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2010 US Open. Rafa Nadal has performed in New York without the best results on the North American hard track tour: semifinals in Canada and fourths in Cincinnati. Although Wimbledon and Roland Garros have won, he has difficulties with the reverse and is not getting well. "So here I will have no options," he says while training, already at the facilities of Flushing Meadows, with his friend Juan Monaco , realizing how much it costs him to win the points against the wind.
Neither short nor lazy, he decides to modify the grip for the service , with a more continental grip that allows him to touch the body of the ball more. He does it, without consulting with Toni , then his coach. In the six games before the final, which will win Novak Djokovic in four sets, he only gives in twice, after serving in 91 games.
In the nine years since he won his first US Open and became the seventh man capable of gathering the four Grand Slam tournaments, service has been a priority in Nadal's constant work for being a total player, with weapons to function on any surface. Without being a definitive blow, it facilitates you to take the step forward for the one who has conjured not only on fast surfaces, but also on clay.
The man who next morning will look for Matteo Berrettini , this one, an accomplished punch, his fifth final of the US Open, has stopped having a delay in the service, which in some games goes through an important complement. Although against Diego Schwhartzman , whom he defeated in the quarterfinals, he surrendered, surprisingly, four times the service, Nadal has been showing firmness with the start blow throughout this United States Open. In the first two games, against Millman and Chung , he did not lose a single serve, and before the Korean he did not even offer a break ball. Against Marin Cilic , who has his best cover letter in the service, he obtained more aces , 11 versus 10, and won 83% of the points with the first serve.
Since he was injured last year against Juan Martín del Potro in the semifinals of this same tournament, Nadal, again on his own initiative, began to ponder the need to introduce new changes in the service. The idea prospered, with the support of its coaches, Carlos Moyà and Francis Roig . The latter summarized the changes that took shape since the Australian Open. “When he starts to execute the swing, he takes his hand for longer, instead of lifting it laterally. It flexes less at the moment of throwing the ball into the air, it stays more upright instead of bending over and losing dynamism. And then it goes well inside the track after falling ».
The idea, which caused some moments of confusion in the clay court tour, is already part of the inexcusable commandments for a player who, at 33, still lives in a constant evolution. The data from the final of the 1000 Masters of Canada, which he won for the fifth time, is impressive. On the other side was Daniil Medvedev , the following week champion in Cincinnati after winning Djokovic in the semifinals and that this Friday he played against Grigor Dimitrov the first semifinal.
Nadal presented a 72% success rate with the first, earning 82% of the points and neutralizing the only breaking ball. Moreover, he took 62% of the points with the second serve, compared to 33% of the Russian, who has a well-earned reputation as an excellent punch. He was imposed by a conclusive 6-3 and 6-0 to the fashionable man, the today top 5 willing to take everything ahead.
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