By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, May 25, 2017
“I think Nadal is in a very commanding position right now. Yes, it’s the best we’ve seen him play in a few years,” seven-time Roland Garros champion Chrissie Evert said
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Grand Slam tennis demands impeccable timing.
Rafael Nadal’s time-management skills are a primary reason for his resurgence, says Hall of Famer Pam Shriver.
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Shriver asserts Nadal’s slump and confidence crisis was sparked by the jitters he felt when chair umpires began hitting the Spaniard for time-violation warnings for his methodical pace of play a couple of years ago. She points to Nadal managing his pre-point rituals and speeding his tempo of play—combined with the coaching presence of former world No. 1 Carlos Moya—as key components to Rafa's resurgence this season.
“I feel like for a while, when the game kind of sped him up, they started to enforce the time rule, coincided when he got more anxious, particularly on the forehand, maybe a little bit with the serve not being as effective,” Shriver told the media in an ESPN conference call to promote ESPN.com's Roland Garros coverage. “I feel like this is a guy who has as many rituals for preparing for each point as anybody who has ever played. I think he’s kind of redone and settled back into a little quicker tempo between points.
"I think that’s helped him. He’s now comfortable with quicker between points. I think Carlos Moya is playing a really important role, just to have a different voice in there, not just Uncle Toni.”
The days of Nadal being beaten down by the clock have given way to the 14-time Grand Slam champion setting the pace.
The 30-year-old Spaniard launches quest for a record-extending 10th Roland Garros title—and first Grand Slam since the 2014 French Open—armed with an ATP-best 17-1 clay-court record, including winning his 10th Monte Carlo and Barcelona championships and beating Dominic Thiem to regain the Madrid crown.
Nadal is accelerating through his shots with more vigor and taking time away from opponents by moving closer to the baseline, said former world No. 1 Chrissie Evert.
“Maybe even going one step further, I feel like the game changed also as far as the game got a little faster, whether it was the balls or courts, for Rafa,” Evert told the media. “You see him now, he’s accelerating more, he’s not afraid to play closer to the baseline, not afraid to come into the net and volley.
"He’s made those adjustments to the quickness of the game now. I think that might be he feels more comfortable. He’s not only a defensive player, not only a counter-puncher, but he can win points being aggressive, too.”
In a past interview with Tennis Now, ESPN analyst and Winning Ugly author Brad Gilbert called some of the 2015 time violations Nadal incurred “bullshit” questioning the timing of those calls.
“I study when some of these guys give Rafa a time violation. I see numerous times he's gone longer,” Gilbert told Tennis Now. “Sometimes out of nowhere they give it to him serving out a match or a set. For me, it's bullshit. If you're going to call it then call it on the first point of the match. Simple solution: There's a shot clock.”
Adding more sting to his second serve has helped Nadal deliver a first-class clay-court season.
Working with former mentor Moya during a longer offseason last fall gave Nadal time to work on increasing the speed of his second serve and expand his targets in the service box.
Serving with a bit more ambition and variety this season, Nadal leads the ATP in second-serve points won (60 percent).
The left-hander is seventh in the all-important service games won (88 percent) behind only John Isner, Ivo Karlovic, Nick Kyrgios, Milos Raonic Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Acknowledging his aim to add more velocity to his serve, Nadal said there’s a simpler reason for his 2017 success: He’s playing better and training with joy.
“That was something we had in mind, maybe have a little bit more speed on the second serve. But we don't have to be crazy about it or start to analyze things that perhaps now I'm doing better,” Nadal told the media in Madrid. “Basically what I'm doing better or what I've been doing better for the last couple of months is that I've been playing way better than what I did in 2015. Last year I had an injury, but I was playing well, too.
“My game now is not so good. My game before was not so bad. You don't have to lie to yourself. There are just things you try to develop, try to have evolution with. You just need goals. You have to just train with joy. You just want to be able to do things better. You don't have to go out there to train in a monotonous way, that doesn't make any sense. You just need motivation. The motivations are achieved by goals. You just need goals.”
The second serve is a confidence shot even for elite players. The fact that Nadal has been willing to go for bigger second serves, vary the location a bit and back it up with his sound groundstrokes is a testament to his confidence in his health and his game.
“Yes, I'm trying to hit my second serves a little bit harder. Apparently it's working,” Nadal said. “It's a little bit easier to try things when the results are there. Maybe you can make decisions to change things in your game, with the speed, second serve, whatever it is. But for the moment, things are working out. I think I am serving quite well during the whole year.
“The second serve, it's true it has been one of the things that is a key point. The statistics of the points won with the second serve, I'm up there. I'm one of the best players that wins points with the second serve. I think that's a very important statistic on the tour. All the years that I've been playing, I think I've always been one of the best players in the statistics of points won with the second serve, without having the second serve that I have right now. I think that time will let us know. I think that the second serve right now, it's working quite well. But what can happen tomorrow, I really don't know.”
Seven-time Roland Garros champion Evert, the only player to amass a longer clay-court winning streak than the King of Clay, asserts Nadal’s sense of timing has provided perfect preparation for Paris.
Empowered by clear sense of self-belief, Evert believes the King of Clay is in a “very commanding position” to capture his record-extending 10th Roland Garros championship.
“I think Nadal is in a very commanding position right now. Yes, it’s the best we’ve seen him play in a few years,” Evert said. “He’s ironed out all the problems he’s had with his confidence and his movement. Like Brad said, he’s got a little more strength to all his shots, not only the serve, but his groundies.
"He’s just timed this perfectly well. I think he was worn out last week, and that’s when he lost. “I think for the first time he really believes—not for the first time, but for the first time in a couple years—he really has the confidence and he knows that he can win the French. I think that’s really a big, important factor.”