Wilander tips improving Nadal to prosper during favoured clay court campaign

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  • Rafael Nadal admits that applying changes to his game is a tricky process but that he must commit to a specific style of play, otherwise he will be “dead”.

    The world No5 suffered just the second first round grand slam defeat of his career at the hands of Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday – a setback in what had otherwise appeared to be a solid path towards success.

    The Mallorcan 14-time major champion has now lost in the third round or sooner in his last three major appearances. But still, Nadal has been improving his game over the past three to four months – reaching three ATP finals within that period.

    “I felt myself that I was practicing great, playing very good. I was practicing little bit different, trying to be more inside the court,” Nadal said after his five-set defeat to Verdasco.

    “It’s obvious that all the changes are not easy and especially are difficult to make that happen when you are competing. But the real thing is if I am not doing that, then I am dead. I can play defensive or offensive. But if you stay in the middle, finally, at the end of the day, you are not doing nothing.

    “You cannot be in the middle of being offensive or defensive, because it is obvious that finally you don’t have a consistent strategy, then you are lost.”

    Nadal’s coach and uncle, Toni, described the Verdasco defeat as “one of the great disappointments” the team has suffered.

    “We are affected by this defeat. A loss like this hurts but I’m confident that it is just a bump and that we can improve in our next tournaments,” Toni told Spanish radio station Cope. “Yesterday Rafa played bad and things didn’t go well but looking only at this match is not fair.”

    While many may feel like Nadal keeps taking one step forward then two steps back, Swedish legend, Mats Wilander does not agree and believes the Spaniard will be “very dangerous” during the clay court season.

    Against the 45th-ranked Verdasco, Nadal went up 2-0 in the fifth set before his Spanish opponent – who is his doubles partner this year – rallied to take the next six games, playing some surreal tennis to seal the match.

    “Verdasco played the best six games of tennis I’ve seen in a very long time, if not ever. So how do you play against that? Rafa would know that,” Wilander, a seven-time major winner, told Sport360 on Wednesday.

    Wilander can detect the changes Nadal is trying to make but says it will take time before he can feel comfortable executing them regularly.

    “I think it’s going to take a little time to feel completely comfortable in making choices: when he stands closer to return and when he goes back. Because he’s not used to doing that, he’s used to standing further away and just get the ball in play,” explained the Swede.

    “And it takes time to play smart when you’re trying to change your game. And smart doesn’t mean logically, but smart means from here (points to his heart).

    “You have to feel the situation, he has to feel when he takes the backhand and hits it a little flatter, when he takes the backhand and spins it up high, when he stands in close to the baseline and when he goes backwards.

    “And he’s trying to change it, because yesterday he stood back sometimes and stood forwards sometimes, and when you stand forward and you miss, then you start questioning ‘hmm, maybe I should stand back’. So it’s going to take some time for him, anytime you make a change it’s going to take time to feel the right thing to do.

    “He’s trying to hit forehands a little flatter and when he misses the forehand he has to feel that that was the right shot even though he missed.”

    Wilander says the 32-seeding system at the slams means the likes of Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray never face anyone who could beat them in the first round but that Verdasco’s ranking is deceptively low and that he was playing like a “top-five player”.

    “To me it was a positive step in the right direction, not one step forward and two steps back. Since after the US Open he’s taken steps forward, and then suddenly this is most probably a step back but he’s stepped forward so far ahead…” said the 51-year-old.

    Looking ahead, Wilander believes the clay will bring the best out of Nadal.

    “He’s going to be so good when the clay court season comes along. He’s got a couple of tournaments now, so he’s got an extra 10 days to practice before he goes to South America, he’s going to go down there, he’s going to win one of those (tournaments), he’s going to get a lot of matches. He’s going to be so dangerous when the clay court season comes along, and if he gets a good clay court season then the confidence comes back,” said Wilander.​

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