The answer? Topspin. Nadal’s extreme grip on the racquet results in a rate of topspin twice what Andre Agassi’s and Pete Sampras’s were when they played. In layman’s terms, if you’re on the other side of the net when a tennis ball comes hurtling through the air spinning as quickly as a Rafael Nadal forehand shot spins, it will bounce in ways you did not expect a tennis ball to bounce, especially on clay—even if you’re used to playing guys who play like Agassi and Sampras. And your attempt to hit it back with control will likely fail. This isn’t just a quirk of Nadal’s game; rather, it’s a willful mastery of a strange, somewhat unnatural, and acutely effective technique.(
US Open Final (09/10/2013) Djokovic vs Nadal 55 hits rally (squarepush7r)