Rafael Nadal 2016 Preview

Rafael Nadal suffered through an up and down 2015. Is there any reason to think that he could build on his positive results during the 2015 fall swing?

2015 was a rocky year for Rafael Nadal, on the whole. He reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. A decent result, to be sure, but he was then unceremoniously drummed out of that tournament by Tomas Berdych.

At the French Open, a tournament that he was gotten so accustomed to winning, he was soundly defeated by Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

His woes in the Grand Slam tournaments continued at Wimbledon when he was defeated in the second round by journeyman Dustin Brown.

At the U.S. Open, he was taken out in the third round by Fabio Fognini, blowing a lead of two sets in the process.

In short, the majors were not especially kind to Nadal in 2015.

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That being said, his season cannot be looked upon as a complete failure. It had bright spots, as well. He won three singles titles. Granted, two were ATP World Tour 250 events, with one coming at a 500-level event. He only reached the final at one Masters 1000 level event at Madrid, where he lost in straight sets to Andy Murray.

Yet, the 2015 fall swing proved to offer some encouraging results for Nadal. Seemingly the forgotten time of the year in tennis, Nadal had a fairly good string of tournaments. He went to the quarterfinals in two events, made the semifinals at the ATP World Tour Finals, and finished as runner-up at two other events.

He made up somewhat for the lackluster earlier season and finished ranked fifth in the world. For any other player, this would be a stupendous season. For Nadal, one of the greatest players ever, it is viewed as somewhat disappointing.

Now we move on to see if Nadal can turn the page in 2016. Can he? His coach and uncle Toni Nadal certainly thinks so. Personally, I think he’s still a force to be reckoned with. Some people seem to be writing him off, but Roger Federer has been written off so many times in his career. And look at where he is now.

Next: Roger Federer 2016 Preview

Nadal starts his 2016 in Doha, Qatar at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, which is a 250 event. Looking at Nadal’s draw, I’ll say he gets off to a good start but falls short in the final to Novak Djokovic. Based on their 2015 seasons, it seems like a fairly safe bet.

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Rafael Nadal 2016 Preview and Prediction

By Christopher Weis | Jan 3, 2016

Rafael Nadal suffered through an up and down 2015. Is there any reason to think that he could build on his positive results during the 2015 fall swing?