Nadal is just more at home on clay. It looks like he feels safer on clay courts. He can get to a few more balls, he can play a bit further behind the baseline when he defends, and he's also able to get the ball to bounce higher. It's unbelievable.
Hard courts are faster and the bounce is lower indoors. Rafa cannot slide on this surface. He's more comfortable on clay, where he can play higher, he can play deeper.
I think it's fun to play on hard courts, you know. I think it's a surface that also can suit my game even though this year has been mainly clay, clay, clay all the year.
This clay, so strong of heart, of sense so fine,Surely such clay is more than half divine--'Tis only fools speak evil of the clay,The very stars are made of clay like mine.
I've been feeling really comfortable on clay because I have more time to set up my forehand. I can use a lot of different shots - drop shots and high balls. You can mix up a lot of shots, so it's actually more fun to play on clay.
I think for Britain it's tough to play on clay. They prefer grass courts, hard courts, fast courts.
Since I finished on 'The Mentalist,' I didn't need to be so near to the studio, so we decided to move a bit further out where you can get more house for your money, too. It definitely feels more like home.
I like the clay courts more, everyone knows that.
You have clay players that have maybe struggled doing as well on hard courts and those will get criticised. But you also have hard court players or grass players who maybe struggle doing well on clay, and that will always be the case.
The more balls that I hit, it's going to get better and better. Once I get a bit more confidence in my ball striking, that's when we can get down to the nitty gritty parts of the game.
I think clay has more rhythm so I can feel more balls better.
More than half of the matches are won in the dressing room for him. The guy he's playing against is sitting in the locker-room thinking 'oh my God, I'm going to play Rafa Nadal on clay in five sets, that's going to be painful.'
My experience on clay is less than possibly on hard and grass courts, but in terms of my game style and my physical abilities, I think there's no reason why I can't adapt well to the surface and really try to maximize what I can do well on clay.
No one ever grows up. They may look grown-up, but it's a disguise. It's just the clay of time. Men and women are still children deep in their hearts. They still would like to jump and play, but that heavy clay won't let them.
... is there anything more unjust than to build gold and brass and iron on poor, well-meaning clay, -- and then blame the clay when the whole image falls into dust?
On clay courts I have some weapons to play a good match.
The goals we get against are not really that people outplay us. I think it's the mistakes we make. It's when we have the ball at the back, we lose a few balls sometimes - that's also the risk with the way we play. It's not like they created the chance. We make two mistakes, and then we get the goals against.