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Not content to let a changing game pass him by, Rafael Nadal’s hard-court transformation in recent years has helped deliver fresh success.
His more aggressive first-strike strategy had become apparent during his successful run to the 2018 US Open trophy and last year’s Australian Open final, and again during his successful title defence at Flushing Meadows.
It was a move aimed at winning points more efficiently, but also to ease the toll on his body.
According to Infosys data, Nadal last year played fewer long rallies than the tournament average across his opening five matches at Melbourne Park.
Where the Spaniard had made a point of moving away from his long-successful clay-court style on faster surfaces, on Monday in his first-round assignment against Bolivian Hugo Dellien, it was somewhat a throwback to the Nadal of old in the first two sets.
The longer the rally ensued, the more Nadal wore down his opponent at Rod Laver Arena in a 6-2 6-3 6-0 result.
The pair was relatively evenly split on points that lasted 0-4 shots, but when the points lasted five or more shots, Nadal was dominant, winning 57 of 89.
Of particular note, of points which stretched seven or more shots, Nadal hit 13 winners to Dellien’s four, six forced errors apiece and crucially hit only six unforced errors to the Bolivian’s 14.
While only a single match, the world No.1’s strategy could have stemmed from a belief in his ability to outlast the 70th-ranked South American and the fact he felt his opponent did not have the weapons to truly trouble him.
“I think the third set, yeah, was a great set,” Nadal said. “I think I played a very good level of tennis. The first two I played with a little bit more caution.
“I think I was just trying to not do something very good, but not doing something very bad.
“Just trying to play a solid game with not many mistakes. Just try to do the things that I know that I can do it. Just try to put myself on rhythm. That was my goal at the beginning of the match.
“Then, of course, with an advantage on the score, I just tried to play the way that I really believe I need to play if I want to have a positive result here.”