A very interesting article has been written over at TIME magazine about Rafael Nadal and his plans for this season. I suggest you take a look at it right here.
I certainly understand where Nadal and Toni are coming from. The style of play Rafa employs is extremely hazardous to his body when thinking long term. It is interesting to know though about for how long they have been working on such techniques on his forehand. Closing out points sooner is something every tennis player wishes to be proficient at. However in my opinion when you have something as unique and dominating as his current forehand, it would take a lot to convince me to change it. With the testimonials provided from a few players, they tend to agree.
I completely agree with the public perception of Nadal and the desire to change that. As much as the capris and sleeveless shirts are a part of his on court persona he has created, if he were able to grow up and follow in Federer’s footsteps there could be many more opportunities in his future. Of some of the other younger players, he has the most marketing potential. Djokovic despite his hijinks can be very unlikable at times as evidenced at the US Open. Murray so far has not shown a tremendous amount of personality on or off the court. So Nadal is in line to be the face of the ATP Tour, if he can last that long.
I will be interesting to see how this change in tactics and technique effect Nadal throughout the season. Perhaps it could make him less dominating on clay? Only time will tell.
