"Rafael Nadal reinvented himself after 2011 when he lost an awful lot to Novak Djokovic, he worked on that" - Tennis journalist

Tennis journalist and writer Chris Bowers recently stated that Rafael Nadal reinvented himself after a flurry of losses to Novak Djokovic in the year 2011.

Chris Bowers has actively contributed to tennis with his pen since the late 1980s. He is best known in the tennis world for writing the biographies of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

On a recent episode of ATP Tennis Radio Podcast, Bowers held a detailed discussion with American former tennis player Jill Cryabas on the tendency of great players to improve on a regular basis. Bowers recalled the time when Nadal was forced to improve his serve following a poor show against Djokovic in 2011.

"It’s a good point about reinventing yourself because Nadal did it after 2011 when he lost an awful to Djokovic not just the Slams but I think he lost four successive Masters 1000 finals to Novak. And he just decided... He had to play closer to the baseline," Bowers said. (from 26:06)

In 2011, Djokovic defeated the Spaniard in the five duels they played at the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Italian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Interstingly, all the aforementioned encounters were finals.

After making the required changes to his serve, the 22-time Grand Slam Champion improved his head-to-head record in the following two years by winning six out of ten ties against Djokovic. Their head-to-head record currently stands at 30-29 in the Serb's favor.

"So he worked on that. And if you look at the Nadal-Djokovic head-to-head in 2012 and 2013, that showed just how much Rafa did reinvent himself because he just knew he couldn't play, certainly on hard courts, anything like as far back in the court," Bowers added.

---

"Roger Federer reinvented himself when he had that awful French Open final where he was crushed by Rafael Nadal" - Chris Bowers

Roger Federer

Chris Bowers also brought Roger Federer into the conversation about players reinventing themselves after a rough patch. Federer won a total of 12 Grand Slam titles between 2003 and 2007 but his form took a toll after contracting mononucleosis at the onset of 2008.

The Swiss was handed resounding defeats in the summit clashes of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2008 by none other than Rafael Nadal. He then bounced back towards the latter end of the year and won the US Open. The former World No. 1 secured two more Major titles in 2009 to surpass Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam trophies.

"Federer reinvented himself twice, I think, once after the mononucleosis in early 08, when he also had that awful French Open final where he was crushed by Nadal and then lost the Wimbledon final in the darkness. But I think the Olympic gold medal in doubles that summer just reinvented Federer almost for him," Bowers said.

Bowers also recalled the Swiss icon's heorics towards the end of his career.

"And the other time was when he took those six months off at the end of... when he had the knee injury at Wimbledon in 2016 and came back with that just phenomenal, fairytale Australian Open win in 2017," he added.

Federer won two Grand Slam titles Down Under in 2017 and 2018. He also won the grasscourt Major in 2017.