Rafael Nadal enters May without title for the first time since 2004
With three Masters 1000 titles and the 11th Roland Garros crown, Rafael Nadal was the player to beat in the bigger part of 2018, opening a handful lead ahead of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and other rivals in the battle for the year-end no. 1 spot. Nonetheless, the Spaniard struggled with injuries again (right hip, right knee and abdomen), entering only nine ATP tournaments by the US Open and being forced to skip the last part of the season after retiring against Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-final in New York. On the other hand, Novak Djokovic was on a roll and he managed to pass Rafa by the end of the season, sending Rafa back to no. 2 position ahead of 2019 that he kicked off with a great run in Melbourne for a lot of positive vibes after such a long break.
Nadal took down six rivals in straight sets, delivering some impressive tennis on both serve and return before Novak destroyed him in the title match, missing a chance to claim the first Australian Open crown in ten years. After that, Rafa competed at only four events and has drawn the most from it considering the ongoing problems, losing early in Acapulco to Nick Kyrgios before advancing into the semis at Indian Wells where he withdrew before the clash against Roger Federer. Skipping Miami, the Spaniard worked hard ahead of another unbeaten clay run but we are yet to see the best from him, suffering the semi-final losses in Monte Carlo and Barcelona to stay empty-handed at events he won 22 times in total since 2005!
Fabio Fognini took care for one of the worst defeats in Nadal's career on the slowest surface in the Principality and it was the Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem who ousted him in Barcelona despite a better effort from Rafa than a week ago. Nadal is still one of the best players on the Tour in the opening four months, standing third in the ATP Race behind Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and scoring 17 wins as one of just five players. Still, one obvious word has been missing so far in this story and that leads us to the fact that Rafa had failed to win an ATP title in the opening four months of the season for the first time since 2004 when he was still 17!
Fifteen years ago, Rafa had a chance to claim the first ATP title on hard court in Auckland, losing 7-5 in the final set against Dominik Hrbaty and having to wait until August before going all the way in Sopot. From the next season, Nadal became the best player in the world on clay and April one of his favorite months, with almost guaranteed crowns in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. That didn't happen in 2015 when his game was at the lowest level in the last decade but he still managed to win the title in Buenos Aires in February and extend his run ahead of 2017 and 2018 when he reigned supreme in Monte Carlo and Barcelona again to revive his "April romance." The recent setbacks have raised a lot of questions over Nadal's supremacy on the slowest surface ahead of Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros but he is still confident in his game and the progress in the right direction before the next challenges on the beloved dirt.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2ZLirwx
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