Rafael Nadal’s woes are being given some serious air of late. A seemingly dismal 2015, a first round loss at the Australian Open, and two back-to-back semi-final losses on clay at the beginning of 2016 are the perfect excuse to relegate him to the annals of history.
However, critics conveniently neglect to mention Nadal had a resurgent last three months of 2015 on the indoor hard courts; his least successful surface.
Across the Asian hard court swing and Paris Masters, Nadal went from final to semi-final to final to quarter-final – his best haul in a decade.
He then had a clean sweep in the round robin of the ATP World Tour Finals, beating Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and David Ferrer.
Then along came the Australian Open. His is demise was prophesied from the rooftops, but anyone who watched that match would agree the loss was more to do with Fernando Verdasco than Nadal.
After their 2009 semi-final, there was no way Verdasco would allow himself to lose again. He knew it, Rafa knew it, and given the ferocity with which Verdasco played, he would have beaten anyone. But it’s much more fun to condemn a champion than justify an inspired opponent.
And so we turned to the Argentina Open. The headlines will tell you Nadal inexplicably went down to a player outside the top 10. However, they fail to mention the terrible stomach problems Nadal had all week, which clearly affected his game.
Aside from this, his opponent, Dominic Thiem, who has just climbed to world No.15, played a sublime match. After an extremely tight three sets, Thiem managed to squeeze through in a third set tiebreak and backed up the result by winning the tournament. Not quite the career-crushing catastrophic loss we’re led to believe.
Next, the Rio Open. Losing to Pablo Cuevas, world No.45, was unexpected. But was it a collapse of form or lack of motivation? No. It looked to be an attack of bad nerves. And when you are Rafael Nadal, King of Clay, with the weight of the world’s expectation on your shoulders, you’re bound to feel them. Nerves plague every athlete and are hardly a career death sentence.
Putting aside the sensationalism surrounding Rafa’s stint in South America, let’s take a look at what’s been happening around the tennis world recently.
Ferrer, world No.8 eight, was also knocked out of Argentina in the semi-finals, by world No.50 Nicolas Almagro. He was then dumped out of Rio, as defending champion, in the quarter-finals by Dominic Thiem. As for Acapulco, where he was also defending his title, he was knocked out in the second round by world No.32 Alexandr Dolgopolov.
World No.6 Kei Nishikori suffered a similar second round Acapulco upset. In Marseille, world No.7 Tomas Berdych and world No.4 Stan Wawrinka were demolished in the quarter-finals, all by players 20 or more places below them.
At the Shanghai Masters in October 2015, Roger Federer was swept aside in the second round by the then world No.70 Albert Ramos-Vinolas. At the US Open, Andy Murray was stumped in the round of 16 by the then world No.14 Kevin Anderson. Even the seemingly infallible Novak Djokovic was quashed in Doha in 2015 by Ivo Karlovic, world No.31 at the time, in the quarter-finals.
Suddenly, Rafa’s losses look less unusual.
Upsets happen. All it takes is a bad day and an inspired opponent with nothing to lose. Career ups and downs are part of the game. Federer dropped to No.7 in 2013, his lowest ranking in 11 years. Murray fell to No.10 in 2014. They bounced back. There’s every reason to suggest Nadal will do the same. He has more natural talent than anyone except Federer, a healthy body, and a will to win bordering on the obsessive-compulsive.
It is senseless to suggest, at the age of 29, Rafael Nadal’s career is even close to over. His losses are sensationalised because finally, the mighty king of the clay courts has apparently fallen.
However, if you consider he finished the year as world No.5 with three titles under his belt and clean sweep in the World Tour Finals round robin, 2015 looks like little more than a wobble. Add to that the fact he has had, across a 13-year career, almost two years absent due to injury, and still managed to amass the titles and records he has, you’d realise what a miracle he is.
The start of 2016 hasn’t been ideal, but it hasn’t been wholly disastrous either. Tearing him apart after every less than perfect performance is pointless and crude.
While the thrill of winning is on the table, Rafa will keep on chasing that high. And soon enough, he’ll reach it.
Benny babe
Guest
I'm afraid it's all wishful thinking from all you guys...Nadal was a great champion but his time has passed...djokovic IS a great champion and someday time will catch up with him too....enjoy his fantastic achievements as they are happening....
