeWitt (The Wayne Arthurs Fan)

First off, kudos to Rafael Nadal. While I've never rooted for him against Roger Federer, I have always respected the energy and heart he has brought to the court. 

Now, I think this question is fairly obvious. In Wimbledon 2007, Nadal averaged 10 mph less per first serve than he did during 2008. That's significant. Even though he only had six aces in the final in 2008, that was still five more than he had in 2007.

The increased power also allowed Nadal to be in control of the service point from the start, not just on the grass at Wimbledon, but also on hard courts.

Nadal, who can be painfully defensive at times on the red clay, is remarkably aggressive and offensive now on hard courts and on grass, using his serve to set up an attacking ground stroke to put away the point early.

The development of his hard court game, which still is by far his weakest of the three major surfaces, has put him in position to reach the No. 1 ranking before the US Open.

With every reason to believe he is going to continue to get better, he could soon become the world's top hard court player, even with the rising talent of Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer.

That said, let me dispel one widespread rumor: Federer's best surface is not grass; it is hard courts.

Federer rose to prominence as all the grass court specialists reached the twilight of their careers. Pete Sampras, Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Rafter? They were all over the hill.

Only now are there a few on the rise, such as Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet, in addition to Nadal. Federer has played in an era with many talented and consistent hard court players and yet has been able to consistently dominate almost all of them.

David Nalbandian, Marcos Baghdatis, Lleyton Hewitt, and Nikolay Davydenko have all been top hard court players, but none could take down Federer when it counted. The only person to defeat a healthy Federer at a hard court slam over the past five years is Marat Safin, arguably the most naturally gifted player of the decade. 

With that in mind, until Nadal can knock off Federer at the US Open or the Australian Open, he will still be the underdog in those events. But with his quicker serve and more aggressive strategy, there's no reason to believe he won't be able to give Federer and the other established hard court players a run for their money. Maybe he'll even bite the trophy at Flushing Meadows.

Long John Silver

What has been the biggest difference in Rafa Nadal’s game this season, when compared to the previous four?

His serve is the biggest factor that has helped him finally get to the top of the table. The benefits of improving his serve have been multi-fold:

He wins his games more easily.

He shortens the points, consequently working less for each point.

By holding easier, HE exerts more pressure on the opponent’s serve game.

His ability to venture into dark unknown corners, and learn the game; learn how to play on grass courts and hard courts is also very admirable.

Serve and Continuous Improvement have been the two biggest factors in his rise to the top.

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