Once a King, always a King!

This article has been copied from www.sportskeeda.com.
For the full article, please visit
http://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/once-a-king-always-a-king-nadal-2015


This is the first time in ten years that Rafael Nadal has dropped out of the top five ranks. More importantly, this is the first time ever that he is going into the Roland Garros without atleast one 500 Masters trophy. There is the Rome Masters but do not expect him to win it because there is a reason behind it. The reason, he wants to win the French Open this year too without any stress.

Let us once compare his pre-French open statistics of 2014 and 2015.

Tournament	2014 Result	2015 Result
Qatar Open	Won	First Round
Australian Open	Finalist	Quarter Finals
Rio Open	Won	Semi Finals
Buenos Aires Open	Did Not Play	Won
Indian Wells Masters	Third Round	Quarter Finals
Miami Masters	Finalist	Third Round
Monte Carlo Masters	Quarters	Semi Finals
Barcelona Open	Finalist	Third Round
Madrid Masters	Won	Finalist

Well, there is not much of a difference in the number of major titles he has won. Probably, the Madrid Masters?? That too which he won against an injured Nishikori in 2014. The only big difference between the two years is that he could not save a lot of points. But, one can be sure that all this is mostly set up.

Back in 2014, before the finals of the French Open, there was a war of words between Nadal and Djokovic with either of them praising the other and all. That was a mind game never seen during French Open, at least. With Nadal winning the tournament every year, there is an increasing urge for other players to snatch it away from him and there is definitely a pride for Nadal to keep it with him. But time travels and even the strongest lion becomes weaker. It is then that it should use some wits to remain the king of the jungle!

Nadal has done exactly that. By praising Djoko last year, he literally removed all the heavy expectations the fans had on him. Remember him and Toni say that the ................http://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/once-a-king-always-a-king-nadal-2015...................

#vamosrafa