Physical Intelligence - Day 73

I want to watch that final set of the French Open because it is clear that beyond the contribution of his tennis coach uncle Toni Nadal, who does share in his glory, the Nadal that I see in this French Open is a much improved player.  That is amazing to say considering he is 31 years of age and recent history had people talking about his retirement and definitely not his resurgence.

When Roger Federer beat Nadal in the Australian Open Final, all of us thought that what we were watching was the greatest tennis player confirming his place and Nadal confirmed as the 2nd best tennis player of all time.  This French Open has thrown all that into question.  This superlative win by Nadal was defining as much as breaking the record of 10 French Open wins, as it was in the manner he won, and the stats show Carlos Moya is the chief difference maker.

With a fierce-some attitude that flows through Nadal's fierce serving and ground strokes, Nadal is now firing the second serve 9 MPH faster than ever before.  9 miles per hour does not seem a lot but when one adds it to the power Nadal already generates, no wonder Stan Warinka looked a beaten man after just one set in the French Open Final.  Moreover there is body movement differences where the two handed approach Nadal was famous for, is making way to a greater control in using one hand and thus leaving the other arm to achieve even more balance on the court.  So now comes the defining tournament in this new change - Wimbledon.

It is at this Wimbledon that the focus now turns back on Roger Federer to cement his place as the greatest tennis player of all-time.  If he wins his 8th Wimbledon it will seal the deal, but if Rafa wins Wimbledon, it puts Nadal just two Grand Slams away from becoming the most winning player of major titles in Tennis History.   With the French Open win he has already surpassed Pete Sampras for the No.2 all-time spot and Sampras with his 14 Grand Slams thought at the time that it would be decades before another Tennis player even came close to his record.  But then came Federer - and after the French final, now here comes Nadal.

So Carlos Moya's contribution is fascinating to study as physical intelligence - because he did not make a player with potential into a great player, his contribution is taking a great player and adding the finishing touches to make him the greatest player of all time.  Here is the scary thing, Moya has proven his worth already in the physical techniques that Nadal demonstrated at Roland Garos - but he fervently believes that Nadal is now GOING TO GET BETTER.   Nadal's opponents are not going to savour this reversal of fortunes - rather than all the talk of the end of the road for Nadal, the power of coaching is advancing his game.  So much so it is Nadal who looks like he can surpass Federer and not Djokovic. 

Djokovic was on course as the man who would most likely trump Federer and Nadal's achievements but with the resurgence of both masters recently, Team Djokovic is in crisis, so much so that Djokovic has fired some of his backroom coaching staff and has appointed Andre Agassi as his coach.  Yet Carlos Moya is the one who is making a definite difference and Moya has the character, style and grace that makes him fit into Nadal's inner circle - and if Nadal wins Wimbledon, no doubt that is when Moya will get his dues for the recent Nadal revival, just as Toni Nadal got his deserved applause at the French Open, as be begins to cede coaching to others, and who must surely now appreciate the difference showing up in Nadal's game.