Nadal Sees Serve Bringing Clay-Court Success to Wimbledon Grass
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Nadal Sees Serve Bringing Clay-Court Success to Wimbledon Grass
By Danielle Rossingh
June 19 (Bloomberg) -- The morning after Rafael Nadal matched Bjorn Borg's
record of four consecutive French Open titles, he took a train from Paris to
London. Nadal arrived at St. Pancras station, got a car to Queen's Club and
practiced on the grass courts for 75 minutes.
The switch from clay in Paris didn't change his winning ways. A week after
handing top-ranked Roger Federer the worst defeat of his Grand Slam career,
Nadal became the first French Open champion in 35 years to win at Queen's, a
tuneup for the season's next Grand Slam tennis tournament at Wimbledon.
Nadal may have the better of Federer on clay. The question now is whether he
can translate that to the faster grass surface of the All England Club, where
Federer, the world's No. 1 player and top seed, will try to better another
Borg record with his sixth straight title starting June 23. Nadal is seeded
second.
``On clay, he is starting to have a complex now against Nadal, that seems
obvious to me,'' Boris Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, said in a
conference call. ``But I think on hard-court or on grass, it's almost the
other way around.''
Nadal said he may have a shot at ending Federer's domination at Wimbledon.
``I think I am playing well,'' he told reporters after his win at Queen's on
June 15. ``And if I'm continuing to play like this, I am going to have
chances for a good result there.''
Nadal delayed celebrating his French Open victory to play at Queen's, where
he won his first grass-court title, beating Australian Open winner Novak
Djokovic 7-6, 7-5.
`Best, Worst'
A year ago, Nadal lost the final to Federer at Wimbledon 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6,
6-2, a match he said was ``the best, at the same time the worst'' memory he
has playing on grass.
To try to finally break through, Nadal has changed a few aspects of his game.
He has improved his serve, is coming to the net more to finish points with a
volley, and occasionally slices his backhand instead of playing his customary
top-spin.
``For grass surface, I improve some things,'' Nadal said. ``The serve is
important. That's very important. But I play more slices, changing the way of
the point with some slice sometimes. That's important because you can play
with different rhythms. So for the opponent, that's more difficult.''
Among those who think it may be Nadal's year at the All England Club is Borg,
who won Wimbledon from 1976-80. He was the last man to win the French Open
and Wimbledon in the same season, 28 years ago.
`Unbelievable' Final
``If he survives the first two or three rounds at Wimbledon this year, then I
pick Nadal to win Wimbledon,'' the Swede said at the French Open. ``The way
he played last year, it was an unbelievable final.''
Federer was beaten by Nadal at Roland Garros 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. It was the first
time he lost a set at love since 1999 and the third straight time the
26-year-old Swiss lost to Nadal in the French Open final.
Like Nadal, Federer didn't take any time off after Paris, traveling to Halle,
Germany, where he cruised to victory in a grass-court event without dropping
his serve.
The transition from clay to grass isn't easy, said Becker, the youngest
winner of Wimbledon at 17 in 1985.
``The biggest adjustment is a different mindset,'' he said. ``Where on clay
you have to wait for the mistakes of your opponent, on grass you have to look
forward to hit that winner, and hit that ace. Also, the ball bounce is a lot
lower on grass than on clay. The biggest difference is the total different
mental approach to the game.''
More Needed
Nadal has to win a Grand Slam on another surface to be regarded as one the
game's greatest players, Pete Sampras, a seven-time Wimbledon champion and
holder of a record 14 Grand Slam titles, said in an interview.
``To be put up there with Borg, he's going to have to win Wimbledon or win
the U.S. Open,'' Sampras said.
He added that the latest win over Federer at Roland Garros won't give Nadal
much of a mental edge at Wimbledon.
``Roger has moved on, it happened, it was disappointing,'' Sampras said. ``He
got to the finals, which was a great effort. Now he's thinking about
Wimbledon.''
The retired American agrees with his Hall of Fame colleague Borg that Nadal
has a chance.
``Roger is still the favorite, but Nadal can do it,'' Sampras said. ``Things
really need to fall into place, it's a tougher surface for him, but the guy
has a great attitude, he's a great athlete. Everyone's staying back on grass
these days, so he's able to really have time out there to play.''
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