After a month of hard-court action on the ATP tour this January, betting news pundits are already getting excited about the return of the clay season and one man in particular – Rafael Nadal.
Nadal was forced to delay his comeback from an eight-month injury layoff – scheduled to be the Australian Open this year – after failing to recover properly from illness in the winter.
It was a major setback to the 26-year-old’s pre-season training and meant he was way off the fitness level required to challenge for the Grand Slam title.
Instead of playing his way through a week of hard-court tennis before falling to middling opposition, Nadal instead opted to take further time out of the game and has earmarked the Chilean Open – on clay – early this February as his return date.
It is a good decision that should see the 11-time Grand Slam champion return to his former self – if only for a little while. For there is growing concern in the betting world that Nadal cannot cope with the hard surfaces anymore and will instead focus his career on clay and grass tournaments.
The Spaniard has already suggested his main aim for 2013 is to win Roland Garros and Monte Carlo – the two largest clay tournaments on the circuit – while ATP rival, Roger Federer, also bemoaned the rigours of hard-court tennis back in December.
For Nadal, playing hard-court tennis is bad for his creaking knees, which have suffered two major bouts of tendinitis in the past; he also tore his patella tendon midway through recovery last season.
Although he has not played since Wimbledon 2012, Nadal is still the number one man on the soft surfaces with many tennis betting news pundits and, come Chile this February, should breeze through the field – the perfect start to his French title defence this summer.
