With his current form, Spain’s Rafael Nadal may very well win up to 20 Grand Slam singles titles or more. This would mean overtaking the record currently set by Roger Federer of Switzerland who has amassed 17 Grand Slam singles title.
This is an assessment that tennis analysts have stated. After missing the tour for more than 7 months last year, Nadal came back with a massive roar, winning 60 matches out of 63 played this season so far. He’s won a total of 10 titles, which included 5 ATP Masters 1000 titles and 2 Grand Slam wins. The Spaniard’s ranking rose to world number two after winning the US Open earlier this month. However, he’s currently leading the Race to London standings based on points earned this season alone. With no ranking points to defend until the end of the season, Nadal has virtually secured the year-end number one ranking.
There’s always that nagging question as to whether he can sustain that amazing level of play that he’s displayed this season. His knees have always been an issue and if his level of play diminishes, chances are he will be defeated by his rivals on tour such as top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Great Britain’s Andy Murray.
It remains to be seen whether Nadal can successfully defend all the titles he have won this year next season or if he can still continue to win Grand Slams along the way. The Mallorcan currently has 13 Grand Slam titles which is third in all time list. He just trails Pete Sampras by one and Federer by four.
If he manages to play in the next four to five years, he basically has a chance to add on his 8 French Open titles and he’s still a force to reckon with at the Australian Open and US Open as he’s proven that he can do damage on hardcourts. Being a two-time Wimbledon champion himself, he can still work on changing his gameplan and actually make a deep run at the grasscourt Slam event. He lost in the second round in 2012 and the opening round in 2013.
At this point, we’ll just have to wait and see.
