Everyone knows that Rafael Nadal likes to play long points and plays slowly between points. My theory has always been that Rafa has the best powers of concentration on tour so playing slowly gives Nadal a comparative advantage. A long match means that his opponent’s mind may wonder.
Throw in Nadal’s exuberance and physique and a player would be insane to try to test Nadal’s stamina. Right?
Maybe not.
Nadal was hurting during his 2011 Wimbledon match with Juan Martin del Potro. He is suffering from foot pain versus David Nalbandian as I type. He defaulted to Andy Murray during the 2010 Australian Open and was hurting during his 2011 loss down under. An abdominal injury sapped his serve at the 2009 US Open. I could go on, but the point is Nadal can break down during a match or tournament. Perhaps a player should welcome his slow play and a few long rallies with the idea that Nadal’s knees, abs, feet etc. are more likely to break down than Nadal’s game is.
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 
I’m just amazed that Rafa hasn’t already physically deteriorated. As one of the commentators said (Mac?), he exerts so much effort even to put himself into position to hit a shot, whereas someone like Federer just seems to float around on the court.
Yeah, Rafa slides all over the court regardless of surface. Can’t be easy on his joints. He cramped up during the press conference and had a blister during the match. He was hurt vs. Ferrer in Australia and was hurt at Wimbledon. He is not going to be a player with a ton of longevity imho.
Did you guys see this excerpt from Nole’s presser last week, which was a comment from RAFA, Nadal’s new autobiography? Nadal basically says that the “grinding” strategy works against Fed, which I thought was interesting. Mind you I haven’t read Rafa’s book so I don’t know what it says verbatim, only what this journalist says:
“Q. Rafa, in his book, says if you keep grinding against Roger you can eventually wear him down, force him into making some errors, but against you there’s really no backup plan. That’s a pretty good compliment from a 10 time slam champ. I wanted your thoughts on that. And are you starting to feel that advantage before you even step on the court, that psychological advantage that you bring?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, first of all, I’m flattered to hear. Obviously he’s a great champion, you know, somebody that’s still on the top of the men’s game and I think he still has a lot of Grand Slams to win. He’s a great player and a great person off the court. So, you know, we played so many matches between each other, us three, four Murray, as well mostly on the major events. It is rivalry, if you want to call it, that is I, think, bringing a lot of excitement to the sport. I think whoever you play, your game plan is changing. You know, you cannot always have the same game plan for Roger, for Rafa, for Andy, you know, again depending on the surface. So you adjust to it with your coaches obviously before the match. Second question I forgot. “
I do think if someone is going to try to slug it out with Nadal in an extended match they likely need to have a really strong return of serve to make Rafa work hard just to hold. Federer has never returned that well vs. Rafa. I think Nole puts a lot of pressure on Nadal’s serve and if he wants energy sapping points on his own service game fine. It works to wear him down. It is hard to say, but I just look at all the injuries and think shouldn’t guys be kind of thinking they always have a chance because he could lose some conditioning or form due to a minor injury?