Rafael Nadal: Champion's Transformation on U.S. Open Hard Courts

This has been an incredible US Open, not least because it finished on the 3rd Monday for the 3rd year in a row (roof anyone?)  But the real revelation in US Open 2010 has been Rafael Nadal.  Who would have thought that Nadal would win the tournament after only dropping one set, and that dropped set was in the final against Novak Djokovic.

This is the same player who for so many years has had trials and tribulations at the US open, always seemingly at the mercy of the big hitters from James Blake to Juan Martin Del Potro and even aggressive play from Andy Murray in 2008.   But this year Nadal was the one who was the big hitter.  How did this transformation take place in the space of 12 months? 

The key to the transformation for Nadal’s domination at this year’s US Open is a state of mind, which was aided by Nadal’s better scheduling so that he didn’t arrive at the US Open either tired or suffering injuries.  In terms of scheduling, after taking some time off after this year’s Australian Open due to those knee problems, Nadal didn’t play his first tournament until March in Indian Wells.

Nadal didn’t have a great spring hard court season in North America but had another exceptional season in Europe winning every clay court event he entered including an historic run of Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid and French Open back to back.  Nadal opted to miss Barcleona for the first time and that decision did wonders for his fitness and freshness.

After Roland Garros, Nadal entered Queens and got knocked out in the quarterfinal by compatriot Feliciano Lopez.  That turned out to be a blessing because with Queens so close to Wimbledon time wise, it gave Nadal the opportunity to go to Mallorca and get some quality time before Wimbledon, which he duly won for the 2nd time despite some tough matches in the early rounds.

Fast forward to the hard court season and Nadal didn’t win either Canada or Cincinnati, which left him fairly fresh for the US Open.

This is the first time we’ve seen Nadal enter the US Open healthy and fresh, and look at the results!  His first title in his first ever final there against Novak Djokovic, who actually played a really good match in the final against Nadal

Nadal has done something in this tournament that we’ve never seen him do before at the US  Open or anywhere else – and that is to serve big!  Nadal was serving in the high 120s mph  and low 130s mph (between 200 and 220kph) consistently throughout the whole event, that’s quite incredible!  Nadal found the key to victory on hard courts – which is to serve big and get the first strike in.  That saved Nadal so much energy through the course of his matches and allowed him to be much more dominant with his serve and forehand.  We even saw Nadal come to the net to finish off points on occasions.

Holding serve so easily also gave Nadal the freedom to really have a go at his opponent’s serve and create many break point opportunities.  In the final against Djokovic, in the first 3 sets Nadal had already amassed 17 break point opportunities, a staggering number against a player with such a good serve as Djokovic’s.

Not only does Nadal now have the aggressive demeanour required to win on hard courts, he also still has that legendary defence including a very good sliced backhand and the ability to hit passing shot winners from seemingly impossible positions when stretched, that’s one hell of a combination. 

Nadal has the opportunity now to become a great player on hard courts.  The next few years at the US Open will be fascinating as some great new rivalries emerge to challenge Nadal including Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Andy Murray of Britain and perhaps Joe Wilfred Tsonga and Gael Monfils of France as outside contenders.