Nadal's Parisian procession threatened by long lay-off
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[September 24, 2020]
By Richard Martin
(Reuters) - Rafael Nadal has the
perfect chance to equal Roger Federer's record 20 Grand Slam titles
at the French Open he has made his own, but for once the conditions
are stacked against the King of Clay heading into the rescheduled
tournament.
A record 12-time winner at Roland Garros, Nadal usually lands in
Paris in May fresh from romping through the claycourt season from
Monte Carlo to Rome, before pummelling the pretenders to his crown
at Roland Garros.
Three of his French Open crowns have been achieved without even
dropping a set.
But this time he heads for the French capital after playing only
three matches in the last six months because of the COVID-19
pandemic that prompted his decision to sit out the U.S. Open over
concerns about the virus.
He resumed with a couple of wins against Dusan Lajovic and Pablo
Carreno Busta in the Italian Open last week but the rustiness of the
long lay-off was evident during his shock quarter-final defeat to
Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.
Nadal made 30 unforced errors against Schwartzman and surrendered
his serve five times in the straight sets defeat, explaining the
loss as due to a "completely special and unpredictable year".
For six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, Nadal's scant
preparation could prove costly.
"Even a Rafael Nadal needs match practice, and that's missing this
year," Becker said. "He remains my number one for the title, but I
think the others' chances are much better this year. This year is
different."
While there are doubts about Nadal's form, his two closest
competitors Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic will be better
prepared. Federer is missing the tournament due to recovering from
knee surgery.
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Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts during his quarter final match against
Argentina's Diego Schwartzman Pool via REUTERS/Clive Brunskill
Thiem, beaten by Nadal in the last two Roland Garros finals, will be
feeling confident after winning the US Open to finally land a first
career grand slam, while world number one Djokovic went on to beat
Schwartzman in the Italian Open final.
Nadal has had the better off Djokovic on clay in recent years but he
will have to cope with different conditions this time due to a
cooler climate than the usual warmth and the addition of night
games.
"Definitely Diego showed that Rafael is beatable on clay," Djokovic
said after the Rome final.
"The conditions that they played on, obviously heavy clay, not much
bounce, humid, night sessions, we are going to have that as well in
Paris. I'm pretty sure that he does not prefer that to a high
bounce. I know he likes the high bounce.
"He likes the hot and warm and fast conditions, where he can use his
spin a lot. Let's see. It's going to be interesting. Even though
he's the favourite, I think there are players that can win against
him there."
(Reporting by Richard Martin; editing by Martyn Herman)
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