As the European clay-court season began in Monte Carlo on Monday with the first of the summer's three Masters tournaments on the surface, the big question seems to be: is the king of clay ready to relinquish his crown?
By his own admission, Rafael Nadal, a nine-time French Open champion, claims he is arriving in Europe "in the worst form of my career" and that is no exaggeration. The Spaniard has lost five matches in the first three months of 2015, winning just one title and reaching the last-four in only one of his other six tournaments.
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Statistically, Nadal is right: this is his worst start to a year since 2004 and he had not even made his first appearance at Roland Garros back then.
Last year, Nadal was 22-3 coming into the European clay-court season on the back of four finals and two titles.
Coming back from a lengthy injury-forced lay-off in 2013, Nadal had reached the final in all four tournaments he took part in and arrived in Monte Carlo with an 18-1 record and three titles.
In 2012, he was 17-3, 19-4 in 2011, 16-4 in 2010, 24-3 in 2009, 22-6 in 2008, 18-5 in 2007, 12-3 in 2006 when he missed the Australian Open with a foot injury, and 21-6 in 2005 when he was still ranked outside the top 50.
Nadal’s form this year has seen him slip to No 5 in the rankings, which is his joint lowest since mid-2005.
With him defending 3,870 points from Monte Carlo until the French Open, there is a risk of him sliding farther.
A couple of bad results over the next few weeks on his favourite surface could make for even more uncomfortable reading.
The king needs to come out fighting.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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