French Open 2013: Why Rafael Nadal’s Stranglehold on Roland Garros Is Slipping

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 1, 2013

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Few athletes have dominated an event the way Rafael Nadal has dominated the French Open, but the star is showing signs of deterioration at Roland Garros.

While the reigning champion has advanced to the third round where he will play Fabio Fognini, he suffered some blips along the way. Nadal dropped the first set, 6-4, to each of his initial two competitors before rallying to advance.

Such mortality at Roland Garros is unusual for Nadal, who has claimed first place seven times in the past eight years and instilled a sense of futility among anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path, as encapsulated by Sports on Earth's tweet.



Not only did Nadal squander one set to Daniel Brands in the opening round, but he almost lost the second. The unseeded Brands took Nadal to the edge before the No. 3 seed took control of the tiebreaker.

It's nitpicking, sure, but that comes with the territory when you win the event almost annually. If lesser known adversaries can hold their own against him, how will Nadal fare against Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic?

Nadal has not hid his frustrations, but they were not directed at his own play. According to SI.com, the 26-year-old bashed the schedule that is forcing him to suit up today after playing the previous day.



For Nadal to win his fourth straight crown, he must endure a 10-day stretch with six matches. Although Nadal's match scheduled for Thursday was pushed back a day, Fognini got his match in, which enabled him to rest up on Friday while Nadal performed. As Nadal stated in the SI report, the situation is less than ideal for him.

“That’s not fair,” Nadal said. “And today I was playing almost three hours on court, and my opponent was watching the TV in the locker room. So if you [tell] me that’s fair, I say that’s not fair.”

In addition to altering the schedule, the rainy conditi...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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