Rafael Nadal: On the brink of La Decima

Nadal is yet to drop a set in the 2017 French Open

101-2. This is not a cricket score. It is Rafael Nadal’s clay court record in best-of-five-set matches. At Roland Garros, it is 78-2. No one has ever dominated or will ever dominate a grand slam again the way Nadal has established his mastery on the red clay of Paris. 

The Spaniard is on the brink of an unprecedented La Decima at Paris this year and he has hardly broken a sweat. Having already won the Monte Carlo and the Madrid Masters in the clay court season, Nadal was one of the favourites heading into Roland Garros.

And so far, he hasn’t disappointed. No sets dropped. 29 games lost over 6 matches. 12 years after winning his first grand slam, Nadal is as dominant as he ever was on the clay.

Tennis is a lonely game. And when you suffer career threatening injuries, things only gets worse. No one had ever moved in a tennis court like Rafael Nadal did. His entire success was built on his speed, stamina and his refusal to give up on any point till the end. And with this kind of a game, injuries were always at a stone’s throw away. At the top most level, losing even a fraction of the speed and stamina means you are no longer the same player the opponents dreaded.

Over the last 3 years, Nadal was a shadow of his former self. His last grand slam win was at Paris in 2014. The losses to lower ranked players were becoming far too common, and with Djokovic playing like a human robot, it seemed that Nadal’s days of winning masters and grand slams were well and truly beyond him. Destabilising knee, wrist and back injuries took a toll on Nadal. After a match in this year’s Australian Open, he did remark, “Playing pain free was a long long time ago”.

But all this seemed to have suddenly changed in 2017. Like most things in his career, his comeback too was also over showed by Federer at the Australian Open. Nonetheless, the run to the final was nothing short of remarkable for a player who was making his umpteenth comeback and whose body had been battered by injuries. And the performance at Australia was not a flash in the pan.

Nadal has been a revelation in clay this year. Titles at Madrid, Barcelona and Monte Carlo have proved that despite everything that has happened in the last few years, Rafael Nadal has rediscovered his mojo is once again very close to his best.

Nadal has had to battle his way past injuries in the last few years

So, what has changed in the last 6-7 months that has once again brought Nadal very close to the pinnacle of men’s tennis? First and foremost is the fact that he has stayed injury-free. He had to pull out of both the French Open and Wimbledon last year. But after ending his year early following the US open last year, there have been no new injury scares. For someone whose game is based on relentless rallies from the baseline and chasing down every point, feeling fit and injury free is the key.

Getting Carlos Moya in his team of coaches has also helped him quite a bit. Moya had been a champion player in his time and understands the pressure of playing on the tour day in and day out. And when Uncle Toni goes back to Mallorca at the end of the year, having Moya on board will ensure a smooth transition.

But apart from his usual fighting qualities, what has worked remarkably well for Nadal in his comeback trail so far is his forehand. The forehand is the most dangerous weapon in his arsenal right now. And the number and ferocity of the forehand winners has been remarkable.

A typical point will swing Nadal’s way with his forehand crosscourt directed to his opponent’s backhand. If the opponent does not make a backhand error, Nadal’s combination of spin and depth extracts a weak and short ball which results in a Nadal forehand winner ending the point. The opponent knows it and sees it coming. But on clay and with Rafa on song, there is only so much you can do about it.

On Sunday, Nadal will face Wawrinka for a shot at the title. In the semis, the Swiss defeated Murray in a 5-setter, a game that could have finished early if it wasn’t for Wawrinka’s errors at key junctures. Wawrinka’s raw power means that when things go right for him, there isn’t much someone can do to stop him.  But this is the red clay of Paris. This is Nadal. In 12 years, only 2 people have overpowered the combination. Either way, today promises to be a delight.