Cheryl Murray

• Why can't Rafael Nadal win on hard court

  2008-02-18 15:32:00
  So, I've been reading a lot about Rafael Nadal and his relative tennis failings lately... And really, it's the time of year for it, right? The clay season and Wimbledon seem a distant memory. The Nadal we know right now is Hard Court Nadal. You know the one I'm talking about. He's the guy who seems to win matches because he simply refuses to lose them, not because he's playing better than the other guys.
  
  It's an annual tradition now. The question must be asked - why can't Rafa win regularly on hard courts? Reputable tennis journalists the world over cannot resist trying to answer it, and to my amusement, their hypotheses get more and more creative each year. In one theory, he loses because he is too stubborn. If he would just, they claim, step into the court all of his problems would be solved. Forget the fact that his big back swing requires more time to set up and that if he stepped in he would be shanking balls left and right. He's just being stubborn. Check. Another, far more entertaining theory, involves a complex relationship that Nadal has with the sun and warm weather. The crux of the idea being that Nadal doesn't play well in overcast conditions. Which would certainly explain why he struggles during the gloom(??) of Cincinnati and New York.
  
  I readily admit that this topic fascinates me also. Not because I need an explanation of why Rafael Nadal historically struggles at certain tournaments while excelling at others. That much I've deduced on my own after watching him over these last three or four years. He needs three things in order for his game to be at it's most effective: time, a high bouncing court, and if possible a slippery surface. Considering Nadal's considerable skill, any two of the three will usually do the trick for him. The further he is from those ideals, the worse his results tend to be.
  
  No, what fascinates me is why these reputable tennis journalists feel the need to come up with explanations in the first place. Nobody pondered why Guillermo Coria only won one hard court title in his career - we KNOW why. He was/is a clay courter. Enough said. Since Nadal is inarguably one of the best clay courters of all time, can't we just accept the same for him? It seems not. But WHY can't we?
  
  I'm sure answers are as varied and numerous as Roger Federer's shot repertoire, but I suspect it has at least something to do with the fact that Rafael Nadal finds ways to win when he "shouldn't". We've become accustomed to his falling back on his determination to pull him through when his skill alone won't get the job done. And every time his will fails him, there is a sense of disappointment. And another round of questions. Why, Rafa?

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Cheryl Murray

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