Rafa Nadal Looks to Return to Slam Winning Form

Rafa Nadal looks to return to slam winning form

By his incredibly high standards, the last two years for Rafael Nadal have been somewhat of a disappointment although injuries have to be taken into account for large parts of it. 2014 was marked by losses to opponents he had dominated in the past, most notably Stanislas Wawrinka in the Australian Open final and David Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament he had a record winning streak in.

When the French Open came round, plenty tipped Novak Djokovic to finally secure his first French Open title but once more Nadal came through in four sets, taking his ninth title in Paris. Injury following Wimbledon put paid to most of the rest of year save for China and Basel where he suffered disappointing losses to Martin Klizan, Feliciano Lopez and Borna Coric.

Given his injury record and incredibly physical style of play, those doubting Nadal have made the proclamation on a number of occasions that he would never be able to compete at slam winning level consistently upon recovery. On each time those people have been made to look foolish but on this occasion, his dip in level has been far more substantial than on any other occasion. Unless he wins the US Open, it will be the Spaniard’s first year without a slam title since 2004 – a year he ended ranked 51st in the world. However, with Federer and Djokovic on top form, we shall see what the Spaniard can come up with – keep up to date with all the results and get sunbets promo.

Even when Nadal had his bad runs on hard court, his clay safety net would see a return to form and a reappearance of the confidence that sees him be so difficult to beat. However, this year he won just one clay tournament (Buenos Aires), failing to pick up any of the European clay Masters 1000 events and losing in the French Open for the first time since 2009 to Novak Djokovic. While it seemed like Djokovic finally getting over the hump against Nadal in Paris was inevitable, his loss in the Madrid final to Andy Murray was a major shock. Nadal was never in it, losing 6-3 6-2.

He would find some success prior to Wimbledon, with the aid of much better serving, in Stuttgart but once at SW19, found himself taken out by another attacking player in the zone – Dustin Brown. Early losses to Feliciano Lopez and Kei Nishikori meant his US Open preparation was from ideal but he hasn’t been particularly troubled in the early rounds, beating Borna Coric in 4 sets and Diego Schwartzman in straight sets.

In the victory over Schwartzman, Nadal served 8 aces and commented post match that he was pleased with his serving. The diminutive Argentinian did have some luck on return despite this, breaking three times although he wouldn’t remain solid enough on serve throughout to be able to take a set. Schwartzman taking the match to Nadal left him uncomfortable at times and 23 forehand unforced errors in comparison to a total 17 winners on the forehand side.

It’s fair to say that Nadal is still tough enough to deal with the likes of his opening opponents comfortably, especially in the best of five format. However, his 2015 nemesis Fabio Fognini has troubled the Spaniard once more as he defeated him in round three in an epic five set battle. Despite being two sets and a break up against the Italian, Rafa struggled to close it out, which is very uncharacteristic for him.

Of the slams outside France, the US Open has been where Nadal has seen most success in recent years. Although skipping the event twice due to injury, he made the final on each of the occasions he has played since 2010, winning there and in 2013.

His fans worldwide believe that he can bounce back and get back to the winning form that has seen him capturing 14 Slam titles.

If you are interested in any previous results between any ATP and WTA players, you can look at the Head to Head comparison here.