Rafael Nadal looks favourite to clinch Mutua Madrid Open crown – Tennis Special
Despite all of his reservations about the new blue courts at the La Caja Magica, Rafael Nadal is looking in the best position to recapture his lost Mutua Madrid Open title.
The Spaniard, who is known as the King of Clay and the best clay courter in history of the sport, looks almost unbeatable when he is playing on his favourite surface. The second ranked player looks like a flying horse and even
the slipperiness of these new courts cannot stop him from hitting winners from all corners.
All the tennis fans, experts and analysts who had doubt in their minds about Nadal’s ‘King of Clay’ status after his two successive losses at the hands of Djokovic last year would also agree with this that Nadal would be a huge
favourite if he faces the Serbian this year.
After his brilliant performance in the opening match, Nadal has further increased his odds to win the championship. The Spaniard crushed former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the second
round.
The 10-time Grand Slam winner entered this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in supreme form, winning back to back titles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
Nadal ended his seven match losing streak against Djokovic by crushing the Serbian in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final. After a gap of fortnight, the Spaniard defeated countryman, David Ferrer, 7-6(1),
7-5 at the title match in Barcelona to capture his second successive crown.
Even his rivals cannot stop praising the Spaniard, as Ferrer said after losing to Nadal, “Rafa is Rafa and he is very good. I’ve lost four times to him in this final, but I’ve always lost to one of the greats. He is a very good
player and even better as a person.”
“This loss is not a huge drama, it’s still been a good week for me. But beating Rafa is always difficult, I wasn’t able to win the key points today. Other than that, I don’t know what else to do. The more I play him, the tougher
it gets.”
On the other hand, Roger Federer and Djokovic struggled in their respective opening matches. The Serbian was stretched to three sets by qualifier, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, in the second round. While, Federer fought back after losing
the first set to overcome the challenge of Canada’s Milos Raonic in his first match at this event.
If this trend continues and Nadal grabs Mutua Madrid Open title, then he will have bright chances to remain unbeaten during the European summer clay court season. He would be favourite to win the third ATP World Tour Masters 1000
event of the year on clay courts, Internazionali BNL d’Italia; and second Grand Slam of the season, French Open. In that case, he will also shorten his gap with Djokovic for the world number one race.
Nadal became the first player to have achieved this feat in open era in 2010, when he won all three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events and Roland Garros on clay.
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