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Versatility, Pace, Defense and Serve

9/07/2010Rafaholics


Four reasons for Rafael Nadal’s success in Tennis: Versatility, Pace, Defense and Serve

The Spanish, Rafael Nadal is considered to be one of the dominant players in the world of tennis. Here are top four reasons that prove his dominance on the court:

1. Versatility:

One of the most important reasons for Rafael’s dominance is his versatility. No contender has his brilliance to triumph on every court. He can perform equally well on grass, clay as well as hard surfaces and as proved by his exhibition clash back in 2008 versus Serena Williams, even on water surfaces also.
The 24-year-old is not only capable of playing but also winning on all of them. He is tremendous on the clay courts and is known as the "King of Clay", however, he has also recently developed himself as a hard and grass court expert. Back in 2008 and 2009, Rafa registered his name as the first tennis contender to simultaneously win major titles on grass, clay as well as hard courts.
This season, the top ranked has joined Bjorn Borg as one of the only two contenders in the sport history to have grabbed multiple Channel majors by capturing both the French Open as well as the hard court Australian Open.

2. Pace:

The reigning Wimbledon Champion excels in the use of his terrific pace on the court. He chases impossible shots, smashes the yellow ball back and then swiftly recovers within no time to hit his next shot. His athleticism is fabulous without any doubt.
One way that Rafa maximizes his pace is through the use of a method which is famous by a variety of different names such as drop step, Gravity turn, paradoxical step or floating pivot. Instead of applying the more typical crossover to alter the directions, Rafael nearly jumps into the shot with the help of his foot and shifts directions while smashing it. A combination of pace and strategy enables him to overcome his opponent. Every time, he hits the ball, it looks as though no shot is out of reach for the world number one.

3. Defense:
Rafael's defense, supported greatly by his pace, is one of the strongest aspects of his game. The Spaniard never gives up on any point. He returns almost every serve and shot while at times decides to wait until his foe commits a mistake.
Being a counter puncher, many had thought that he wouldn't be a successful player in the modern day game of forehands and booming serves, but Rafael has proved that defense, when rightly applied, becomes the greatest offense.

4. Serve:

Although, Rafael Nadal has never been known as one of the greatest servers; however, he has improved tremendously over the last few years. He hardly goes for the strong aces and instead depends heavily on his consistency to outclass the opponent.

This season, Rafael has saved almost sixty nine percent of the break points he has faced, an achievement that places him second on the tour.

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