Pete's 2 Cents

It looked tough playing Nadal, he's pretty aggressive, and he's one of those guys who grew up using the big racquet. Together with the new strings, it adds up to a very heavy ball he hits. That puts a lot of pressure on you, especially on holding serve. So if you're not right on top of things, you can find yourself in a pretty big hole, pretty fast. And before you know it, you're pressing, and that's never a comfortable position. Nadal is going to win that tournament a few more times, for sure. I still think Roger can win there (Paris). The guy grew up playing on clay, so that's not an issue. Oddly enough, I used to think that the place where Roger might struggle some is at Wimbledon, because he was never really an aggressive, attacking player, even though he had all the tools.

- Pete Sampras on the challenges of playing Rafa (courtesy of Peter Bodo)


I agree. Rafa possesses a very different game, with awkward spins born from his awkward technique. So cut Fed some slack people!

Now can someone comment on why Rafa picks at his butt every service point? Someone get this kid the right size undies, puleez.