Rafael Nadal’s knee problem and past record at the US Open – Tennis Special (Part Two)
This is the second one of the two article series on Rafael Nadal’s knee problem and his past performances at the fourth Grand Slam of the season, the US Open.
For a brief recap, Nadal’s knees have troubled him from the start of his career. The Spaniard performs fairly well at the hard courts events in the early part of the season but his physical strength gets weakened in the second
half due to the amount of pressure he puts on his knees.
Making his debut at the 2003 US Open, Nadal was ousted from the event in the second round. The Spaniard was ranked at the 45th position at that time of his career.
2004 US Open
Nadal’s performance in 2004 was not much different from the previous year, as he defeated Switzerland’s low ranked player, Ivo Heuberger, in the first round but was thrashed pretty badly by the then world number two, Andy Roddick,
in straight sets 0-6, 3-6, 4-6 in the round of 64.
2005 US Open
After playing incredibly well during the clay court season, the Spaniard rose to the second spot in the world rankings. Nadal entered the 2005 US Open as the second seed but he managed to make improvement of just one step, as he
was ousted by USA’s world number 49 at that time, James Blake, in four sets 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 1-6 in the third round.
2006 US Open
Nadal had already held the number one ranking for more than one year when 2006 US Open started. The Spaniard made drastic improvement compared to his past performances at the Flushing Meadows, as he reached the last eight-stage
but he lost to a low ranked player, Mikhail Youzhny in four sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 1-6.
2007 US Open
There was disappointment for Nadal’s camp once again at the 2007 US Open. After beating three players ranked outside the top 50, Nadal lost to his compatriot, David Ferrer, in the round of 16. This loss at the hands of the then
world number 15, Ferrer, was a bad blow, as he was also a clay court specialist like Nadal.
2008 US Open
For the first time in his career, Nadal entered the US Open as the top ranked player in 2008. The top seed defeated home favourite, Mardy Fish, in the quarters but his title hope ended in failure once again, as he was toppled by
the then world number six, Andy Murray in four sets 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 4-6 in the semis.
2009 US Open
2009 brought the same result for Nadal, as was ousted by world number six at that time, Juan Martin Del Potro, in straight sets 2-6, 2-6, 2-6 in the semi-finals.
2010 US Open
Nadal entered the 2010 US Open on the back of winning his second Wimbledon title. This proved to be the lucky year for the Spaniard, as he defeated the third seed, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, to win his maiden Flushing Meadows title.
The Mallorca native was extremely happy after the win, as he said, “It's more than what I dreamt. Just to arrive to the final was amazing and to have the trophy in my hands in a few seconds with my heart beating is going to be
unbelievable. I played my best match in the US Open at the most important moment, so I am very, very happy for that, for sure.”
2011 US Open
Nadal beat Andy Murray to reach his second straight final at the US Open but he failed to defend his title, losing to the newly crowned world number one of that time, Novak Djokovic, in four sets 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(3), 1-6 in the final.
This was Nadal’s sixth straight loss at the hands of the Serbian.
After appearing in two back to back finals, Nadal is expected to reach at least the title match at the 2012 US Open.
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