Rafael Nadal must change his ways to find his game

If Rafael Nadal’s game is truly a shadow of his former self, perhaps a change of strategy would revive his success. Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

If you are a Rafael Nadal fan, most of the headlines this year have been dispiriting.

One of the most recent is a bit alarming, too.

“It is very unlikely Nadal can come back to win another grand slam [title],” former world No 1 Gustavo Kuerten was quoted as saying in Brazilian website TenisNews.

“Not even the French Open,” the three-time French Open champion added, basing his opinion on the battering Nadal’s body has suffered in recent years.

Citing his own example, Kuerten said his performance had dipped by “15 to 20 per cent” after his first surgery.

Nadal’s list of procedures is much longer – appendicitis, stem-cell treatment for his back, shoulder and repeated surgeries on his wobbly knee.

Those injuries have put a dent in Nadal’s confidence, said Kuerten, who did not see the Spaniard winning battles against a fit Novak Djokovic, especially across five sets at the majors. Not even on clay.

Nadal remains confident he can turn his career around like he has in the past. But he may need to reinvent himself this time, like Roger Federer did.

“I have to change, yes,” Nadal said in a recent interview with Sky Sports, before conceding he had “suffered” on the courts this year because of his anxiety.

“This season I lost a lot of matches having amazing opportunities,” he had said at the US Open where, for the first time in his career, he lost after winning the first two sets at a major.

Confidence seems to be Nadal’s biggest problem at the moment. But if you believe a few former stars, he may have to tweak his game, too.

“I think his game has levelled off, stagnated a little bit, while the other guys up at the top are getting better,” Tom Gullickson, a former American pro who has guided players like Andy Roddick and Jennifer Capriati, told the Tennis Prose website.

Perhaps he needs to find new weapons – such as Federer’s SABR (sneak attack by Roger) – or alter his playing style.

“(Nadal could) start working on his game to play maybe shorter points,” French star Henri Leconte told the Tennis-Prose website. “I don’t think he can play the same way he did a long time ago, from the baseline and stay back and make winners.

“I think he should try to change a little bit his game like Roger did, to shorten points, to play better, go for the shots.

“That’s what he has to do.”

Mark Woodforde, the former Australian doubles player, offered the same advice.

“It’s easier said than done, but for longevity in his career, I think that’s [shorten points] maybe something he needs to look into,” Woodforde said.

“Otherwise, if he continues hovering so deep behind the court playing these elongated points, it’s tough to see him playing for another five years.”

Given the state of his body, Nadal himself would probably not give him another five years on the tour. But can he change his game, reinvent himself and turn it around in 2016?

He is not the raging bull he once was. So he could play as the sly, old fox, like Federer.

Follow us on twitter at @NatSportUAE