How Much Longer Will Rafael Nadal Extend Clay-Court Dominance?

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at Internationaled.org

Published: April 23, 2014

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Rafael Nadal looks for his ninth career title at the Barcelona Open, but more importantly he will be searching for his clay-court dominance. Following a disappointing quarterfinal loss at Monte Carlo, Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell reported that Nadal immediately went to work with his uncle Toni on his forehand.

Is this week's Barcelona Open where Nadal regains his best form, or will he need more time?

Will he extend his clay-court dominance, or has it already ended?

 

Near-Perfect Standard

No player has ever dominated one surface the way Nadal has from 2005 to 2013. Most tennis fans can cite his cartoon-like numbers on clay and consider if they might be infinitely unbreakable. Even red-clay legends such as Gustavo Kuerten, Ivan Lendl and Bjorn Borg stand as passenger pigeons to Nadal's fiber-optic global domination. The speed, pace and results to modern clay tennis have changed forever. There are no more clay-legacy comparisons when it comes to the greatest.

Except that Future Nadal will one day not measure up to his own past as Invincible Rafa. Future Nadal will take some drubbings, or at least lose matches and title opportunities more frequently than Invincible Rafa.

He will become a victim of his own success. Invincible Rafa has been so dominant that anything less than added achievements to this incredible standard will sound the alarms. It will be the sky falling, Rome burning and doomsday-warning parading on sandwich boards.

And that day is always one or two matches away.

For instance, if Nadal wins the Barcelona and Italian Opens, but fails to win Monte Carlo (check), Madrid (reasonable) and the French Open (not a lock), will we look back at the 2013 French Open final as the last day of his clay dynasty? It would still be a great clay-court season by almost anyone else, but it might signal the end of Nadal's almighty grip on his favorite surface.
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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