Tennis News, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic Visa, Grand Slam Title Competition, Analysis, Preview

It’s ironic that in the Grand Slam, where he’s experienced the most setbacks, Rafael Nadal may be getting his biggest break to date in his search for tennis immortality.

Locked out of the biggest grand slam championship in the history of men’s tennis, a locked Spaniard may well get into the Australian Open without either of them in his way.

Even if Djokovic avoids deportation, the sheer nature of his turbulent growth leaves hurricane questions to the ninth-time champion to answer questions both on and off the field.

While Federer and Djokovic’s superhuman Nadal has blocked the French Open for most of their careers, the Australian Open has been Nadal’s kryptonite more than any opponent.

Only one of his 20 grand slam championships has been missed – the 2009 five-round victory over Federer, who left the Swiss in tears at the trophy.

From then on, the stars simply refused to settle on the Spanish side, and an alarming pattern emerged in practice for the next decade.

Of the three times Nadal has retired his storytelling grand slam career, two of them have entered the Australian Open.

In 2010, Nadal ended the knee injury 0-3 in the third set against Andy Murray, while in 2018 he withdrew in the fifth set against Marin Cilic due to a hip injury.

The “Happy Slam” tournament on many tours has been anything but for Nadal – instead, it has been a kind of Bermuda Triangle with an otherwise remarkably consistent career.

He may not have retired, but in 2011 his efforts to win his fourth consecutive major title were thwarted by a thigh muscle complaint, followed by a loss to compatriot David Ferrer – a player he had won in seven consecutive encounters and lost only twice as many. 17 after the confrontation.

In 2013, he withdrew from the tournament due to a stomach virus, and a year later in the final, he was injured in a warm-up against Stanislas Wawrinka – eventually losing in four innings to a player for whom he participated in a match against a 12-0 record.

All sorts of ridiculous series Nadal has bullied his rivals who have crashed in the Australian Open.

Despite a 17-game winning streak against Tomas Berdych, Nadal fell to the Czech in the semi-finals in 2015, while a year later Fernando Verdasco knocked him out in the first round – only a second time. In his 62 slam career, he had gone unbeaten (the other was his 2013 Wimbledon defeat to Steve Darcis).

Even when shooting all the cylinders, the Australian summer has refused to shine brightly on Nadal – in 2012 he took a break in the fifth installment to reach the all-conquering Djokovic in the five-hour and 53-minute epic series – still the longest grand slam final ever.

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Five years later, when a raging favorite Djokovic knocked out second-place winner Denis Istomin, Nadal’s path to his second Australian Open championship finally seemed mapping out.

However, that year also marked Federer’s run to the finals – his first major tournament since his 2014 French Open win, where he too took advantage of the absence of a rival “Big Three” member.

In the explosion of the past, Federer and Nadal fought on the biggest stage of tennis, and the former eventually won five sets and marked his first victory in Nadal’s grand slam tournament since the Wimbledon final ten years ago.

It may just be bad luck, but it’s hard to undermine the feeling that some kind of supernatural force is working brutally in every run that one of the greatest players of all time in the game has done with the least successful slam.

Those problems followed him even for the current decade; Just last year, Nadal dropped fifth to Stefanos Tsitsipas after falling in love for two sets – only the second time Nadal has suffered such a loss at the grand slam level.

Nadal himself, who spoke to Tsitsipas after the defeat, was typically defiant when asked if he had been “cursed” at the Australian Open.

“It’s that sport. Sometimes things go well and sometimes it’s worse. Unfortunately, I’ve had more injuries in this tournament than in others,” he said.

“I don’t feel unlucky at all and I don’t choose my luck here in Australia. Everyone has what they deserve, tennis is not a fair sport, and I have what I deserve in my career.

“I’ve probably had opportunities here in Australia, but I couldn’t change that, so that’s all. I didn’t earn any more.

“We can find many excuses and reasons, but the whole reason is that I couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities I had in my career.”

Be that as it may, Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have a kind of symbiotic relationship with each other – when one crashes, the other two get up to seize the opportunity.

The loss in 2017 was clear to Nadal. While Djokovic was out of his way, Federer was there to rush.

Now Nadal has a real chance to get into the Australian Open without either of his two biggest rivals in the draw. first His 17th bid for the championship.

It would be appropriate for Nadal to win the biggest grand slam hurdle to break the grand slam deadlock with his two biggest rivals – and then try to get rid of the two in the French Open.

“Yes, there’s a story about 21 (grand slams for Djokovic), but Rafa is in that story, too,” tennis coach and broadcaster Roger Rasheed told foxsports.com.au.

– He can go up to 21 and then be a favorite in the French Open, and before you know it, he might be a double.

Nadal will take part in this year’s event after a Covid-19 diagnosis, but is still in the winning form after winning the Melbourne Preliminaries, even though he doesn’t have to face the placed player all the time.

Despite a difficult start to 2022, however, Rasheed believes Nadal’s early success on the field was a testament to his mindset.

“Rafa doesn’t usually deviate from the majors if he doesn’t feel like a participant in the second week. It’s not that “I’m just starting a year and playing a few matches with my belt,” it’s about a person who really looks at getting into tournaments only if he feels he can win them, he said.

“He doesn’t have to be in his top position, but he’s in a zone where he feels like he’s really capable of surviving.

“Yes it’s harder, yes there are more people at the dinner table now who feel they can get over it, but when you have so much experience and you’re so much a competitor and he’s in the climate and he’s in the second week he’ll be very hard to beat.”