I never doubted the result from Day 1 even when Nadal was down 2 sets to 1 in an early round,his body language even in a tight situation showed a man here to do a job and that was to win the title.It wasn't a classic final against Berdych he probably played his best against Murray however under the circumstance the pressure of the final and the breezy conditions on Centre Court it was good enough.Nadal can no longer be typed cast as one dimensional anyone that watched his matches over the fortnight could see how far he has come and the versatility in his game that he now possesses.
FIVE FACTORS WHY NADAL WINS ON GRASS
1.SERVE -Ok he has not the serve of Roddick but his serve is much improved and his action is very much suited to the grass of Wimbledon.He can use the slice especially to the backhand side ,zipping it off the grass and getting the player wide.Proof of his serving prowess was in the final not dropping his serve once in the three sets.He usually serves at a high percentage of first serves in, he was at 69% for the final.
2.VERSATILITY ON THE BACKHAND SIDE -Nadal uses the single handed slice on grass like no other on tour.It stays low and makes it hard to dig out on the grass keeping the ball below the net line.At crucial stages in the Murray match Nadal used this ploy to great success.In the final against Berdych he blunted the first serve chipping and blocking the ball back into play with the single hand.
3.VOLLEYING - The more he plays on grass his finishing at the net has become more frequent and coming in behind quality shots his winning percentage is very high.In the final it was 79% 15 winning points out of 19 net approaches.
4.MOVEMENT AND COURT POSITION-The one thing that is very noticeable with Nadal on Grass than on clay is that he plays up the court more.On Clay he is further behind the baseline.On grass he knows the importance of gaining control of the point and is always looking to come forward.His movement,anticipation and speed and balance is the best on tour essential for grass court play.
5.NEVER SAY DIE ATTITUDE-Nadal when he takes the court to use his quote"try's his best" He gives it all every point and with intensity never letting his guard down during the match.Juniors a little advice he gets this from his junior training days when he stepped out to practice always with great intensity and purpose.Too few juniors have this attitude and discipline and Nadal is rewarded from this approach by his success to day.His will to win and his awareness of adapting to conditions ...whatever surface.
HUMILITY-Never underestimating opponents and giving them the respect they deserve win or lose.
Nadal always gives great interviews and below are just some excerpts from his post match.
Q. Is there a special practice you do to be quicker than somebody else, to react?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. I think all my life I practiced with my high hundred percent of intensity in every ball in the practice.
So when I have only controls ?? normally I never have controls, normal controls. I play every control like a point.
That’s why I think today I am faster, no? Probably now I’m not practicing with the same intensity like when I was a kid. When I was a kid, I practiced, believe me, like crazy.
Q. How hungry are you regarding winning the US Open? How important is it for you to win the US Open, as well?
RAFAEL NADAL: Right now I’m very happy to win Wimbledon. Yeah (smiling). We gonna think about US Open in one month. Right now we just relax and enjoy for me this amazing season.
Was very difficult for me to be back at my best. I did, so is very important and emotional moment for me. I want to enjoy that. For sure, keep working to try to be in the US Open finally ready to try to win. But for sure US Open gonna be one of my goals for rest of my career.
But right now is enjoy the beach, fishing, golf, friends, party, and Mallorca.Q. How have you changed your game to become so comfortable on grass where you now have two Wimbledon championships?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don’t know. The main thing I think is if you want to play well, you gonna find a way. So if you really want to play well in one surface and you are a good player, I think in the end you gonna find a way.
And play for me on grass always was my dream, and play here for me was all my life a big goal for me. So I think I have very good thing to play here on grass is the movement. I move well on this court, and that’s very important part of the game.
Sure, later my serve always was improving a little bit. Is important play more aggressive than the rest of the surfaces, no?
But, sure, I tell you, the main thing is really want to improve in every surface. On grass is the main thing.
I watched some of the boy's singles final between Ben Mitchell from Australia and Marton Fucsovics from Hungary, with the Hungarian winning 6-4 6-4 .Mitchell's 24 unforced errors did not help in what was a winnable match .......evaporated with the error flow.Below are winners from today.
On to the Hard court season and the US OPEN.
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