Nadal in good shape to equal Federer’s feat
MELBOURNE: After finally beginning a season with no injury concerns, Rafael Nadal has as clean a shot at the Australian Open as he could hope for as he takes aim at equalling Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles.
Melbourne is the Slam that the 19-times champion has found the hardest to win, with his only triumph coming in 2009 when he overcame Federer in a five-set epic that left his Swiss rival in floods of tears.
He has reached the final four times in the last decade and lost on each occasion, twice to Novak Djokovic, including a trouncing last year, once to Federer and one shock reverse at the hands of Stan
Wawrinka in 2014.
Nadal has previously spoken out against the timing of the Australian Open so soon after the
Christmas break and has often found himself battling fitness problems as the tournament approaches.
Nadal has remained relatively injury-free since recapturing last year’s US Open title, with the only recent setback an abdominal injury that forced him to withdraw during the Paris Masters. “Rafa is in spectacular form and now it’s just a question of maintaining his level,” said coach Francis Roig after arriving in Australia with Nadal ahead of the ATP Cup. “He is feeling very confident because of how he has been playing and because his serve is helping him a lot.”
Staying in prime shape is crucial to Nadal’s chances in Melbourne where he suffered his heaviest Grand Slam final loss last year and was left admitting that his defensive game was unable to counter Djokovic’s precision attacks.