Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell: Another streak at stake for Rafael Nadal?

Every time Rafael Nadal steps on a tennis court made in red shale, there is an almighty streak that trails behind him like the smoky white tail behind a soaring jet plane. The Spaniard hasn’t lost in Barcelona since 2003, winning the title every year since 2005 except for 2010 when he chose to give the  Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell a miss. Incredibly, Nadal beat Ferrer for the last four of his seven titles in the Catalan city. Fresh off a stinging loss at the hands of Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo, the Majorcan has doubts weaving through the complex maze of his normally steady head. Can David Ferrer or Tomas Berdych take the opportunity and knock down another citadel in the kingdom of Emperor Nadal?

Ferrer has already mustered a 25-5 record this year, having won in Auckland and Buenos Aires and the with the exception of Indian Wells, has made the semis or better in each of the other tournaments. Consistency has never been a problem for the stoic Spaniard who has plugged away throughout his career in the long shadow of Nadal. Unfortunately for Ferrer, he has grown accustomed to play the perfect bridesmaid for far too long. Now is as good a time as any for the Valencia star to rise over the horizon and leave a lasting impression – at 31, he is not going to have many more of these opportunities.

Berdych has only been an occasional visitor to Barcelona, having played the event only three times in his career. The Czech lost to Fernando Verdasco on his last visit there in 2009, but he has evolved since then into a formidable player on any surface. The world No. 6 has made the quarters at Rome the past two years as well as the final in Madrid last year where he lost to Roger Federer. It will be interesting to watch Berdych bring his power to bear on the slowest of surfaces. It is a season that could also determine whether Berdych can really ever be a force to reckon with on clay. At 27, he has the right ingredients to make an impact on the tournament.

The template has been drawn, thanks to the efforts of Grigor Dimitrov, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo. The King is under attack and these three men have proven beyond doubt that it needs to be done with liberal forays to the forecourt and the adept use of angles with the right hander’s forehand crosscourt stroke to force Nadal wide off the deuce court. All three men enjoyed great success through measured aggression and by mixing up the pace around the court; the one man who could sustain it long enough finally had the temerity to unseat the King from his long held throne.

Nadal would like nothing more than a smooth title defence in Barcelona to silence the murmurs about the cracks on the fondly built walls of his long held fortress. And the draw has been kind, just as much as the fact that many of the top stars are happy to give Barcelona, an ATP World Tour 500 event, the miss considering the hectic schedule ahead leading through Rome and Madrid to Paris, which is the ultimate destination. The emergence of a new winner in Paris will be a blockbuster tale to be told, when turning the pages of history amidst a period rich in consistent glory for a handful of men. Dimitrov, Berdych and Milos Raonic have all been closeted into the same quarter, meaning that only one of these men will remain to challenge Nadal in the semis.

Kei Nishikori, who is in Nadal’s quarter is only starting his clay season and it will take more than just two matches for the Japanese to get used to the sliding and slithering before he can mount any real challenge over Nadal. In the end, it could be down to Ferrer to pose any meaningful threat to Nadal. Ferrer has to go back all the way to 2004 to dig out a happy memory on clay, for the only time he beat Nadal was in Stuttgart in 2004. A better idea might be for him to look up the 2008 final in Barcelona where he really challenged Nadal, before fading away towards the end of the match.

Whatever he does, it is important for him to wipe out his recent experience in Acapulco where Nadal wiped the court with Ferrer. It will be important for the man from Javea to make a good start to have any chance against Nadal. In Acapulco this year, Ferrer was guilty of returning too short to make any kind of impression against his nemesis on clay. Ferrer will know that sitting behind the baseline and retrieving balls will just not be enough to do the trick against Nadal. He will have to take advantage of the doubts creeping into Nadal, by using his speed and court coverage to take control rather than defend. If Ferrer can return well and test Nadal’s backhand repeatedly, it could create an opportunity to make an early dent. Either ways, it is difficult to see Nadal face a real challenge till he reaches Rome in May.