Rafael Nadal Will Have Strong Showing in Hard-Court Return at 2013 Rogers Cup

Rafael Nadal would gladly trade an ATP Masters 1000 victory for a second U.S. Open title. 

The 12-time Grand Slam champion has won a record 24 ATP Masters 1000 events over the course of his career to just one U.S. Open title and understands the value of warm-up tournaments as stepping stones for bigger and better goals.

Nadal will make his much-anticipated return to the ATP Tour this week in Montreal, site of the 2013 Rogers Cup, the sixth ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

It's been nearly two months since Nadal last played in a competitive match, losing in the first round at Wimbledon in June. Prior to that, the Spaniard was dominating the European clay-court season. However, even before Nadal was surfing the red clay and winning title after title, he was playing lights-out tennis en route to winning the season's first ATP Masters 1000 event on the hard courts of Indian Wells.

That's right, an aching knee's worst enemy.

Rafa didn't just take advantage of a depleted field out West. The 27-year-old knocked off Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro (who beat Novak Djokovic) on his way to the title. He would drop just two sets for the tournament. 

Nadal would skip the Miami Masters later in the month, but that's no reason to suggest he can't conquer Canada this weekend. 

After all, Nadal has won this event twice in the past, most recently in 2008 when it was held in Toronto.

Rafa doesn't have to steamroll the rest of the draw on his way to lifting the trophy in order to have a strong showing, either. In 2010, he reached the semifinals of the Rogers Cup as the top seed before losing to Andy Murray in straight sets. Nadal would go on to win the U.S. Open for the first time ever that summer, completing the career Grand Slam.

Although he didn't finish the job, as he would have liked, he made a deep run to preserve momentum, learned from his mistakes and made the necessary adjustments. 

Sure, an early-round exit, like the one he suffered at the All England Club six weeks ago, would be alarming. But Nadal needs time to adjust to not only the new surface, but also the intense competition he's been away from for the better part of the summer.

Chances are, the 2013 Rogers Cup isn't going to tell us a whole lot about Nadal's hard-court prospects going forward. That is, unless he fails miserably early on or tears through the draw to win his third Masters 1000 event north of the border.

A strong showing for Nadal this week would be a run to the semifinals, where he would likely meet Djokovic. Beating the world No. 1 on his preferred surface is no easy task, but the opportunity would allow Rafa to gauge where his game is just two weeks ahead of the 2013 U.S. Open.

A three-time winner of this event, Djokovic has won each of the last two years and will almost be expected to beat Nadal if the two meet in a potential semifinal matchup.

Beating Djokovic has to be a part of the bigger picture for Nadal. Therefore, shaking the rust off and stringing together a few wins in the early rounds of the Rogers Cup this week will constitute a strong showing for Rafa. 

Having had plenty of time to prepare for the summer hard-court season, and with no shortage of motivation to get back to the top, Rafael Nadal is poised to make some more progress in 2013 with a deep run in Montreal this week. 

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