Wimbledon 08- Page 4

[DG]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 5:35pm

Priest - at this point, I just hope Rog shows UP at a French Final This past one was almost embarrassing to watch!

[javero]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 7:11pm

DG: There is no excuse for Rog losing to Nadal on grass period. He needs a traveling coach who can remind him to exploit Nadal's weaknesses on that surface. Nadal has some rather obvious patterns. Rog must do the following to keep Nadal from owning him going forward.

1. Rog must start driving his backhand down the line to keep Nadal honest. Nadal knows all too well that when Rog is pressed deep on the backhand side, he'll routinely slice the ball short and low to either draw Nadal in or buy him time to recover. Safin and Djokovic have two-handers and both can blast the backhand down the line.

2. Rog must become more of a force at the net. His forehand volley is still sloppy and his backhand volley lacks punch and authority. He simply hasn't overcome his fear of getting passed. Anyone who can serve 25 aces in a match (with only 2 double faults) yet serves-and-volleys less than 5 times on grass deserves to lose. He has to give Nadal something else to look at and think about.

3. When pressed deep into his backhand corner, Nadal almost always attempts to pass "crosscourt" because with his grips & stance it isn't easy for him to go down the line. When I played on the junior circuit a zillion years ago the law was "cover the down the line pass". That doesn't apply to Rafa on his backhand wing. He's a natural righty taught to play as a lefty.

The long and short of it that Rog must learn to go down the line more with his backhand or Rafa will run him out of the sport soon. He's got his pride. We witnessed a changing of the guard earlier today. His game HAS to become more McEnroe-like.

I can't slight Nadal for playing the match of his life but Rog is capable of more than was on display today. Pete Sampras' former coach Robert Lansdorp once commented that Pete stopped working on his game after his initial success in the majors. I hope the same can't be said of Rog. He must become a better volleyer is he's to remain at the top.

Updated On: 7/6/08 at 07:11 PM

[DG]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 7:52pm

Jav - excellent analysis, as usual

"I hope the same can't be said of Rog."

They keep printing comments of his concerning seeing vid of his opponents, and he consistently says things like, "I know what I need to." I know that's not exactly the type of thing you mentioned, but it does make me wonder how much he's willing to just 'coast'.

"His game HAS to become more McEnroe-like."

I'll go along with that - as long as it doesn't mean adopting his demeanor