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Rafael Nadal: Rare Loss on Dirt Should Stoke Motivational Fire
Published: April 21, 2014
Expect a more vicious snarl.
That's right, Rafael Nadal will be back, likely with a vengeance.
One can only imagine what the sight of Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka playing in the Monte Carlo Masters' final did to Nadal, but one guess is that it gave him a little extra motivation.
Nadal is after all the "King of Clay" and he was unceremoniously ousted from a tournament he's won on eight former occasions, when his countryman David Ferrer beat him in straight sets during the quarterfinals last week.
For the world of tennis, the result for Nadal—especially on that particular surface—was quite a shock.
So much so that Matt Wilansky at ESPN.com even wondered in his article "Should we be concerned with Nadal?" whether the single loss may have much broader implications for Nadal in 2014 and beyond.
An alternative—and possibly more realistic theory—might be that Nadal simply had a bad day. The Spaniard appeared frustrated throughout the match and let off more than a few uncharacteristic roars to voice those sentiments.
The more shocking aspect of the match was that Nadal looked less than enthused to be on the court. His mental focus looked inconsistent and he was even out-sneered and out-snarled by Ferrer for a good portion of the match.
Nadal's intensity simply wasn't there.
If there's a theme in play, it seems more plausible to wonder whether Rafael Nadal appears more effective in the role of the underdog.
It sure seems that way.
Based on Nadal's history, it looks like he plays a lot better when the world doubts him. Rafa has an uncanny ability to put the weight of those doubts on his shoulder and then come up with the his best tennis during the biggest moments.
This was apparent last year when Nadal returned from injury and played a masterful season th...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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