Rafael Nadal’s star is on the rise once again. The “mental” gremlins have started to disappear and he seems to be enjoying himself a lot more on the court.
That, as Nadal explained in Paris last week, is the biggest difference between the Nadal we saw in the first eight months of 2015 and the Nadal post-US Open.
The Nadal of the first eight months struggled, even on his favourite clay surface, losing to journeymen such as Michael Berrer (Doha), Alexandra Dolgopolov (Queens) and Dustin Brown (Wimbledon).
Italy’s Fabio Fognini beat him twice on clay, at Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona, before eliminating him in the third round of the US Open as well.
That US Open defeat was also the first time Nadal had lost a match after winning the first two sets, and for the first time in 11 years he was going to finish a season without a major title.
Surely, this was the pits. But then, the only way from there for Nadal was up. With the worst behind him, Nadal is now playing with a lot more freedom and has made the finals in two of his four tournaments since the US Open.
In the other two he reached the semi-final and quarter-final, and three of those losses came against members of the current top four: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
“The story now is different, no? I’m enjoying on the court,” Nadal said in Paris. “I don’t have the nerves I had during the season.”
That certainly sounds like a good omen for the Spaniard in 2016.
Follow us on twitter at @NatSportUAE
