Nadal & Federer's Strategy vs Del Potro / 2009 US Open

[o15523]

3:08 hahaha

[DestroyerAlexandros]

Will, I have a question about your wall. Is it just a flat whiteboard or is it at an angle?

[ArneG83]

i think topsin balls didnt kick up higher then slice and normal drive... thats whati learened

[federerbestclass]

I love Roger

[93RastafarianPikachu]

basically federer didnt use his short slice enough to both sides. making delpo bend and stretch for balls and getting him out of his comfort zone is the key to winning. fed was never gonna win by going toe to toe with delpo

[choyothe]

Its all about the match-ups. People keep saying Nadal has clearly gotten more aggressive in hard courts, and this being the reason he beat Federer in AO, but I dont see it that way. Hes just more comfortable - and more aggressive - playing against Federer than those tall big hitters, like Söderling or Del Potro, whom which against he will revert to his passive play. In the AO semi, where Verdasco choked his last servie in the fifth, Nadal was defending nearly all the time, i doubt we will ever

[choyothe]

see a consistently aggressive Nadal other than beating up a one-handed backhand and the putting away a forehand winner. I think that Federer will never close up the head2head deficit to Nadal (though I hope he will), but I also think Delboy will put a serious hurt on Nadal every time they meet, and will take over their head2head. For a Nadal fans logic, this will mean Delboy is better than Nadal who is better than Federer. Match ups people, match ups

[demondayzzz]

please, stop patronizing everyone here. he beat federer in the AO because it was Federer's worst serving day ever (even his 1st serve % isn't an accurate reflection, for most of the match he was just tossing them in much slower than his usual speed) and because he outlasted him physically. Also Del Po won't have the same advantage on slower surfaces, Nadal will have time and better movement to not get hurt when he hits a short ball, and to not hit short balls as often as he did in the US.

[choyothe]

Whats the point of your comment? I agree Nadal beat Fed because, as usual, didnt play his best, (apparently Feds back cant be an excuse but Nadals knees and abs can), but the fact remains that, no matter the surface, Nadal will always have an advantage playing against Federer as will Del Potro against Nadal, and was just pointing out the illogicality of comparing Nadal and Federer just through their head-to-head. Patronizing? Well I`m just saying it as it is, if you dont wanna hear it, fine.

[demondayzzz]

"matchups, people" is patronizing. "No matter the surface..."- nadal doesn't have a truly fast court win to boast of, federer has 2 masters cup ones. Nadal is 1 of 3 on grass vs federer. and again, nadal has beaten del potro on all surfaces, dp has only beaten him on hard.

[choyothe]

Of course the surface matters, no one is disputing that, but my point was that there will always be an inherent advantage in those situations. Federer is much better against the field than Nadal, but when they play against each other, Nadal has an advantage. And you have got to be kidding if you think Del Potro was the same player in 2007, when even in 09 the guy has improved drastically. And I dont think its patronizing rather than remindful since there are a lot of people who dont either

[choyothe]

understand or refuse to acknowledge this issue.

[demondayzzz]

fair enough, again i don't see Nadal's advantage on fast surfaces. and del potro hasn't proven his clay pedigree to the same extent that nadal has. additionally while Del Potro has improved it's clear that Nadal peaked in the AO and has since been feeling the effects of the semi/final as well as the 3-4 hr match vs Djokovic before the French open, and recovering from injury, etc. I doubt nadal on form will be troubled by DP on clay. or anyone.

[fedeacosta]

Great analysis, clear, simple and easy to understand.

Another important issue was that Federer played almost the last 4 sets with second server.

[boy20022002]

Excellent analysis. Also, any ideas on why Federer has changed his strategy after the first set and half againt delpo?

[whosFEJEE]

Loved the way you said, "Because Federers balls are lower and dont kick up as high" hahaha. Comedy gold. 3:12 . None the less very good analysis

[blubird243]

how does one learn this "pwn"? O_O

[FYB2007]

through hard work and practice!

