Whither Rafael Nadal? After his two defeats on successive Fridays, on a surface he has dominated like no other in history, the tennis world is searching for answers.
At Monte Carlo, David Ferrer, who had not beaten Nadal on clay since their first meeting at Stuttgart in 2004, might have just got lucky and caught the “King of Clay” on his day off. But then came the shock at Barcelona.
Nicolas Almagro had lost all 10 of his duels against Nadal but, on Friday, he brought the world No 1’s 41-match winning streak at the tournament to an end.
Nadal had not lost in Barcelona since his defeat to Alex Corretja on debut in 2003. At Monte Carlo, it was his earliest exit in 11 years and, for the first time since 2004, he has failed to reach the final of back-to-back clay-court events.
For a man who has not lost more than two matches on clay in a season since 2005, those numbers are alarming. Had he not saved those two match points against Pablo Andujar in the Rio semis, it would have looked even worse.
So what is up with Nadal? Is he tired? He has played 113 matches in the 14 months since returning from his seven-month hiatus because of knee problems. Or does the Australian Open defeat to Stanislas Wawrinka in the Australian Open final still rankle?
“Rhythm, a little bit of intensity,” said Nadal after his loss to Almagro. He must find them soon or lose his No 1 spot to Novak Djokovic as early as Madrid next week.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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