Doubles legend Mark Woodforde chose the attributes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic when building his perfect player. “It’s hard not to look at some of today’s players in that regard,” the 56-year-old former player said.
“Someone like Djokovic’s backhand, pretty solid. For a one-handed backhand though, I’d go with Edberg. Well, it’s hard to argue against someone like Sampras or, say, Roger Federer, because that part of his game, given that starts a high percentage of their points, is the pole that really holds up the tent,” added Woodforde.
“Federer or Sampras, maybe, you know, even from generations past, somebody like a John Newcombe. I’ll stick with an Australian. Newcombe’s serve was a key ingredient. Going back even a decade before that would be Pancho Gonzales.
I’m sticking with those four guys. If I can be greedy, I’ll keep all four.” Woodforde called Rafael Nadal the best volleyer in the game today and said that although his technique is not the prettiest, his placement on the court while volleying is perfect.
“Even when I’m commenting now and watching, when I see Nadal come to the net today, very often I will say, I consider him to be the best spiker in our game today,” Woodforde added. “His technique isn’t always the prettiest, but he always volleys on the open court.
I hit a lot of low volleys and a lot of half volleys. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this guy hit a half volley, he’s always on the right place.”
Rafa Nadal defeated Stan Wawrinka
“Honestly, for me, it is positive to play a couple of matches before the competition starts at Wimbledon.
I used to play at Queen’s a long time ago,” Rafael Nadal said. “I am older now, I can’t manage to play so many matches!” After the victory over Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal’s second and final clash at the Hurlingham Classic will be against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion will be back at Wimbledon on Thursday to partake in a short training session before returning to take on the Canadian on Friday. Nadal suffers from a rare degenerative disorder that causes deformation in the middle region of the foot.
Thus resulting in tremendous pain in the middle and hind region of the foot. Earlier, after winning his 14th French Open title, he opened up about his persistent injury. And admitted that this injury might cause a halt in his career.
