“One of the best or a dark horse,” Rafael Nadal’s exit from Top 10 ahead of Clay has Mats Wilander puzzled for the Spaniard’s opponents
Mats Wilander explains the difficulties of being out of top-10 for Rafael Nadal in the clay swing.
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Rafael Nadal
Swedish tennis legend and Eurosport commentator Mats Wilander says that Rafael Nadal‘s exit from the top 10 complicates the tournament draws. He opines that the early rounds will be tough for him as well as the top seeds. With the clay season in sight, the greatest clay court player will have to face one of the top seeds from the round of 32 and this will be going to give the tournaments a whole different feel this season from the first week itself.
As Wilander said, “I think it makes a huge difference because if you’re going to an ATP 1000 or the French Open and you know that there is a chance that I might play the No. 1 or No. 2 in the round of 32, that brings on nerves. And I think for someone like Rafa Nadal, who’s so smart and he’s so good, especially on clay, he wants these matches that he cannot play at 100% in terms of his level [against lower-ranked opponents] but still win to build some confidence.“
Wilander continued on how the rankings will play a key role, “And I think when you have a chance to run into the best players in the world after two matches, then suddenly that’s taken away from you. Now, on the other hand, if I would be one of the top four players in the world and there is a chance that I might play Rafa Nadal in the third round, oh, my goodness. That’s horrible!
“So, like most people say, it’s easier to beat the best players early in the tournament. For sure. But where do you put Rafa Nadal now coming back after injury? One of the best players in the world or a dark horse who’s very dangerous even to the likes of Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz or the other top players?” (Source: Eurosport)
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Rafael Nadal will move out of top-10 after 18 years
The Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal came into the limelight in 2005 when he won his first French Open title. From then on, he continued inside the top-10 rankings for 18 long years. This unmatched consistency itself is enough to make Nadal equal to tennis for many of his fans across the globe.
There was a time when Roger Federer was invincible and he was ruling the tennis courts all over the world. The peak he had between 2004 and 2007 still makes him relevant in the GOAT debate despite going below Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in most of the stats.
It seemed like Nadal was a secret project to take down Federer. He single-handedly stopped the dominance of the Swiss legend in the initial years. The ‘Fedal’ rivalry took a new high when Federer finally defeated Nadal in a Grand slam match in the 2017 Australian Open final. Nadal leads the head-to-head against Federer 24-16 but trails his other biggest rival Novak Djokovic 29-30. In the Grand Slam head-to-head, he leads bother Federer and Djokovic 10-4 and 11-7 respectively.
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