Once a King, always a King - The mind games of Rafael Nadal

With Rafael Nadal winning the French Open tournament every year, there is an ever-increasing urge for other players to snatch it away from him, and there is definitely a certain pride in Nadal which makes him want to keep the trophy with him. But as time travels, even the strongest lion becomes weak.

It is then that the lion has to use some of his wits to remain the king of the jungle!

This is the first time in 10 years that Rafael Nadal has dropped out of the top five in the ATP rankings. More importantly, this could be the first time ever that he is going into Roland Garros without winning a Masters 1000 trophy. The Rome Masters is the last Masters event on clay before the French Open.

Let us compare his pre-French Open statistics of 2014 and 2015.

Tournament	2014 Result	2015 Result
Qatar Open	Won	First Round
Australian Open	Finalist	Quarter Finals
Rio Open	Won	Semis
Buenos Aires Open	Did Not Play	Won
Indian Wells	Third Round	Quarter Finals
Miami Masters	Finalist	Third Round
Monte Carlo Masters	Quarter Finals	Semis
Barcelona	Quarter Finals	Third Round
Madrid Open	Winner	Runner-up

There is not much of a difference in the number of big titles he has won. The only big difference between the two years is that he hasn’t been able to defend the points at the same tournaments that he played well in last year.

Nadal has done exactly that. By praising Novak Djokovic last year, he literally removed all the heavy expectations fans had from him. Remember him and Toni Nadal saying that the 2014 win could probably his last? Well, the mind games started right there.

Rafael Nadal’s run at Roland Garros has been nothing short of impressive

Nadal not winning any Masters tournament so far has worried his fans. But an ATP rank below No. 5 means that he could face Djokovic much before finals, and that match will probably not be as stressful as a final against the World No. 1.

Nadal will definitely win the French Open this year too. Does that sound too optimistic? Well, that is exactly why Nadal is revered. He is always optimistic, and so are his fans.