Nadal Faces His Kryptonite Indoors In Paris

As the story of Superman goes, the fictional superhero is nearly indestructible, with only the mineral kryptonite leaving him susceptible to damage.

In the tennis realm, World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has shown flashes of near invincible powers of his own in 2019. The 33-year-old is 48-6 this season and is the current leader in the ATP Race To London. Like Superman, however, Nadal does seemingly have one weakness: The Spaniard seems a little more vulnerable on indoor hard courts than he does on other surfaces. It’s on an indoor hard court where Nadal will contend his next match as he faces Adrian Mannarino in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday.

Of his 84 ATP Tour titles, including four so far in 2019, Nadal has lifted only one trophy at an indoor hard-court event. That effort came at the 2005 Mutua Madrid Open, before the tournament moved to clay. Since then, his record on the surface has been less than stellar, at least in comparison to his results on other surfaces.

The reason Nadal seems to struggle this time of year, he argues, is partly due to the toll that the grind takes on his body going into the last stretch of the season. A combination of fatigue and the normal knocks he picks up through the course of a year seemingly conspire against him.

“That is the reality; to deny this would be to deceive myself and everyone else,” Nadal said.

Since turning professional in 2001, Nadal has competed at the Rolex Paris Masters just six times prior to this year’s event. On two of those occasions, his campaign was cut short due to injury: In 2008, the then-World No. 1 was forced to retire from his quarter-final match against Nikolay Davydenko with a knee injury. Then in 2017, Nadal withdrew ahead of a quarter-final clash with Filip Krajinovic, again citing a knee injury. His best result at the last ATP Masters 1000 event of the season came in 2007 when he lost in the final to David Nalbandian.

Ironically, the city where Nadal struggles for more positive results near the end of the year happens to be in the same city where the Spaniard shines most brightly months earlier.

“Everyone knows that [Paris] is the most important city in my career, so I love being in Paris,” the 12-time Roland Garros champion said ahead of his opener in Bercy. “It’s an important tournament because it’s an ATP Masters 1000. In addition to being on a tough surface, it’s a tournament where I have arrived many times without being able to conquer it. Even though I haven’t had the best showings here for a lot of reasons, I don’t have any bad feelings for the event itself.”

Coach Carlos Moya shares his pupil’s sentiments. “There have been a variety of reasons, one being the time of year,” Moya said. “Most seasons, he’s gone into Paris with very little rest; he’s entered the event physically worn and hasn’t been able to play to the best of his abilities. In fact, since I’ve come on board as a coach, that’s been the case — he hasn’t been in the best shape to allow him to perform at his best.”

Fellow Spaniard player Marc Lopez has his own thoughts as to why the Rolex Paris Masters remains one of three Masters 1000 events (Miami and Shanghai are the other two) that has managed to elude Nadal throughout his career.

“The courts at this event are slick and Rafa’s game isn’t best suited for that,” Lopez said. “His rivals, [Roger] Federer and [Novak] Djokovic play in a way that’s more effective on that surface. The ball doesn’t bounce high, it tends to skid more and doesn’t give a player much time to react.”

The indoor hard courts and his own physical weariness are the hurdles Nadal must overcome as the season comes to a close this week in Paris and then at the Nitto ATP Finals in London. Lopez hopes Nadal can dig deep this year and finish 2019 in impressive form.

“He’s not always at his best when he arrives here,” Lopez said. “The past several years, he’s played exhausted after a gruelling season. This time, I hope he can end at his best and continue surprising everyone. I predict he’ll do better than usual at these events.”

For Nadal’s part, he’s doing everything in his power to boost his chances and make the most of every opportunity presented to him.

“It’s clear the breaks come less frequently on the faster indoor courts,” Nadal said. “It’s a matter of staying fresh and giving myself the best chance to succeed. I think I’m taking all the right steps to achieve that and to put myself in a situation to be 100 per cent competitive. That’s my main objective.”