Rafael Nadal: Why French Open champion is so much BETTER than rivals on clay - Wilander
RAFAEL NADAL is the undisputed king of clay, simply because he is better at ‘picking his moments’ compared to his rivals.
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Those are the thoughts of Eurosport pundit Mats Wilander.
Nadal stormed to his 11th French Open crown after a stunning 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Dominic Thiem in the final on Sunday at Roland Garros.
The win saw the world No 1 claim his 17th Grand Slam in total - just three behind Roger Federer in the all-time list of most successful male tennis players.
Nadal is widely viewed as the greatest the game has seen on clay.
And rather than lavish praise on the Spaniard’s skill, Wilander was keen to stress a mentality issue instead.
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He just picks his moments, sees an opening and goes through the door
“He figures out a time in the match when the other player isn’t as focussed,” Wilander said when asked what distinguishes Nadal from the others on the red dirt.
“He does it when the other player doesn’t think it is as important.
“Then there’s a span of sometimes 10, 15, 20, 40 minutes perhaps against Diego Schwartzman and it was over an hour before he played at the same level as his opponent.
“There’s always either before that span of time or just after, there’s always one there.
“He just picks his moments, sees an opening and goes through the door and he is too far ahead to be caught.”
Nadal’s triumph means him and Federer have won the past six Grand Slams.