Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal must work on shedding his nickname The King of Clay, if he is serious about leaving a lasting legacy in men’s tennis. Of course, it is not bad to be labeled as The King of Clay but if a person is as talented as Nadal to become the King of Tennis, the nickname might be considered as an insult more than a compliment – something that reduces the 26 year old to a wonder one clay surface.
Although he has won 11 Grand Slam titles, only 7 of which have come on clay, he has not won a Grand Slam off the clay court since the 2010 US Open and with Novak Djokovic getting the better of him on the hard and grass court surfaces on several occasions, he must make time for some introspection and to prove that he is still a threat to The Djoker, arguably the best tennis player in the planet at the moment, he must beat him at the US Open.
With Roger Federer on the wane, the battle for tennis supremacy is between the 25 year old Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and having won 7 more Grand Slam titles more than the Serbian; he is in an advantageous position. But success, as we know, is short lived and with the form the Djokovic is in at the moment, he can easily equal the title haul of Nadal in three years’ time.
The way he was dumped unceremoniously out of Wimbledon recently in the 2nd round is bound to not go down well with The Muscles from Mallorca, but Rafael Nadal must follow up his resolve with performances on the court if he is to be considered on the same level as the likes of Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and the likes.