2011 Australian Open: Rafael Nadal opens bid against Marcos Daniel
Top seed Rafael “Rafa” Nadal will begin his strive for his fourth straight Grand Slam title on Tuesday in Melbourne Park, Australia. The 99th edition of the Australian Open will start from the 17th and end
on the 30th of January.
After having won the titles at 2010 Roland Garros, 2010 Wimbledon and 2010 United States Open, Nadal looks to hold all four titles at once by winning the 2011 Australian Open as well. Being pronounced as the “Rafa Slam” by the
media, this feat has not been accomplished since 1969 when former world number one Aussie Rod Laver won all four Grand Slams in the year. Coincidentally, Nadal begins his title run at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne tomorrow. Who knows, the legend’s name
may bring the Spaniard some luck.
When asked about whether he feels the pressure of the “Rafa Slam”, he said, “I feel if I play at my best level, I can have a chance to be in the second week, and there we will see what happens. Every match will be really difficult,
so I have to be ready for everything. But I for sure am feeling less favourite than [Federer] and not more favourite than Djokovic, Murray, Soderling, these kinds of players.”
Meeting for the third time on the courts, Rafa meets world number ninety-three, Brazilian Marcos Daniel for the opening clash. Nadal already enjoys a perfect 2-0 lead in the career head-to-head score and is yet to lose a set to
Daniel. Their last meeting on the court came in the AEGON Championship when the pair met for their first round match. Nadal had dismissed Daniel in straight sets back then.
Nadal finished 2010 with seven titles including three Grand Slams and three Masters titles. However, his start on the ATP Tour was not what many hoped for. Although, Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the final of the exhibition event,
the 2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championship on New Year’s Day, his title run at the Doha event was once again halted by Nikolay Davydenko. Ridden with flu, Nadal made it as far as the semis before losing out to Davydenko.
Nadal also participated at the “Rally for Relief” charity campaign on the eve of the Australian Open alongside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and several other tennis superstars as they entertained the crowd of the Rod Laver Arena
raising 1.8 million dollars for the Queensland flood victims.
Striving for his second Australian Open title, Nadal hopes for a better run than last year where he was ousted in the quarterfinal round by Brit number one and eventual finalist Andy Murray. Rafa won the Australian Open title in
2008 when he defeated former world number one Roger Federer.
Like Nadal, Daniel also started his 2011 run playing at one of the season opening triad. He competed at the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open though he was ousted in the first round by Ivan Dodig.
Currently ranked 93rd in the world, Daniel finished 2010 with no title wins on the ATP Tour though he did manage three wins on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Daniel has never made it past the first round of the Australian Open. He was ousted by Alejandro Falla in straight sets last year.
Prediction: Given the disparity in their rankings and the statistical disadvantage, it is highly expected that Daniel will once again be unable to make it past the first round. The world number one will most probably
make it past the Brazilian in straight sets.
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