Tennis legends James Blake and Andre Agassi are convinced that Rafael Nadal's game has evolved to higher levels ever since they played against him for the first time in the early 2000s.
Blake, who recently retired from competitive tennis, reminisced about the first time he met and played the eventual 13-time Grand Slam champion Nadal at the 2005 U.S. Open Championships.
"My first impression of [Nadal] then was he was a clay-courter playing on hard courts. He was playing with a lot of topspin, hitting the ball heavy, but not attacking the ball, not moving forward at all," Blake recalls in an interview with Tennis.com. "He sort of counted on his defense and his movement to win a lot of matches. He did it exceptionally well, obviously."
"I also remember specifically, I had never even hit with him before I played him, the first couple balls in warm-up, he hit the ball so heavy, I actually thought I was in trouble from the start. Once the match started, he was hitting the ball shorter and playing with a lot of margin and not being as aggressive," he added.
Blake took advantage of Nadal's weaknesses that time and went on to book a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory against the No.2 seed Spaniard in the third round of the US Open.
But eight years after their first meeting, Blake said it's impossible to see any weaknesses in Nadal's game anymore.
"As I've seen him now and practiced with him much more recently, that guy is gone. He's so much more effective with being aggressive, with taking his game and imposing it on me, like I said, being more effective with his serve. He's still one of the best movers, moves so well side to side," said Blake, who became the fourth-best player in the world at the peak of his career.
Golden Age of Tennis
Agassi, who shares the title with Nadal as the only men's singles players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments and capture an Olympic gold medal, believed that tennis has reached its golden age with Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and recently Andy Murray all coming up with unprecedented feats in the sport.
"Djokovic is one win away from entering not necessarily this all-time conversation, but certainly accomplishing a win at every Slam," Agassi told Tennis.com. "So now you got three guys potentially in one generation who have done something that only five guys have done over five decades. I think it's a golden age in our sport for sure. I think we're better off for it. I hope everybody appreciates what it is we're watching."
Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic are all scheduled to compete this week in the Paris Masters 2013.
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