Rafael Nadal: French Open Champ Will Not Achieve Same Success at Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal is coming off a dominant performance at the French Open, but he will not be able to win a second straight Grand Slam on the grass at Wimbledon.

Nadal was stunning all throughout the tournament at Roland Garros. He did not drop a set until the finals, and even then he convincingly beat Novak Djokovic to take a record-setting seventh title.

However, performances that incredible are often followed by an emotional letdown. This was evident at the recent Gerry Weber Open in Germany when Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

While this tournament is nothing more than a tune-up for Wimbledon, it shows that Nadal’s run has come to an end.

Heading into the clay court season, Novak Djokovic had won three straight majors and defeated Nadal in the finals at each one. The Serb had also defeated Nadal in seven consecutive matches, including two victories on clay.

It is clear now that Nadal saw the 2012 clay court season as his opportunity to end Djokovic’s dominance. He took every match extremely seriously, and his focus and determination was always evident. 

Nadal has defeated Djokovic three consecutive times, with all the victories coming in tournament finals. The Spaniard has won four tournaments on clay courts between April and June.

But now that the tour is shifting to grass, Nadal is not showing the same sharpness and concentration. He has certainly had success at Wimbledon, winning the tournament twice, but he has never displayed the same dominance as he has showed in Paris. 

Nadal will almost certainly perform better at Wimbledon than he did at the Gerry Weber Open, and it seems unlikely that anyone but Djokovic can beat him. However, if he is going to get past the world’s top-ranked player in London, he will have to be at his very best.

Djokovic looked flawless at times during the 2011 Wimbledon final against Nadal, and he has been in incredible form for nearly two years. He has been in the finals at six of the last seven Grand Slams.

Nadal was dominant on clay in the last few months, but he will not be able to maintain his form in London, and Djokovic will take his second consecutive title.