In 2015, around this time, the French Open was approaching and Rafael Nadal had begun his preparations. It was a special one for the Spaniard at the Roland Garros — a triumph would have given him the 10th French Open title.
Winning his first title in 2005, his dominance on the claycourt for the next one decade had been impeccable. He stumbled just once in 2009 to Robin Soderling — bringing to an end his incredible record of 39 consecutive victories at the French Open. He got back to his winning ways the following year to clinch the titles from 2010 to 2014 on his favourite stomping ground.
With nine La Coupe des Mousquetaires trophies adorning his cabinet, 2015 was a year every Nadal fan was looking forward to — but something looked amiss in Nadal’s form and he looked fragile even before the start of the event. The Spaniard suffered early losses at Indian Wells and the Miami Open before giving it away at the Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome Masters.
In the quarter-final of the Australian Open, he was packed off by Tomas Berdych, an opponent whom he had tamed on 17 consecutive occasions in prior matches.
At the French Open, the script did not read any different and for only the second time in his career, the ‘King of Clay’ had fallen again after being deposed by Novak Djokovic in straights sets in the last eight, the meeting coming early in the tournament due to his rankings freefall.
It’s been two years hence and the wait for the elusive 10th trophy still remains — but this time things are different considering his form this season.
At the 2017 French Open, which starts on Sunday, Nadal has earned the favourite tag, again.
His red-hot form since the start of the year and success en route to the French Open reminds one of the days when the fiery young Spaniard kept picking up his favourite title year after year. It was at the first grand slam of 2017, the Australian Open, that Nadal gave an indication of how good he looked on court. He played some of his best tennis in years only to be beaten at the final hurdle by long-time rival Roger Federer, who also completed a fairlytale comeback during the tournament. The Swiss ace though recently confirmed he is set to miss the French Open.
Despite the loss, the tournament provided clear insight about how the 30-year-old was going to fare during the rest of the season. Preparing for the French Open, Nadal won three straight tournaments — sweeping through Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid — amassing a 17-match win streak before he fell to Dominic Thiem in the quarter-final of the Italian Open.
The titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona came at the special tenth editions and, if he manages to do the same in French Open, it would be unprecedented in men’s Grand Slam tennis.
A win at Roland Garros would move him to second with 15 grand slam titles, surpassing Pete Sampras on the all-time Grand Slam singles title list behind Federer, the owner of 18 titles.
However, the usual concern when Nadal is at his aggressive best are the injuries that have long held him back. Nadal’s quest for the French Open last year was abruptly halted with a serious wrist injury, forcing him to withdraw after the second round. “It’s one of the toughest press conferences of my career,” he said at the time.
During that time, the criticism began to get stronger and some even doubted his ability to make a comeback. However, his comebacks have always been even more fascinating and have often left even his arch-rivals in awe. “The thing is, Rafa’s always been unbelievable at comebacks,” Federer had said in an interview about the 14-time grand slam champion.
“He’s one of the guys who’s done it the best and the most almost. Every time he came back, he was always in the mix again to win big tournaments and be really, really difficult to beat and be one of the favourites, even on his weaker surfaces.”
If his body and game manage to hold up for the next two weeks, then it’s going to be difficult to stop the master of the claycourt from reaching double figures in terms of French Open titles.
