Rafael Nadal lost in the early rounds of Wimbledon again. How did I try to make sense of this I went digging for some reasoning in numbers of Rafa's performances at the Championships since he won the title in 2010.
Average Ranking of opponents. 66 (90,69,92,21,9,4,2,80,100,135,51,52,63,144,41,102) *rankings via tennis abstract
Highest ranked win on grass was Gael Monfils at 16 in Stuttgart since he beat number 4 Andy Murray in 2011 Wimbledon Semi Finals.
He has played 10 matches on Centre Court with a 6-4 record and 3-1 on No.1 Court
He lost his first ever Grand Slam first round match at the 2013 Championships.
Between 2012-2015 he played 9 matches at the AELTC. From 2006-2011 excluding not playing in 2009 he participated in 35 matches.
Matches played at Wimbledon listed in order from 2003-2015 3,2,7,7,7,0,7,7,2,1,4,2.
Results at other Slams since winning Wimbledon in 2010.
Australian Open - 11QF, 12F, 13DNP, 14F, 15QF
Roland Garros - 11-14 W, 15QF
US Open - 10W, 11F, 12DNP, 13W, 14DNP
The next question is will we see him on court before Montreal starts on Aug. 10th. He could play Bastad/Umag or Hamburg. Could we possible see him come to the States early to play in Washington D.C? I don't think this is that much of a set back per say more of a road bump. As hopeful as you could have been given his form on the surface the past few years it was not realistic to see Wimbledon be the slump buster or lucky break that Rafa needs. He has lost at least 5 matches that he most defiantly should have won if we were in a different time. This is the current reality that we have to accept for the moment. Would I be shocked if Rafa won the US Open, no I would not be. But I feel that the most likely course of the second half of the season will just be to stay healthy. To win matches he should be winning and maybe a few that he shouldn't to be ready and healthy to start next year on the right way. Another out come that would not be surprising if he picked the events correctly would be a late season surge similar to the one Murray had in Asia and Europe last fall just grind it out till it works.
