Analysis: What Nadal needs to do to overpower Djokovic

When you lose six straight finals to the same player in one season (so far), it is an indication that there are areas in your game that demand improvement. Especially, when the player on the losing side happens to be Rafael Nadal who easily makes the list of top five players in the sport of all time. By the soaring standards set by him in the last few years, you can’t help but wonder what he needs to do to overcome Djokovic who is currently the hottest player on tour. Nadal is a champion and has had a fine season making it to three of the four Grand Slam finals (won the French Open) and has been consistent on the tour. He completed the slam quartet at a young age (in 2010) and has won everything there is to win in the sport. I’m a huge fan of the Spaniard and consider him to be one of the toughest competitors in sport, therefore, I find it bizarre that he has repeatedly failed to get the better of Djokovic whom he once dominated. Let me reiterate once again that Nadal has improved his all-round game over the years by leaps and bounds from being a clay-court whiz to a player for all seasons; he is now a formidable threat to his peers on all surfaces. I’m no expert but having watched him play over the years, and in particular against the Serb, there are a few modifications he could make in his game to surmount the Serb’s dominance over him.

First Serve:

Let’s look at Nadal’s serve first. Though he has improved his serve immensely in the last couple of seasons, he could throw in some variety on his serve such as serving wide and deep; he could add another weapon to his armoury in the form of unleashing aces on a more regular basis against Djokovic whose serve is much more diversified.

Service Return:

One of the reasons why Nadal is unable to get on top of Djokovic’s serve is because his returns, though very good, have become quite predictable for the Serb and Nadal has always abstained from adopting the technique of closing out a point with that single booming return of serve which for instance, Federer, is brilliant at. If he can work on this aspect, he could surprise the Serb by keeping the points short because Djokovic is aware that Nadal prefers to play long rallies rather than attempt to win a point with a ripping service return. Normally, players move a few steps closer to the baseline when facing a slower second serve, but Nadal, who has been so successful with his approach to the game, never moves a few strides forward on Djokovic’s second serve, which is what he must do to pounce on the second serve to impose himself in the duel.

Positioning during the rallies:

Another observation is that Nadal stands way behind the baseline during a rally probably, 4-6ft behind and therefore, some of his ground strokes end up short, thereby, allowing the Serb the time and space to thump the ball at sharp angles at will. Nadal should probably get closer to the baseline to hit the ball deeper into the court and shackle Djokovic for space.

Backhand grip:

With his lethal ground strokes, Nadal is imperious when it comes to rallies but, there seems to be a limitation exposed in his two-fisted backhand when playing Djokovic. Though effective and sharp, a lot of the pace is taken off the ball when he plays the backhand thereby giving Djokovic a higher possibility of retrieving the ball. Maybe a minor change in the backhand grip might help so that he gets to clobber the ball with the same intensity as his forehand.

At the moment, only the great Federer looks the player with ample ammunition to get past Djokovic having beaten him in the semi-finals of the French Open this year and also came close in the US Open semis. As for the warrior in Nadal, he definitely has the mental prowess to overcome Djokovic but needs to make a few alterations to his game to add a new dimension to this ‘rivalry’, if you may so call it else Djokovic might become (to Nadal) what Nadal has become to Federer.