The Miami Open, the season’s second ATP 1000 tournament kicks off today and will answer some questions for tennis fans about the state of Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori’s games.
Can Rafael Nadal get back to the top?
Rafael Nadal’s fans must be feeling concerned about their favorite’s 2015 form. Miami, with it’s slow surface and high bounce, could be just the tournament, however, where he puts their minds at rest.
Nadal has never won in Miami, but has a great record there, finishing runner up four times (2005, 2008, 2011, 2013). The tournament is where Nadal first beat Federer, in 2004, and is, along with Paris, one of only two ATP 1000 titles he has not won.
Right now, Nadal, the king of comebacks, is struggling to reassert himself at the top of the game, eight tournaments into his comeback from a knee injury which kept him sidelined for three months after Wimbledon 2014.
Since coming back, he has won the ATP 250 Buenos Aries Open, made the last eight of the Australian Open, and was a semi-finalist in Indian Wells. Compare his results to his 2013 comeback, though when, after seven months out, he won Indian Wells four tournaments into his comeback, and at his eighth event, he won his sixth event since coming back in Rome.
But the injury might not be the sole reason Nadal is struggling recently.Before the injury, Nadal was struggling anway, losing to Ferrer and Amalgro on Clay, and though he won the French Open, he was not really convincing until the semi-finals.
The fact is, at 28, Nadal’s defensive style will be impossible for him to maintain for much longer as he loses a step and his already broken down body becomes more and more injury prone.
This last year could be part of a very natural decline for the Spaniard and he might never return to his 2013 form. However, the Spaniard should never be counted out, and Miami, with his impressive history there, will go some way to answering the question of if he can get back to the top.
Nadal might have to get past Gulbis, Berdych and Murray to make the final. He has a strong record against all those three, but, in his current form, and he must be lacking some confidence, they could get the better of him, just as Raonic did in Indian Wells.
If he can survive, and defend his finalist points, it would be just what he needs to get his comeback going, and right before the Clay season where he will try and win a historic tenth French Open.
Nadal will face Nicholas Amalgro in the second round.
Is Juan Martin Del Potro ready to return?
In 2010, Del Potro played the Australian Open with a wrist injury, and the 2009 U.S Open 2009 champion was subsequently sidelined from the tour, dropping to 485 in the rankings.
Del Potro, currently ranked 616, has been cautious not to return too quickly from the wrist surgery he had last year after his 2010 disaster. Del Potro has been off the tour, bar two matches in Sydney, since Dubai 2014.
He hoped to be back for the U.S Open 2014, but postponed his comeback until Sydney. In Sydney, he beat top seed Fabio Fognini on his way to the quarter-finals, despite struggling with his backhand, but withdrew, saying the wrist had not fully healed. Del Potro then announced he would come back for Indian Wells, but withdrew the day before the event started.
In the first round in Miami, he faces Vasek Pospisil and, if he wins that, he would face Grigor Dimitrov. If he is healed, he will do well to win that first round, but if he reports afterwards his wrist is fully recovered, his team and fans will be more than satisfied.
Can Kei Nishikori kickstart his 2015?
Kei Nishikori broke into the top five this season, the first Japanese man in history to do so, but has not had a top five worthy 2015. He was just edged by Raonic in Brisbane, overwhelmed by Wawrinka in Melbourne, beaten in straights by Ferrer in Acapulco, against whom he has a match-up advantage, and upset by Lopez in Indian Wells. His only tournament win came at the ATP 250 event in Memphis, but he did not beat anyone higher ranked than no.15 Kevin Anderson.
The feat of making the top five, and the reaction in Japan, may be something to do with his lack of firepower against his fellow top tenners this season. Perhaps it will take some time for him to get used to the status.
Miami could be a good place for him to start getting comfortable. The slow surface and high bounce suit his aggressive baseline game and he made the semi-finals there last season, beating in-form Roger Federer on the way. A scheduled last eight meeting with in-form Milos Raonic, against whom he seems to trade wins, would be a good time for the Japanese to get his first top ten win of the season, get some confidence going, and get 2015 back on track.
Commentary by Christian Deverille
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