“He has won Wimbledon twice” Andy Roddick believes Rafael Nadal’s claycourt record deprives him of being praised for his all-round game
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Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick
22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has made one of the strongest comebacks in the sport in recent times having won both the Grand Slams contested so far. Having injured his leg during the 2021 French Open, he played only two more matches after that in the entire season but returned strongly as he achieved his best start to a season winning the 2022 Australian Open in the process, his second Australian Open title.
After his brilliant start, he was expected to dominate the Golden Swing massively but an untimely stress fracture in his rib forced him to make a late start to his favourite part of the season. Despite a foot injury that required him to take injections to numb his foot, he went on to win the 2022 French Open, his 14th title in Roland Garros and record-extending 22nd major, tying him with the legendary Steffi Graf for most majors.
“He is very good on grass”: Andy Roddick on Rafael Nadal
As speculation about Nadal’s participation in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships continues to arise, former World No. 1 Andy Roddick spoke about how the ‘King of Clay’ moniker for Nadal has denied him praises for his ability to perform on all surfaces.
“Was the new treatment useful for Rafa Nadal? Will he be able to play well on the grass? When he is there, he is very good on grass. We always forget that he won Wimbledon twice. We don’t give him enough credit just because he’s amazing on clay,” said Roddick with the comments reported by Welovetennis.
To put Roddick’s comment in perspective, Nadal was the first player to end Roger Federer‘s winning streak at Wimbledon when he defeated the 5-time defending champion in the 2008 Wimbledon finals, often called the best match in the history of tennis. Nadal won his second Wimbledon title in 2010. The Spaniard has a 71-20 record on the surface with his record at Wimbledon currently at 53-12, a winning percentage of 81 at the Grand Slam while having won 4 titles on the surface from the 7 finals he has played.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)