Tennis becoming a physical battle rather than one of skill?

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The final y’day showed that tennis is increasingly becoming a grueling physical battle rather than one where skill plays a more major role.

It was sad to see both players struggling to be on their feet. The last set was such a letdown with poor Nadal unable to move and Djoker struggling to serve..

The aim of 5 sets is to make sure that the more skilled player wins, not to make the fitter player win.

The ATP should quicken the courts/ playing conditions (balls, rackets etc). Otherwise, we’ll end up with more and more physical players with lesser and lesser career spans.

It was bad to hear that Murray wanted to get stronger physically after losing the semi to Nadal.

Physique and fitness should be a means to hit great shots and not a means to outlast the opposition in, say, a five hour match.

Also, the match contained endless rallies, the kind that one sees in practice, with neither player really keen to hit a winner. No wonder they were fatigued by the end of the match! Is this attractive tennis or attritional tennis?

Well don't worry Nitb, I guess we know Novak has made now that the haters have come out.

In a nutshell, YES!

With Nadal, its all about outlasting your opponent by maintaining a high level of physicality throughout the match.

Now he has run into an opponent who plays according to his opponents level i.e Djokovic exerts less energy playing Fed than Nadal.

This is why Nadal is struggling to win matches against Novak and comes up with solutions like having to get fitter. He's not a tactician as otherwise he would be winning those matches.

Feds fan is that why nadal wins like 80 percent of the first sets he plays, do the world class athletes of the ATP die of exhaustion in the first 30-60 minutes minutes?

socal1976 wrote:Feds fan is that why nadal wins like 80 percent of the first sets he plays, do the world class athletes of the ATP die of exhaustion in the first 30-60 minutes minutes?

Lets look at it objectively. The first set is always a lengthy affair which lasts a very long time with long rallies which often leaves opponents gasping at the other end. They break down physically as Nadal is very intense. That's Nadal's thing and it works for him so I am not being critical. I am going on the recent problems he is facing by playing someone who can maintain a high level of fitness throughout who Nadal cannot crack.

Dont buy it Fedsfan, if it was just grinding people down, he wouldn't be able to wear down these world class athletes in the first hour of the match, he is just better than them.

Watched Novak's drop shots?