Rafael Nadal’s knee injury is a blessing in disguise for him – Tennis Special
Rafael Nadal is one of the best players who have picked up a tennis racket in the history of this sport. The Spaniard has already made a number of records at a young age of 26, winning most French Open titles, most successive wins
on clay courts, most straight title wins at a particular tournaments are a few to name.
However, the Spanish star has been carrying knee injury since his junior days. That injury had hampered his game a lot, stopping him from winning many more titles.
Nadal’s knee injury came to trouble him again this season. The Spanish star won his record breaking seventh French Open title at the start of June but then this knee problem resurfaced.
Nadal’s woes started from the Gerry Weber Open, when he lost to Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarter-finals. The Spaniard headed to the Wimbledon Championships, where he was upset by a low ranked player, Lukas Rosol,
in the second round.
There was more sorrow in the pipeline, as Nadal failed to regain fitness before the London Olympics and had to withdraw from the biggest sports event of the world. Later on, we was also forced to pull out from the two Masters 1000
events before the US Open, Rogers Cup and Western and Southern Open.
Many tennis analysts are saying that this lay off has begun the end of Nadal’s career. They believe that King of Clay would not be able to regain full fitness this time and his ranking would keep dropping slowly and steadily. Nadal
haters are feeling happy, as they are thinking that his era has came to an end due to this injury.
Now, the thing is that they have completely forgotten what happened three years back. If we go back to 2008, we will found out that Nadal’s situation was the same as it is currently. The four-time defending champion was stunned
in the fourth round of the French Open by Robin Soderling. Then he withdrew from the Wimbledon Championships, failing to defend his title that he had won in 2008.
Nadal regained his fitness before the end of season, but lost in the semi-finals of the US Open and could not qualify for the knock out stage at the season ending championships. At that time too, Nadal haters had thought that the
Spaniard was gone.
However, Nadal bounced back and made an amazing comeback in the next year. The Spanish hero started 2010 by winning his first Australian Open title, then recaptured his French Open crown and later on he grabbed his maiden US Open
title. Having a win/loss record of 71-10 and winning seven Tour-level titles, Nadal was undoubtedly the best player of that season.
Same thing has happened with Nadal in this year, only with a delay of one month. He got stunned early at the Wimbledon Championships and then was unable to defend his London Olympics title. This pattern means that he would be unable
to put on a good show at the US Open as well.
However, this trend also says that Nadal would fight back in 2013 and that would be his year. No one can deny the fact that the King of Clay is a true fighter and bounces back after a downfall. Nadal might drop to fourth position
in the rankings in the coming weeks but he would regain the number one spot next year. His knees are getting rest because of this lay off and it’s a blessing in disguise for him.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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