Rafael Nadal, the number two player in the world today, is known for his mental toughness on the men’s pro tennis tour. He’s won several tournaments on his aggressive style of play and mental toughness including the 2011 French Open. But last week, Djokovic defeated Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in the 2011 Wimbledon final. Did Nadal choke in the championship match against Novak Djokovic? Was Nadal’s confidence hurting because he lost four previous matches to Djokovic? In today’s article, I’ll explain why Nadal may have choked during the final match at Wimbledon and what I think constitutes choking in sports.
I don’t think anyone would say Nadal is a choker… But according to Nadal himself, his confidence took a hit from four previous loses he suffered to Djokovic. Nadal stated that confidence is key especially when playing the important points of the match. “I started the final match without thinking [about the previous loses to Novak]. But when you arrive to 5-4 in the set, these [critical] moments, it probably affects you a little bit. That’s what happened, and that’s why,” Nadal explained after losing.
I think the previous wins was a mental advantage for Djokovic, which helped him to win the Championship in four sets. Novak said that winning the previous matches gave him more confidence to win the critical points or play well during the tough moments in the match. In addition, Novak used mental imagery to recall when he performed well against Nadal in previous matches and why. “Probably, you know, because I have won four times, consecutive times, in the finals against him this year. So I had that in the back of my mind. I was trying to take myself back to those matches and really perform the same way that I performed those days in those matches: aggressive, taking my chances, not giving him opportunity to take over the control,” said Djokovic after winning Wimbledon.
You can’t take anything away from Novak Djokovic’s performance. He played incredible during the first two sets and was playing the best tennis of his career (48-1 for 2011 so far). Could anyone beat him the way he was performing in the first two sets? When you are performing at the top of your game, you force your opponents into changing their game plan or approach…
My observation is that Djokovic’s aggressive and consistent style of play forced Nadal into playing defensive tennis and hitting more low-percentage shots, maybe stepping out of his normal attack game plan, which lead to uncharacteristic errors by Nadal and lots of winners by Novak. “I played short because I played short I think today. He’s doing great. He’s doing a lot of things fantastic. But I had to play better to win, and I didn’t today. I played a little bit less aggressive,” conceded Nadal after he was asked if Djokovic forced him to play short.
But here’s what leads me to believe that Nadal might have choked in this match. Or maybe I should say he choked based on Nadal’s own standards of mental toughness. Everyone knows how great he is when his back is against the wall and what type of shots he can hit during the important moments or points of the match, such as break points or game points. However, Nadal conceded that he did not play the important points well in this match. He confessed that the mental part is “a little bit dangerous for me.”