Australian Open 2012 Predictions: Why Now Is the End of Federer and Nadal

The 2012 Australian Open will mark the official end of the Nadal-Federer era for tennis. This began last year, and the start of the 2012 Grand Slam season will be the exclamation point. 

The aging stars will still be competitive, but it will become clear that neither are worthy of being considered heavy favorites for any Grand Slam. 

Federer

Long gone are the days of Federer tormenting the tennis ranks with an unbeatable game. That has been replaced by a slowing player with inconsistent accuracy. 

Federer's declining foot speed is keeping him from getting in prime position for returns and volleys. This creates a small fraction of a difference, but that shows up in his accuracy. 

At the heart of Federer's greatness was his deadly accuracy. This ensured that he was the one keeping his opponent running all over the court and on their heals. Now, the great Federer spends as much time running as his opponent. 

Combine this with a declining first serve percentage and you have his relative struggles. The keyword there is relative. Federer is still a very good player. He just isn't one of the best anymore. 

Federer has to play a perfect match to compete with the likes of Novak Djokovic, and this small margin of error leaves him little hope of being able to string together an undefeated Grand Slam run. 

Nadal

Nadal is only 25 years old, but his body behaves like he is 126. Nadal is as fragile as a tea cup. The guy can't stay healthy, and this is shutting the window on his time as a dominant player. 

Nadal suffered through an injury-plagued 2011. The main source of his pain was a troubling and chronic problem with his feet, but that is not all he has had to battle through. He is just snakebit to battle through one ailment after another, and with Nadal, no injury seems routine. 

For instance, there was the little post-match cramping problem that forced him to fall out of his chair like someone hit him in the neck with a tranquilizer dart. 

The hope was that the offseason would help Nadal recover and start this year healthy, but those hopes were quickly dissolved, as Nadal was almost forced to withdraw from the Australian Open before it began.

Here is Nadal on his recent mysterious knee injury, as quoted by Chuck Schilken of the LA Times: 

"

I was sitting on a chair in the hotel, I felt like a crack on the knee … really strange. I stand up. I felt the knee a little bit strange. I moved the leg like this two times to try to find the feeling. After the second time, the knee stays with an unbelievable pain completely straight. I have no movement on the knee.

"

These kinds of things are going to be the norm for Nadal for the rest of his career, and his results will be the victim.