If this is the last season, then Rafael Nadal should play Monte-Carlo: A note from a Rafa fan

It is said that in life there is usually a bad side to something very good and vice-versa. It is mostly true about sports, too. At the risk of sounding a bit too philosophical about something that involves a lot of blood and sweat, I am referring to Rafael Nadal’s dominance on clay courts here.

Nadal's clay-court prowess has attained mythical proportions:

No other player in the history of the sport has dominated a single surface like the Spaniard has on clay. He has won a mind-boggling 14 French Open titles and complemented that with 11 Monte-Carlo Masters, 10 Italian Open, and 12 Barcelona Open titles. He also boasts a 112-3 win-loss record at Roland-Garros.

Madrid Open, the other Masters 1000 tournament that is played on clay and has a surface that is least like a usual clay court, has seen the Spaniard win the title five times.

Nadal's exploits on the surface have even eclipsed Born Borg's fantastic achievement of winning six consecutive French Open titles by a long way. However, to talk about the negative side of the 37-year-old's sustained dominance, he has often been criticized for being too reliant on one particular surface to contend seriously for the title of the greatest player of all time.

The "clay-court specialist" tag has stuck with Nadal:

In this context, it has to be remembered that nobody attains 209 weeks as the world No.1 without being good to a certain extent on hard courts, which is the prevalent surface on the Tour.

Nadal has won six hard court Majors, too, and those numbers would have been more impressive had his career not coincided with those of the two greatest players on the surface: Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The Spaniard has also won two Wimbledon titles and has beaten Federer in one of the finals.

Still, whether it is unfair or not, the "clay-court specialist" tag is something Nadal’s detractors have used for him, not that it is something he should be embarrassed about, for playing on clay is his identity as a tennis player. And, as mentioned earlier, no one has and probably no one ever will dominate a surface like the Spaniard has.

The Spaniard should play at Monte-Carlo Masters:

Nadal, who will turn 38 in June, is quite possibly in the midst of his last season in professional tennis. Hence, he should make it a point to feature in his favorite tournaments on his favorite surface for one last time.

The Monte-Carlo Masters is the first tournament in the European clay swing and gets underway next week. The Spaniard, whose hip injury has forced him out of action for quite some time now, should be able to assess his physical condition by participating in it.

If the situation is very grave, the Spaniard can then focus solely on the French Open and the subsequent Olympic Games, which are also to be played at Roland Garros in Paris. However, if he is even moderately fit, he should probably also feature in Rome and Barcelona as well, skipping the Madrid Open in the process.

We have been treated by the Spanish champion’s exploits on the dirt over the years. Hence, it should be a collective wish of Nadal fans worldwide to see their favorite player in action on his favorite surface as much as possible for one last time.