Rafa's New Golden Era Hits Top Gear
Rafa’s New Golden Era Hits Top Gear
Is Rafael Nadal elevating his game to another level at 31 years of age?
Our eyes see it, his opponents feel it, and yes, the stats sheet confirms it as well. The golden age of Rafa is happening right here, right now.
An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Nadal’s record-setting 11 titles at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters identifies that the Spaniard has only once (2010) won a higher percentage of total points to take the title than he did this year.
Nadal won 60.9 per cent (298/489) of total points in five matches last week, which is the second highest of any of his 11 victorious campaigns in the Principality. It was more than three percentage points higher than his total points won average of 58.3 per cent (3885/6668) in winning 11 titles, beginning back in 2005.
Nadal has won 54 per cent of total points on all surfaces throughout his career, and 56 per cent lifetime on clay. To be at 61 per cent last week clearly identifies how dominant his game is at the moment.
Rafael Nadal 11 Titles In Monte-Carlo: Total Points Won
|
Year |
Total Points Won |
|
2010 |
64.1% |
|
2018 |
60.9% |
|
2007 |
60.5% |
|
2017 |
59.7% |
|
2012 |
59.3% |
|
2008 |
58.0% |
|
2005 |
57.4% |
|
2011 |
57.1% |
|
2009 |
56.5% |
|
2006 |
56.4% |
|
2016 |
55.6% |
|
AVERAGE |
58.7% |
Second-Serve Points Won
Nadal’s major area of influence in Monte-Carlo last week was his second serve. He won 67.5 per cent (52/77) of his second-serve points. That’s his highest win percentage in this specific metric he’s ever recorded en route to winning a Monte-Carlo title.
Returning Serve
It’s hard to fathom that Nadal could possibly make the opponent’s serve a weakness, but that’s exactly what he regularly does in Monte-Carlo. Nadal won 50.8 per cent (129/254) of his return points last week, meaning that he won more points returning in opponents’ service games than the server did.
Watch Highlights: Nadal Wins 11th Monte-Carlo Crown
In the 11 times Nadal has won in Monte-Carlo, he has averaged winning 51.5 per cent of return points, with the highest in 2010, when he won 58.8 per cent (133/266). Serving against Rafa is not an advantage on clay in Monaco.
Consecutive Clay-Court Sets Won
With Nadal’s 6-1, 6-3 victory on Thursday in Barcelona against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Nadal extended his Open Era record to 40 consecutive sets won on clay. Monte-Carlo last week accounted for 10 of those, with only one set out of the 10 reaching 6-4.
Everything is on fire at the moment for the Spaniard as a new clay-court season kicks off. Opponents are having trouble winning games, let alone sets or matches. The all-time great is asserting his dominance like never before.