Is Rafael Nadal The Male Arantxa Sanchez Vicario?

If you look at the Spanish tennis star  Arantxa Sanchez Vicario’s tennis career you will notice she was dominant on the slow red clay. Arantxa is a three time French Open champion and reached the finals in Paris six times. Rafael Nadal is also from Spain and he is also a three time French Open champion. In terms of playing style if you remember Arantxa was very fast and quick just like Rafael he gets a lot of balls back. On the clay Arantxa and Rafael force their opponents into errors and don’t go for too much.

The difference is Arantxa was an excellent doubles player she won multiple doubles and mixed doubles grand slam championships. Rafael still doesn’t volley that well. Arantxa was also number one on the WTA Tour in singles and doubles simultaneously in the 1990s.

Rafael and Arantxa both reached the Wimbledon finals twice and also lost twice in the finals. Arantxa lost to Steffi Graf in 1995 and 1996. In 1995 the final was very close Arantxa served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but her serve just wasn’t big enough. Rafael Nadal was very close to winning Wimbledon last year but he choked against Roger Federer losing the final set 6-2. Of course, a major difference between Rafael Nadal and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is size I believe Arantxa maximized her potential she managed to win four slams but she also was only five foot six. Rafael Nadal is a big man he’s six foot one yet the guy has one of the slowest serves in men’s tennis.

Rafael is a natural right hander yet he serves left handed maybe this is the problem? If you look at Rafael Nadal’s serve you will notice that Venus, Serena, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, and Justine Henin actually have bigger serves. Serena and Venus can serve over 129 miles per hour. Justine Henin can serve over 120 miles per hour if she wants to. Rafael Nadal spins his serves in at 90 to 110 miles per hour.