'Rafael Nadal's power of movement and his physicality are kind...', says legend

Rafael Nadal arrives in the quarter-finals of the "Mutua Madrid Open", the fourth Masters 1000 of the season, with a prize pool of 2,614,465 euros, which is being played on clay in the "Caja Magica" of the Spanish capital. The Spanish champion, seeded number 1, beat Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin 6-3 6-3 in the round of 16. During the course of an Indian podcast, Andre Agassi answered questions about both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and what made the legendary duo so special.

Andre Agassi discusses Rafael Nadal's power

"I mean then Rafael Nadal comes along and he brings such enormous spin to the game that it actually changes the rules of engagement," Andre Agassi said. "So you have two things with Rafa that are clearly stand out to me - that he hits the ball and it's not in till it bounces right? So that changes positions in the court where you can play that offsets a lot of those other qualities I mentioned about Federer." Andre Agassi also made it a point to mention Novak Djokovic - whom he coached for a brief period in 2018 - alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Plus his power of movement, his strength and endurance, and his physicality are kind of unmatched right?" the American continued. "So you have him (Rafael Nadal) bringing that into it and then I know you only asked me about those two guys, but then Novak has his own sort of thing that he brings to the table," Agassi added. "So when you look at these great players they always do something that nobody else does and that's what gives them the chance to sit at number one for a period of time." Rafael Nadal has made a habit of quashing the hopes of younger players, especially on clay. He added another such win to his bag on Wednesday, beating Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid Open second round. Alcaraz, who turned 18 on the day of the match, was playing just his fourth career claycourt event. And his inexperience was clearly on display as Rafael Nadal registered a thumping 6-1, 6-2 win. The gap between the two compatriots couldn't have been more pronounced during the match. Nadal effortlessly patrolled the baseline at his end, and the teenager ended up making a rash of costly errors to cede control of the proceedings. That said, Nadal is the most successful player to have ever played on clay, and he has provided examples of why he is in a league of his own - including a staggering 13 French Open crowns and 61 overall claycourt titles.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3etuBnd