Rafael Nadal: Breaking Down the Tennis Star’s Return to Form

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at Internationaled.org

Published: February 19, 2013

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Two weeks ago in Chile, Rafael Nadal hit the court for the first time since Wimbledon and showed that, while he still has the ability to play tennis at a high level, it will be a long road back to form for the former world No. 1.

After seven long months rehabbing his knees, Nadal returned to the court for the first time in early February hoping to quickly return to form as one of the "Big Four" in men's tennis.

Nadal looked primed to kick off his comeback tour with a bang on the clay at the VTR Open in Chile. He came in as the No. 1 seed and rolled to the final without much opposition, routing recent Aussie Open quarter-finalist Jeremy Chardy in the semifinals.

Right when it seemed like the old Rafa would be back in the mix sooner than expected though, he had a hiccup in the final against unknown Argentine Horacio Zeballos.

Rafa's fifth career loss in a clay-court final, and the only one not to a guy named Federer or Djokovic, was a wake-up call for any that thought his climb back to the top would be easy.

Nadal took little time before jumping back on the horse, however. The day after the final, he was at the Brasil Open getting ready for a run on the indoor clay.

During the tournament, Rafa voiced his displeasure with the ATP for scheduling so many hard-court events during the season.

Given how knee problems have derailed his career in recent months, it's hard to blame the star for his outburst. But with the timing, it seemed like Nadal was drawing attention to his injuries to temper expectations.

He probably wasn't complaining, however, after a 6-2, 6-3 win against David Nalbandian gave him his first title since last year's French Open.  

He wasn't perfect during his week in Brazil, dropping sets to unseeded players Carlos Berlocq and Martin Alund. The injuries looked to hamper him at times, but Nada...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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