Rafael Nadal: 3 Reasons Rafa Won't Advance to Australian Open 2012 Finals

Rafael Nadal enters the 2012 Australian Open as the second-ranked men's player in the world, but a shoulder injury may prevent him from winning in Melbourne.

"I had a little bit of problem with my shoulder," the world No.2 said.

"I've been away from the court for two weeks. But in the last three weeks, I've been practising many hours with perfect condition."

This injury may not be a factor in the early rounds against inferior opponents, but against the world's best players like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic, the shoulder could be a problem as the competition and matches get tougher.

Let's look at three reasons why Nadal won't make the final of this year's Australian Open.

Olympics Aren't too far away

The Summer Olympic Games are in London this year, and there's no question that Nadal will want to be fully healthy for the event so he can defend the gold medal he won in Beijing four years ago.

He recently spoke about the Olympics, via the Telegraph:

"

“To me, it’s special, different,” he says. “It’s true we have a fantastic tour, with all the facilities, all the money but the Olympics is the real spirit of sport.

“In the Games, you see a lot of sports that work really hard for that one event. It’s unbelievable; they are not winning money, they are just doing it for passion and for the personal satisfaction. And in my opinion that is what sport really is. It’s the spirit of sacrifice.”

"

If his shoulder starts to bother him, expect Nadal to use caution with the Olympics on the horizon.

He's had little success in Melbourne

Nadal has only won the Australian Open once in his fantastic career and has only made it past the semifinals in the event twice.

The last two seasons, Nadal has lost in the quarterfinals and has not found the same success on the hard court at Melbourne that he's had on clay at Roland Garros.

With Andy Murray and Roger Federer's success on hard courts over the last year, they have the upper hand over Nadal at the Australian Open.

Shoulder Injury

The aforementioned shoulder injury doesn't seem like a major problem right now, but after some intense matches under Grand Slam pressure, it's not impossible for the injury to be an issue.

Nadal is only 25 years old, but he has battled his share of injuries over the last few years.

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