Despite his current ranking of number five, Rafael Nadal enters the Wimbledon 2013 Championships as the heavy favorite mostly due to his impressive performance since his comeback last February.
Nadal has reached nine finals out of nine tournaments he has entered so far this year and won seven of those events, including the French Open where he clinched his eighth Roland Garros title, a feat that has not been done by any player in any Grand Slam event.
“Since I started [again], I was able to play all the tournaments that I wanted to play. That’s the best news possible,” said Nadal.
“Before I came back, I [was taking] this year like a transition year, so obviously the situation [has] changed. I will compete here as good as possible. I’m going to try my best and then we will see what’s next for me.”
The Wimbledon 2013 Championships will be the Mallorcan’s tenth tournament this season and it is highly likely that he will get as far as the final, or even win his third Wimbledon title in two weeks time. It really depends whether he can withstand tough challenges starting in the quarterfinals where could possibly meet defending champion Roger Federer, their earliest meeting in a Grand Slam event. Should Nadal get past the Swiss star, he will have to deal with last year’s runner up and world number two Andy Murray and then top-ranked Novak Djokovic for the title, should the Serbian overcome all the challenges in the top part of the draw.
“The rankings say that these kinds of things can happen. But I don’t see them before the quarter-finals and semi-finals. So I have a long way to work before that,” Nadal said regarding his potential meetup with Federer and Murray.
“My view is if I arrive to quarter-finals, it is because I will be ready. Then you can win, you can lose,” he added.
Last year, Nadal made a shocking early exit at the All England Club when he was defeated by then 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic in the second round. Rosol is now ranked 34th.
