Australia Open 2008... at a glance...

Nadal downed by unseeded Tsonga in QF!!!

Analysis of Nadal's tactical errors
Nadal when he sits down to think about why he lost the semi-final may conclude he played the match as though it was being played on clay rather than the supposed intermediate-speed hard-court which since the upgrade has actually made it a tad faster- more like a grass court in speed. Thus patrolling about 5 yards behind the base-line was an error in tactics by Nadal allowing Tsonga to play drop shots and other volleys which he was unable to deal with.

It also meant that often Nadal has to run much further simply to play the next ball which allowed Tsonga extra milliseconds to get to where he wanted to be for his next shot. The ability of Tsonga to hit winners from behind the baseline was remarkable and a big advantage in this match.

Secondly Nadal's serve is not good enough to get many free points - cf. Federer and Tsonga and in the women's game Sharapova & Ivanovic. Where next for Nadal? I would not bet against him winning the French Open.

Nadal - Master of Clay
Tsonga - The Muhammad Ali of tennis...