Have we already seen the best of Rafa?

Rafael Nadal is already an eight-time Grand Slam champion and Olympic Gold Medal holder. When Roger Federer was Nadal's age, he had won only three Grand Slam trophies. We all know how well Federer has done since, and I have long attributed this to the fact that Federer's style of play is built for longevity, while Nadal's, sadly, is not. I am beginning to think we have seen the best of Nadal at the young age of 23.

Years ago I said that Nadal would have to change his style of play if he wanted to continue into his late 20s as an elite player. He is talented, sure, but he relies so heavily on his speed and his ability to track down seemingly impossible shots, eventually he was bound to break down. Not only that, but people slow down as they get older. His main weapon is his speed, so once that leaves, he will no longer have an advantage over many of this opponents. His serve is, by standards, quite weak, and he hits with a lot of spin but not a lot of overwhelming power. His bruising and punishing style of tennis is the exact opposite of Federer's, whose style of play is so beautiful and technically correct. Federer does not rely as heavily on his speed, but on his finesse and pure talent. Federer has been able to win 16 Grand Slam titles (!) because of his talent, but also because of his longevity. Since 2000, Federer has played in every single Grand Slam tournament. That is an unbelievable run, considering the long season in tennis (January-November), to never miss a Grand Slam is remarkable. He did, of course, play with mono in 2008, which is about the time that people started to write him off as over the hill.

Federer is faster than people give him credit for, but his greatness comes from his skill. He is able to dictate play without moving around much. If you watch him play some people, he is barely breaking a sweat. Nadal is able to dictate play as well, but this comes from his speed. He is also able to return shots that should be impossible. He wins a lot of points this way, and points turn into games, and games turn into matches. He is bound to get slower, and because he doesn't have the level of skill that Federer does, he will have no weapons to use once his speed leaves him.

Now we have the issue of injury. Nadal's knees are simply breaking down, and I think everyone saw this coming. The pounding that they take match after match has undoubtedly taken its toll, as we have seen over the last year. Although he won the Aussie Open in 2009, he was beaten for the first time at the French Open and then unable to go to Wimbledon to defend his title because of tendinitis in both knees. Nadal clearly was not in form at the Aussie Open this year, which should be the tournament where everyone is rested and fit. He had to retire in his QF match with Murray with knee pain. In just the first major of the season, if the pain is coming back already, we could be in for a Nadal-less year, or more commonly known as a Federer-dominated year. He has to take a few weeks off to rest the knees, but if they didn't heal over the last few months, I don't see how they will start to heal now.

It really is a shame, to see someone so good and so young break down before our eyes. I hope he is able to re-tool his game, but in the tennis world, Nadal is already getting old. You know what they say about teaching an old dog new tricks.