In terms of titles, the Australian Open is Rafael Nadal’s worst Grand Slam. The Spaniard has lifted the trophy only once and is in the midst of a nine-year title drought since winning it all back in 2009. Combine that fact with Nadal’s possible physical issues heading into this fortnight and it was no surprise that he trailed Novak Djokovic (by a lot) and Roger Federer (by a little) in the pre-tournament title odds.
Since retiring from last summer’s U.S. Open semifinal against Juan Martin Del Potro, Nadal has dealth with knee, hip, ankle,and thigh injuries. The world No. 2 skipped the 2018 fall swing, withdrew from an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last month after just one match, and then pulled out a season-opening tournament in Brisbane two weeks ago.
And with that, Nadal–who retired from a 2018 Australian Open quarterfinal against Martin Cilic in the fifth set–arrived in Melbourne with little confidence…. Well, that should read: “with little confidence instilled in him by the general public.” After all, the 32-year-old–despite being perhaps the most humble player on tour–has never lacked belief in himself.
Fast forward through two rounds and no one should be lacking belief now. Nadal trounced a pair of Aussies in straight sets to earn another meeting with an Aussie, Alex De Minaur. The second seed disposed of James Duckworth 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 before hammering Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
“[It was] a very positive victory for me,” Nadal said following Wednesday’s rout of Ebden. “I (am) happy the way I played. I started a little bit slow, especially on the return side; serving I think was good from the beginning…. I think I play well.”
Beyond his own game, things are breaking well so far for the 17-time Grand Slam champion. De Minaur is coming off an unexpected five-set battle with Henri Laaksonen and the up-and-coming hometown hopeful had already put himself through a rigorous and triumphant Sydney campaign just last week. With Nadal well-rested by comparison, the favorite should have a huge advantage on Friday.
Moreover, projected fourth-round seeded opponent Kyle Edmund lost in round one and projected quarterfinal foe Kevin Anderson was stunned by Frances Tiafoe in round two. Looking further ahead, Novak Djokovic–a likely final adversary for Nadal–has to face 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday.
It’s still early in the tournament…but not too early to start thinking about the possibility of Nadal completing the double career Grand Slam.
[polldaddy poll=10215338]
Leave a Reply