[blubird243]

yeah im totally in love with tennis.

for the past year and a half my friend and i have been playing around 5 hours a day, but we dont have enough money for lessons or anything (which is why we love your site) but we got good enough to make our school team :D

[demondayzzz]

FYB- It wasn't Nadal's "strategy" to drop all of his shots short and get blasted off the court, that's just what happened, and happens every time he meets a hard flat hitter on a fast surface- Blake, Ferrer, Youzhny, now DP, etc. The "spice" his fh usually has is reduced by this surface anyway, and when he's under a barrage from DP he has less time to apply that whip, so it'll land short and tame.

For him to win the US he needs a good draw and he must use his bh (which is better flat) more.

[blakhawkeace13]

he didnt say that he did it on purpose he specifically says that nadal can hit it harder and flatter and deeper, but its not his game to at about 1:31, hes not talking as if nadal does that on purpose

[demondayzzz]

i'm aware he says nadal can hit it deeper but nadal can't hit a flat forehand at all.

+ he seems to imply it in the title, i don't see where it's mentioned nadal's strategy was something else.

[TennisCoachno1]

@demondayzzz seriously? When you say 'hard'!!??!?! flat hitters you think of ferrer and youzhny. Dude they are deffo not hard hitters especially ferrer. Hard flat hitters are soderling berdych or even davydenko

[demondayzzz]

@TennisCoachno1 they play many of their shots flat, that's what i meant. and they aren't soft hitters without pace either. just watch their matches against nadal, they hit it harder than him on the faster surfaces

[yomamafat155]

some kind of blue shirt ! like it !

[tolendoi123]

man ...how ironic when I watched Delpo get whooped by Roger in aussie open I never thought he'd be the guy who'd break Roger's us open streak.... unbelievable

[rOCKAHOLIK187]

Nice vid, like always. Really great videos.

[TheGenieNL]

Great stuff Will! I love your channel, keep up the good work.

[tafur1104]

It would really helpful if you would show some for of clip of the instances where rafa would hit it short as you mention, and then show how federer would hit differently. It would help visually!

[jeffrx]

Federer can NOT hit loopoing topspin quite like Rafa, can he?

[FYB2007]

Not consistently, no.

[jgkim111]

Many experts can explain difficult tennis strategy in their own words but your explanation is very easy to understand. that's why I love to watch your vid !

Thanks again Will

[FYB2007]

Thx jgk!

[ryanbeeble]

same thoughts as onlytennisforme exactly

[onlytennisforme]

i just say that del potro has significatly improved. His movement, power, serve, volley, and his forehand. With young generation of players coming it is expected for the veterans to lose to those who have talent otherwise it want be entertaining. although, i want roddick to win 1 more slam before he retire, his performance in wimbledon was excellent

[gmccauley08]

yes, agree 100%. Would you suggest that rafa should look to focus purely on playing woth more length especially against delpo due to qhat you have said. Also i think he could look to flatten out his forehand to keep delpo behind that baseline. Dont know if you noticed but rafa had advantage i nearly every point against delpo he just maybe was not confident enough in his game to finish the point. But to summarise i think he should definitly look to flatten out his forehand more against del potro

[Longlebao]

I think that has always been Rafa's goal in hard court season but changing your shots and learn to control the spin so you can hit flat or spin at will is not something so easy to integrate in your game. I certainly hope he can add that; it's gonna be entertaining.

[tasdau]

I got elimidated once when I played Anna Kournikova

[TensaiIshida]

Love your commentary even I can understand it thank you for the great analysis's Keep going! I subscribed :3

[rocketserver1]

Del potro played great at the us open.

[TaoAlaska]

I have another question: Is there a reason you have an enormous pen?

[hybridownsu]

hah, del potro ftw.

[iIIwiIl01]

u need videos from the match to show what ur talking about

[jaimepo8]

I agree

[YouInHD]

agreed

[Bendarunt21]

agreed

[pgreg]

I know right?

[polychronio]

AGREE

[mansuliu]

that's the illegal

[hpl622]

YEAH

[hpl622]

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