Rafael Nadal has gone 29-10 this season while falling in the Australian and French quarters and enduring a second-round exit in Wimbledon.
Something was really off with him during 2014; the Spaniard came into the year as world No.1, but rather than dominating the field, it looked as though he was holding onto that title.
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Well, the experts are arguing that as recently as five months ago, the Spaniard’s loss would have been unthinkable. But Nadal was so average on clay this year that his days of being penciled in as French Open winner are over. He hasn’t made it past the quarters in the last five Slams. In addition, he has injuries, both nagging and major, that have kept the 29-year-old from playing three majors in the past three years. Roger Federer and Serena Williams may have fooled us into thinking that growing old is easy in tennis. However, they are the exceptions, not the rules.
People have actually started questioning his endurance, “Can he really take it now, or has he lost the edge? “. His struggles at Wimbledon (5-4 record over the past four years) are well known. He reached 2014 Australian Open final and aimed to roll over Stan Wawrinka, but hurt himself instead, ended up losing and was sent into the current tailspin from which Nadal yet to emerge. The Spaniard still has another major in him, with the French obviously being his best chance. But much like Federer, it’s far from guaranteed that he’ll get one. Still, we’ll go back to the Marin Cilic example and throw in Wawrinka for good measure: If Cilic has a Grand Slam and Wawrinka has two, then there’s room for an aging Rafael Nadal to get back in the winner’s circle.
Nevertheless, we wish him a great come back and also hope that he bounces back with the same aggression and speed he is known for.
