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Nadal Hopes Mid-Season Complications are in Rearview Mirror


It has been a very complicated season for Rafael Nadal, and it hasn’t been an easy task for him to find the proper inspiration as he moves down the road to Roand Garros and into the most important stretch of the year for him.

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He struggled with an injury at Acapulco, then was blitzed by Nick Kyrgios. At Indian Wells he was fully recovered and playing extremely well, but another injury, this one to his right knee, forced him to pull out of his semi-final with Roger Federer.

All of these fits and starts have bled into Nadal’s psyche and he has been frank about just how hard it has been from him to find the right mental space so that he can build something special during the clay season. We take it for granted that the King of Clay always finds a way to make hay during this section of the calendar but there are no guarantees, especially with Nadal facing challenges from multiple fronts, both on the court and in his head.

“After Indian Wells mentally I went down, I had a drop down, a big drop down after what happened to me,” Nadal told reporters in Madrid after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets on Wednesday. “You know, I had different struggles like in Acapulco where I was not able to train for five days. Then I recovered. I was playing quite well in Indian Wells and a few things have happened. I had to stop once again for two weeks. I had to try to recover and mentally.”

Nadal has always been one to open up and talk about his issues with the media, so it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that he’s talking about perceived frailties, but it does give us insight into the reasons that the 11-time Roland Garros champion is into the month of May without a title under his belt for the first time since 2004.

But the good news is that Nadal is starting to feel good again in Madrid. With Roland Garros still over two weeks away, he’ll have two chances (here and next week at Rome) to build more confidence about his game and his psyche.

“I had a complicated moment, I had a drop down,” Nadal admits. “It was really complicated for me to come back to be able to stay fit and to recover that energy that I need to play. And right now I think I have it again. So, this is the joy that I need, the joy that I need to do things and this is what gives you the drive and the passion to do things and then fix my work or not.”

Nadal defeated Frances Tiafoe on Thursday which sets up a clash with an in-form Stan Wawrinka on Friday. There have been opportunities lost due to injury and form thus far this spring, but there is a golden opportunity in front of him right now—and building more positive momentum into the weekend at Madrid is all that matters in the short term.

“Right now, I have the possibility during these next two weeks to do something good and before, I didn't have this opportunity. And normally, when you have the capacity, this is what makes the difference, to have the energy and the joy and the attitude to be able to try to do it and then you have some better times and worse times. … Two weeks' ago, I didn't have the energy. Right now, I have that energy to do the things real good.”

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