Rafael Nadal: Eye-Test More Important Than Results in Upcoming Chile Open

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: February 5, 2013

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Fair or not, there are tennis fans out there who expect to see the Rafael Nadal of old when he makes his return in this week's Chile Open. But those in the know won't be watching how the former champ finishes in the draw—they'll simply want to see how he looks.

When last we saw Rafael Nadal grace a tennis court, he looked anything but dominant. In one of the biggest upsets the sport of tennis has ever seen, he lost in the second round of Wimbledon to world No. 100 Lukas Rosol.

But after the event we learned of a partially torn patella tendon that, as it transpired, would eventually cost him 222 days of competition. Each of his big-four rivals—Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray—has hoisted a Grand Slam trophy in his absence, leading many tennis fans to wonder if Nadal and his dubious knee will ever be able to re-catch them.

In one respect, seeing Nadal lose his comeback tournament would be a mild disappointment. Were he donning the clay courts of Vina del Mar this time last year, we would have demanded it. Aside from being on his favorite surface, Nadal only has one member of the ATP top-15 (No. 15 Juan Monaco), two members of the ATP top-30 (Monaco and No. 26 Jeremy Chardy), and three members of the ATP top-49 (Monaco, Chardy and No. 45 Pablo Andujar) to contend with.

But Nadal isn't donning the courts of Vina del Mar in 2012; he's donning them in 2013. He's donning them with the context of the past 222 days behind him. And he's donning them in a condition where winning isn't the only way to leave Chile "successful."

Instead of focusing on whether or not Nadal hoists a trophy, we should focus on how he handles his body. His power might be diminished, but does he still have a semblance of pop? Does he cut with and plant with confidence, or trepidation?

That's a sentiment Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim agreed with, saying:

The actual results won't mu...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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