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Can Rafael Nadal be stopped?

By Keshav Gopalan

BARCELONA, SPAIN - APRIL 28: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand against David Goffin of Belgium in their semi-final match during day six of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on April 28, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - APRIL 28: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand against David Goffin of Belgium in their semi-final match during day six of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on April 28, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /
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Rafael Nadal has had a good clay season so far. There were a lot of doubts over Nadal’s match fitness due to the injury he faced in the Australian Open, and the same injury resurfacing in Acapulco after four weeks of rest and rehab, forcing Nadal to skip the sunshine double. All of those doubts were cast aside when Nadal won Monte Carlo without dropping a set. In fact, the Spaniard has won 44 sets on clay so far.

This brings us to the question: Can Rafael Nadal be stopped?

No Major Threat

Dominic Thiem

When Rafa was entering the Clay season last year, most expected a stern test from Roger Federer. However, Federer withdrew from the entire clay season, leaving it for Rafa to take. Which is almost what Rafa did with two masters and an ATP 500, along with his tenth French Open title. His only threat last season was Dominic Thiem, who beat him in one of their three encounters in Rome. Seeing that Thiem is coming back from an ankle fracture, it isn’t too surprising that there’s been a dip in form. Perhaps towards the latter half of the clay season, one might see a challenge in the form of Dominic Thiem

Novak Djokovic

BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 25: Novak Djokovic of Serbia looks on during his match against Martin Klizan of Slovakia during day three of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on April 25, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 25: Novak Djokovic of Serbia looks on during his match against Martin Klizan of Slovakia during day three of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on April 25, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /

While Novak Djokovic had a (comparatively) good clay season last year, his only meeting with Nadal last year ended with a tame straight sets loss in the Madrid Semi-final. This year has seen Djokovic have the worst start to the season, and with his clay season being just as unimpressive, it doesn’t seem very likely for Djokovic to pose a huge challenge, although it wouldn’t be prudent to completely brush him off.

The lack of Federer, Murray and Wawrinka has made things easy

While some fans expected Federer to skip the clay season, there were several hints that indicated that Federer might just play a limited clay season this year, from him saying that winning the French Open a second time is one of his biggest dreams to “I’m a clay court player who’s grown up playing on clay” and the most poignant one being “I’d love to play Rafa in a best of five sets match on clay”. While it’s debatable (and honestly doubtful) that Federer could’ve beat Rafa on clay after a two-year hiatus, it’ll remain an unanswered question.

While Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have never seriously challenged Nadal on clay, Wawrinka has won against Nadal once and Murray won his first ever clay title against Rafa. While these victories were when Rafa wasn’t at his best, it’s safe to say that they would have posed some sort of challenge to Rafa.

In conclusion, it’s hard to see anyone challenging Rafa this year. The only semi-serious challenge could be posed by either Thiem, Djokovic or to an extent by Alexander Zverev. Only time will tell.

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