Will 2014 mark the end of Rafael Nadal's dominance on clay?

Rafael Nadal

We are exactly a month away from the 2014 French Open and it promises to be more exciting than ever. In January, one would have imagined Rafael Nadal winning his 14th Grand Slam in Australia and you could have given him his 15th Major at this year’s French Open with your eyes closed. But things have changed since then.

Nadal has clearly struggled to find his A-game after his disappointing loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the Melbourne final; in his defeat against compatriot David Ferrer (for the first time in 10 years on clay) in the quarterfinals of the recently concluded Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, he made almost twice the number of unforced errors as winners. Nadal was simply outplayed from the baseline on both occasions. Also losing to compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the quater finals of the ongoing Barcelona Open has resulted in questions being raised for the first time about his dominance on the red dirt of Paris.

The French Open, probably for the first time in a decade, is so wide open that this could well be anybody’s year; the trophy is certainly up for grabs.

Despite Rafa’s domination of the clay-court season every year, the Spaniard hasn’t had it easy to earn the title of ‘King of Clay’. He has pushed himself emotionally, mentally and physically time and again to the very limit every year to keep off the challenges of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or even for that matter David Ferrer. And we can now add Stanislas Wawrinka to the list of challengers as well, who by far has been the player of the season up to now. He is playing at his best and can give any top player a run for his money.

“It’s been a little bit harder for me to find again the intensity, the confidence, the inside power that I always have,” Nadal admitted after his loss to Ferrer. But he will still start as the favourite when the tournament begins on the 25th of May. For him to make good on that tag, however, he will have to rediscover his inner belief and motivation. And importantly, he will also have to work on his serve, which has been letting him down at important junctions of matches.

Nadal is a fighter and has always shown tremendous spirit on the court which could work for him as he looks to lift himself up on the practice courts and get back to playing with the same intensity and aggression as before. Knowing Nadal, he might well get to the top of his game over the course of the Madrid Masters and the Rome Masters, possibly culminating in him winning his 9th French Open.

Will this year mark the end of Rafa’s dominance on clay, or will Nadal once again reinforce his reign on the red clay of Paris? The next month and a half will give the answer to that. Nonetheless, the French Open will be an exciting one to watch, and all the fans will be looking forward to it!