Rafael Nadal's Guide to Claiming His 3rd Wimbledon Title

Fresh off his eighth career French Open title, Rafael Nadal is rolling in 2013.

The 27-year-old—who rested for about eight months with tendinitis after last year's second-round defeat to Lukas Rasol at Wimbledon—is 43-2 with seven singles titles already this year.

Comeback, Nadal has made.

But, while Nadal has captured two Wimbledon titles in his career (nothing to sneeze at), the grass surface simply doesn't play to his strengths, which is why he hasn't had the same level of success at Wimbledon than at the French Open.

Here's a look at areas Nadal must be strong in (or at least respectable in) to claim his third career Wimbledon title this year.

Serve

One of the reasons Roger Federer has been able to win so many Wimbledon titles throughout his career is because his serve does much better on grass than clay.

As noted by Jonah Lehrer on Grantland.com back in 2011, "a shot on a fresh grass court — think of Wimbledon on opening day — will maintain a speed around 45 mph, which is 15 to 20 percent faster than clay."

Nadal is not known for hitting many aces (ranks 55th on tour this season, per ATPWorldTour.com). Even the service games he wins generally are a result of him battling opponents after they return his serve. If he can scratch out some easy points on the serve, that will help him immensely.

Backhand and Forehand

While tournaments on clay—like the French Open—generally favor those who have excellent return games, tournaments on grass or hard courts generally favor the attackers.

As Lehrer noted, "winning on clay is often a matter of not losing."

Nadal, as we know, has been very good at not losing on clay. His forehand is also his best ground stroke, which helps him considerably on clay because of the top spin he generates off the bouncy surface, as highlighted by the New York Times back in 2011.

The thing is, that topspin doesn't have the same dynamic effect on grass, which at least takes a little of fire away from Nadal's game. 

In fact, a good backhand slice can destroy opponents on grass courts like at Wimbledon because you create an even lower rebound angle than the grass surface already creates. This allows balls to not only skim past opponents, it also plays to the unpredictability of a ball's bounce off grass.

That gives you an even better understanding of why Federer has excelled at Wimbledon, while Nadal can't match his success at the French Open.

Thus, Nadal's backhand may be his most important shot this year at Wimbledon, while he must still apply pressure to his opponents with his quick forehand (albeit without the same level of topspin as at the French Open).