US Open 2011: Will Rafael Nadal Be Derailed by His Unpredictable Health?

If you want to talk about Rafael Nadal's career in general, you're talking about one of the great players in the history of tennis.

If you want to talk about Nadal's career as it pertains to 2011, he's been a little on the snakebit side of things.

Sure, he won the French Open (again), but the rest of his year has consisted of inconsistent play out on the court that has, in part, been caused by a kaleidoscope of minor injuries and assorted other mishaps.

For example, take what happened on Sunday at the US Open. Nadal had to battle through a blister on his right foot and muggy conditions to beat David Nalbandian, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 7-5.

That would have been a good enough story in and of itself, but Nadal proceeded to provide a much more interesting one during a press conference after the match.

In case you somehow failed to catch wind of what happened, Nadal was calmly answering questions when he was hit with leg cramps that were painful enough to cause him to call for the trainers. They came running to treat him with ice and fluids.

Note: This was two hours after he defeated Nalbandian to move on to the fourth round.

This just seems to be Nadal's lot in life at present. He's still one of the best players in the world even when he's not 100 percent healthy, but he's just not the same Nadal we're used to.

Because of this, the question begging to be asked is whether or not Nadal is long for Flushing Meadows.

He's made it to the Round of 16, but will he make it any further?

The easy answer, not to mention the one Nadal would probably agree with, is that this is all much ado about nothing. Minor injuries such as blisters and bad cramps are a part of tennis, and that Nadal is struggling with both is not the end of the world.

It's probably not the end of his US Open run, either.

In short, the easy answer would be that there's nothing to worry about. Nadal will be fine.

That's just the thing, though. Every time Nadal seems like he's fine, it seems like something else pops up. And even if something else doesn't pop up, he's not quite a lock to beat any and all comers. Particularly Novak Djokovic, of course, but he's just one of four opponents who has kept Nadal winless since the French Open.

So as safe as it may seem not to worry, you kinda have to. Nadal is going to be the better player in his next match against Gilles Muller and he's going to be the better player in the one after that, but chances are he's not going to look like he is.

We'll see. But personally, I have my doubts.