Gail vickery
Guest
What a very sensible article! I think what we are seeing is a beginning of the "changing of the guard"! A transitional period when the current exceptional group of top players are beginning to approach the end of their careers. This transitional period will probably last five years, and we can only hope that some of the talented, but still unproven new young players will be able to step up and take their places! In the meantime, why don't we all enjoy the amazing players that we still have with us - Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Warwinka, Berdych, Ferrer, to name but a few!! And count our lucky stars to have been around to enjoy these exceptional players in their heyday! We may never have a similarly large and amazing group ever again!
gorog
Guest
in deed thats how things stand at the moment. And than things change...
gorog
Guest
Keith... Changes Nadal has made are as follows: chganging a raquet, changing strings, practising more frequent approach to the net, standing closer to the base line, adjusting his forhand and flattening it out a bit more often, backhand cross court shot. These are only the things that I know of... and I know nothing! The one thing he hasnt changed is his team. Try to consider that none of his opponents has had a comparable circumstances in this regard. Toni knows everything about Rafael. He lives in his bones. That might not be neccessarilly all good but it is a point you havent considered wiht enough attention. I am totally convinced these guys know exactly why they do not hire somebody else, and/or at which point they might consider doing it. It is because of Nadal's nerves AND the the CHANGES he is trying to make with his tennis that he is struggling at the moment. Things need to fall in place and its not easy when you are in such situation. Besides his confidence is on the ropes and everyone seems to be relishing the challenge of getting his sculp. But things can change very quickly with this type of players and the spiral can suddenly turn upward. Nobody actually knows whether it will or will not happen for him. Media is making a story out of it and makes money while you dont, so I wouldnt waste much time talking about it. Obviously, same goes for me :)
Zygoma
Guest
Always been a big admirer of Rafa but I wonder if he has lost confidence in himself even when his body is up to the task. Citing all the top players who have lost is not much of a defense. As long as Djokavic is playing so well expect Rafa to come up short. Hate saying it but Novak is just too good.
Uros
Guest
Your fandom is sincere and admirable, but this article is just Nadal Apologetics. You cite a disastrous Djokovic loss -- one whole loss -- and you think that it is somehow akin to Nadal's struggles? Djokovic lost to one non-top 10 opponent in 2015, Nadal lost to 9.....and rest assured he didn't do very well AGAINST the top 10 either. Federer had some tough losses, but he won 5 titles, won 86% of his matches, a master's title, reached 6 tier 1 finals including 2 slam finals (compared to 1 and 0 for Nadal), beat Djokovic 3 times and took sets in 3 of the 5 losses whereas Nadal lost in straight sets each time to Nole ....with these being their set scorelines: 6-3 6-3 7-5 6-3 6-1 6-2 6-2 6-3 6-3. Murray vastly outperformed Nadal last year too. Now, onto 2016. Nadal is 0-4 against top 50 players! Hope springs eternal, I get that, but you should be open to the possibility that it really might be the end for Nadal as a slam contender. Since RG 2014, he has played 32 tournaments. That's the equivalent of 2 full years worth of tournies. He's won 3 of those 32, with 2 of the 3 being ATP 250's, the other one being a 500. For what it's worth, he didn't beat a top 20 player en route to ANY of them, and only 1 top 20 player. All told he's gone 76-29 in that span, playing 17 tournaments at tier 1 (grand slams, world tour finals, masters series) events.... Winning none of them, and only reaching 1 final in his home country, where he lost 6-3 6-2 to Murray, who had 1 clay title to his name going into that tournament. Of those 17 tier 1 tournaments, 6 were grand slams, where he reached 2 quarter finals, losing in straight sets both times. Of course, he hasn't even cleared the 3rd round in his last 3 majors, and is a meek 4-4 in his last 8 grand slam matches. The TL;DR version: Nadal might have another run in him but don't quite bank on it, and it'd be foolish to totally disregard what the naysayers say. They might have a point this time.
Mary Jo Fisher
Guest
Thank you for a beautiful article, it states the complete truth and should stand as a reminder to all just what a "Champion" this man is. He's not only a fine tennis player he is a finer human being. VAMOS RAFA!!
rafanut
Guest
Daisy Cousens, I applaud and congratulate you on a well thought out analysis of Nada's performance of the last few months. He wants to compete and appears his body is holding out, so we have to keep watching his ability to adjust to new strategies and players who present new challenges, that's it. The negative press and sensationalism is hype and just shows how the sports world is fickle and quick to write people off. Can he make it to the top again ?, he'll show us in due time.
