Madrid Open 2012: Rafael Nadal Will Dominate on the Blue Clay

Rafael Nadal is going to dominate the field on the blue clay of the 2012 Madrid Open.

He is notoriously brilliant on clay—having won six French Opens—and the fact that other players are irritated by the intense blue color of this year's surface gives him a psychological advantage.

Not to say that Rafa is all for the blue surface. He's not.

Per the Times of India, Nadal spoke to the media after his Round 2 victory over Nikolay Davydenko, saying:

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The court is not one that makes you feel comfortable. The court is a difficult court, it's very slippery and it makes supporting movements and getting back to defend very tough. But the only thing we can do now is turn the page and we are not going to get the red courts back tomorrow so we have to adapt to the blue courts and the conditions as well as possible and hope for a change next year. court is not one that makes you feel comfortable. 

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Top-ranked Novak Djokovic seems to be taking it harder than Nadal, and it will ultimately lead to his downfall.

Per BBC.com, he spoke to the media with heated words after his struggle to get through his match versus Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round:

"

To me that's not tennis. Either I come out with football shoes or I invite Chuck Norris to advise me how to play on this court. I hit five balls throughout the whole match. With everything else, I was just trying to keep the ball in the court. When you slide on the red clay you have a feeling you can stop and recover from that step. But here, whatever you do, you are always slipping.

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Nadal is an exceptionally gifted athlete, and his ability to play well on clay will be magnified here in this tournament. He doesn't seem to be taking the difficult circumstances as hard as his rival Djokovic, and in the end, that's what is going to be his greatest edge.

In his second-round victory over Davydenko, Nadal didn't look like he was uncomfortable at all. He had six aces and 19 winners, and he broke his Russian opponent four times to advance to the third round.

He is also coming back strong from a knee injury. Per Yahoo! Sports, he is feeling much better after he took some treatment for chronic tendinitis in his right knee.

Nadal is on a big winning streak, having won his last eight matches in April and his first match in the Madrid Open. I expect him to continue his winning ways at least through this tournament.

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