Is Rafael Nadal's 'King of Clay' title on the line as he returns on court?
Rafael Nadal is in the range of 400 clay court matches won and counting, but knowing when to execute the perfect shot and being able to do it might be another story when injuries have happened. "It's tough to play only 9 events a year and to finish only 7," Nadal says disgustingly. "In times of injuries, I want to suffer less." He knows more and more his limitations and doesn't want to risk overplaying to injure himself permanently. He still has the passion but acknowledges and gets real in the Miami press conference about his tennis life saying "...Of course I would love to be in Miami, I would love to be in Madrid, I would love to be everywhere, but I can't be."
Many players are climbing up the rankings and elevating the level of their games to win tournaments with many victories over in the clay season. Karen Khachanov, the NextGen has won the 2018 Paris Masters over Novak Djokovic. Nadal knows that he hasn't a ton of years to continue on tour and says that "...sometimes it's rough...I feel myself competitive when I'm healthy and my goal is to be healthy as many weeks as possible to keep playing at the highest level..." Grigor Dimitrov did get in the semifinals of Monte Carlo last year but was beaten down by Nadal in straight sets. Alexander Zverev was a finalist at last year's 2018 Italian Open also bowing to Nadal in three sets. Rafael Nadal ran into a top competitor from Greece, Stefanos Tsitsipas who dismantled his four opponents on route getting to Rafael Nadal. The Greek had said after his win over Pablo Carreno Busta that "I couldn't enjoy it more...when enjoyed, results come at the end." He went toe-to-toe with Nadal in the hopes of winning over 'the King' at the 2018 Barcelona finals. The results were that Nadal thrashed him in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. The Spaniard has every player nipping at his heels to get a clay court win from him. But Nadal may be out recuperating and resting but not for long. He will comeback from his knee injury at Monte Carlo where he feels at home and has won multiple titles. Can he do it again? Time will tell but Nadal will do as he always has--and that is let his racket do his talking and it may create a lot of chatter when Rafa Nadal returns bubbling on the court again.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2GehSDL
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