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Men’s Tennis: Can Rafael Nadal Ever Return to Prominence on Hard Courts?
Published: January 31, 2013
In 2010, Nadal won seven titles, including three Grand Slams and two on hard courts. However, two-and-a-half years later, Rafa's ranking has tumbled to World No. 5, his lowest since 2005. Much of this decline can be attributed to a nagging knee injury that hit Nadal last summer and a stomach virus that kept him out of last month's Australian Open.
At the start of his career, Nadal could seemingly only win on clay. Now, he isn't the quintessential "dirt rat" because he won a pair of Wimbledon titles and made deep runs at the other majors, but each of his first four major titles were at the French Open, played on Rafa's beloved red dirt.
In 2010, Rafa, who by that time already had captured Wimbledon (grass) and the Australian Open (hard), showed the rest of the world that he was the best player on earth. Period. Regardless of surface.
In his majestical run that ended in the completion of his career Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows, Nadal served consistently at 125 mph. That's a very stark contrast to 2006, where his average serve speed at Wimbledon was a measly 104 mph.
This improvement made Nadal a more complete player, and people began talking about the Spaniard toppling Roger Federer's record of 16 majors (Federer has since added one more major to his outstanding total).
Fast-forward one year and an inability to finish off points hampers Nadal in a demoralizing four-set loss to Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final. By that time, Djokovic had already overtaken Nadal as the best player on earth and had defeated Rafa on every surface, clay included.
Go forward 12 more months, and Nadal is absent at the U.S. Open, the world of tennis is already talk...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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