Sujith
Guest
Great article. Go Rafa!! He will win atleast one Grand Slam this year.
Ying
Guest
Thank you, Sandra!
Norma
Guest
We need to ❤️ Rafa and respect him ????
Norma
Guest
I love Rafa and will always support my idol "Go Rafa"❤️??⭐️??
Parth
Guest
Very well said Sandra , I totally agree with you .
Steele
Guest
Federer and Murray aren't winning majors Keith. It's been Novak and then daylight for some time now. And Nadals recent struggles are more physical than anything else. Daisy made a good point about Nadals form at the tail end of last season. I think he was coming good and just had a stiff opponent at the Aussie. See how he goes at the French and then judge, he's been a champ for a long time.
Parth
Guest
Well I totally agree with this article , though Nadal has suffered many losses and you can clearly see that his gameplay is too tentative and he lacks confidence in every short and for diehard Nadal fan that poor forehand and lack of power in shorts seems a real bummer but I believe in him and I feel that its more of mental clutter that Nadal is suffering from right now then his physicality . He needs that aggression back and to get back that aggression he needs to win ( For example if you all have seen the match between Nadal and Ivo karlovic last year in Shanghai masters event , Nadal was on verge of losing but he turned the tables and the reaction he had after winning the match and his typical fist pumps and punching in air makes him the player he was and brings back his confidence. ) Im sure Rafa will find is way back soon , He can also add a new coach or a Past retired Tennis friend ( Agassi) along side Toni and start enjoying his game again . Vamos Rafa .
Keith ian
Guest
The problem with this article is its short sighted viewpoint over the differences between Nadal, federer, and murray. The big difference is that Federer and Murray made changes. The define repeat the definition of insanity which is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Federer had new coaches and a new racket. Murray had new coaches and played more aggressively. Novak hired a new coach. What has Nadal done? Absolutely no change at all. The fact that this article doesn't recognize that is the same insanity that plagues Nadal team.
Sandra Kruger
Guest
The problem with our world is that we are fiixated with number ones! What's wrong with us. Not being number one doesn't make you a loser! Raffa isn't in the game for us, it is for himself. If he still enjoys his tennis, and give us fans the pleasure of watching him ,win or lose, let him be. Why is everybody always on his case? What makes Raffa a winner? He is a wonderful role model for old and young, he lives a decent life,he is respectful to all old and young, he is still in the top 10 and he enjoys what he's doing... I hope he will be on the courts for a few more years, Winning or losing on or off the court he is still a winner as a person and a player, He will always have my respect,There will always be new and younger heroes coming on the scene, but as there is only one Frank Senatra there is and will only be one Raffa.. May we still be blessed with many more games with Raffa on the court with hopefully more wins than losses. Go Raffa, your fans are behind you.
PK
Guest
As a die hard fan.. seeing bits and pieces of the aus open with verdaso , the anguish of seeing him miss sitters, I stopped watching his matches.. With every hope of a recovery and that he can turn things back easy beginning with the australian open, I can sense he is not able to put back his doubts and fears. Double faulting in important points, Unforced errors, the mistakes seem to continue along with the never before seen sense of humiliation in losing.I have almost lost hope that we would get back to where he needs to be if not to where he was. It is really refreshing to see a well written positive article which I would even recommend the great Nadal to read. He has got the game but his stronger suit was his mental strength which he continues to struggle to recover. A few twists and a healthy bit of luck .. maybe an unforeseen win at the Indian wells and He could be back. but again its all wishful thinking for die hard Nadal fans. I hope he proves his doubters wrong which I think is beginning to include a group of his own fans unfortunately. i would love to see him go with a bang.
Arlene estacio
Guest
The record books can never alter the fact that Rafa won 14 grand slams, and the highest No. Of ATP tour 1000 finals won! Your article is very encouraging - even Agassi went so low in the rankngs, when he was not winning, outside the top 100. His coach should strategically study every player in the top 10, so Rafa will employ new techniques to beat them. He should include in his team (led by Uncle Tony) as also recommended by Courrier and the other tennis experts , fresh new ideas from other coaches , in addition to Uncle Tony. Djokovic knows all the games of the top 4 , their weaknesses and strengths thats why he beats them.
Rosi
Guest
Yes such a positive article for Rafa! He's number 5 in the World not 250! Will always have faith in Rafa. Quit beaten him down! Go Rafa!!