Tennisthis.com

We got your tennis racquet reviews, string reviews, tournament recaps, player happenings, and much more right here!

  • Home
  • Tennis String Reviews
  • Tennis Racquet Reviews
  • Game Changer
  • Accessories
    • Pocket Radar for tennis review
    • Scoreband Watch review
    • String Advantage Pojie review
    • Zensah Compression Elbow Sleeve review
  • About
    • Links
  • Contact
You are here: Home / 2016 Tennis Season / Nadal facing crucial 2016

Nadal facing crucial 2016

December 21, 2015 By G.O.A.T 1 Comment

In spite of all his achievements, Rafael Nadal is in danger of becoming something of a forgotten man in tennis.

Nadal had previously lifted one of the grand slam trophies every season since 2004. But juggling injuries, poor form and bad luck, the Spaniard is no longer considered the force he once was. The 14-time grand slam winner has been plagued with fitness issues over the past few years, allowing Novak Djokovic to cement himself as the best player in the world and resulting in Nadal slipping to fifth in the world rankings.

After a below-par start to the year, 2015 never really got any better for the 29-year-old. Having fallen at the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open at the hands of Tomas Berdych, Nadal’s season took a huge blow at the French Open at the start of the summer, suffering a morale-denting defeat to eventual champion Djokovic. As well as making a premature exit in a tournament he has won on nine different occasions, the loss was even tougher to take for the former world number one with it coming against a player who many now believe is the undoubted king of the game.

With tickets for next year’s French Open already being snapped up from Ticketgum and othersites, it remains to be seen whether the Nadal who has been often unbeatable on clay, or the one who was outplayed by Djokovic at Roland Garros last season, arrives at the coming tournament. In a reminder of just how the landscape of tennis currently stands, Nadal’s loss toDjokovic was evidence that the power has definitely shifted at the top of the men’s game. Those who attended the 2015 French Open saw the end of an incredible winning run at the tournament, and further proof that the current world number one is by far the best player in the world.

nadal 2016 on clay
Nadal facing a crucial 2016 tennis season

Despite picking up one of his three tour titles of the year shortly before Wimbledon, the two-time champion suffered an embarrassing second round defeat at the All England Club, losing in four sets to Germany’s Dustin Brown. It was then perhaps fitting that Nadal’s grand slam woes continued at Flushing Meadows in September, going out of the final major of the season in the third round after a shock five set defeat to number 32 seed Fabio Fognini. In theprocess, he fell short in his bid to match Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras’ record of reaching at least one grand slam final for 11 consecutive years.

A decent run to the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals ensured Nadal ended the year with at least some positivity to cling onto heading into 2016. Having beaten Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer in the group stages, the two-time finalist was again outclassed by Novak Djokovic. So while the Serbian went on to celebrate his fifth Tour Finals success, Nadal was forced to head off into an offseason in which he knows significant improvements need to be made.

As Djokovic continues to dominate tennis, Nadal is one of a number of players who will be hoping to push the Serbian number one when the 2016 campaign gets under way. On the evidence of the past 12 months, though, there might not be that many people who feel the fading Spanish star is the man to end Djokovic’s reign next season.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
G.O.A.T
Based in sunny Southern California, raised in Argentina & USA; lover of all things tennis, USRSA Master Racquet Technician (MRT), ATP/WTA Pro Level Stringer; reviewer of tennis strings, tennis racquets, and any interesting tennis gadgets I come across. Plays NTRP 4.5 singles and some doubles. Singled handed backhand with a wicked affection for cured meats and Asado.
Latest posts by G.O.A.T (see all)
  • 2021 French Open Wilson Racquets - April 13, 2021
  • Slinger Bag and Wilson Tennis Collaboration - March 2, 2021
  • Wilson Tennis and Romero Britto - February 22, 2021

Filed Under: 2016 Tennis Season

Follow TennisThis!

 Facebook Google+ Twitter Instagram YouTube RSS E-mail

Latest Tennis Racquet Reviews

List of ATP Player Tennis Racquets
List of WTA Player Tennis Racquets
Wilson Blade V7 16x19 review
Head Gravity MP review
TenXPro XCalibre 325g review
Wilson Clash Tour 100 review
Wilson Clash review
Prince Phantom 100p Pro review
Yonex VCORE Pro 97 310g review
TenX Pro Excalibur 303g review
Yonex VCORE Duel G 97 (310g) review
Wilson Burn 100S review
Head Graphene Prestige Rev Pro review
Babolat Pure Strike Tour review
Volkl V1 Pro review
Donnay Formula 100 review
Mantis Pro 295 review
2013 Babolat AeroPro Drive review
Dunlop Biomimetic F 3.0 Tour review
Head YouTek IG Extreme Pro 2.0 review
Mantis Tour 305 review
List of ATP & WTA Tennis Shoes

Latest Tennis String Reviews

List of ATP & WTA tennis strings
Babolat RPM Power 16 review
Toroline Absolute 17 review
Diadem Evolution 16 review
Luxilon Element 1.25mm review
Yonex Poly Tour Spin 16L review
Luxilon Smart 16L review
Tier One Firewire 17 review
Laserfibre JB Tour 17 reivew
Yonex Poly Tour Strike review
Laserfibre Native Tour 17 reivew
Weiss Cannon Fire Stroke 17 review
Weiss Cannon Ultra Cable 17 review
Diadem Solstice Power 17 review
Genesis True Grit 17 review
Victory Acelon Wildfire 16 (multi) review
Wilson RipSpin 16 White review
Babolat RPM Dual 17 review
Mantis Tri-Poly Spin 17 review
Acelon Seven 16L review
Solinco Tour Bite Soft 17 review
Solinco Tour Bite 19 review
Volkl Cyclone Tour 17 review
Clarke Poly Power Pro 17 review
Kirschbaum Pro Line X 17 review
Luxilon 4G review
Tier One Sports Tour Status 17 review

Search TennisThis.com

Recent posts

  • 2021 French Open Wilson Racquets
  • Slinger Bag and Wilson Tennis Collaboration
  • Wilson Tennis and Romero Britto
  • Lotto Mirage 300 II SPD Women’s Tennis Shoe Review
  • Wilson Clash & Blade Roland Garros Inspired Racquets
  • Wilson Ultra V3 Revealed
  • Wilson KAOS 3.0 Tennis Shoe Review
  • WTA Future Stars Tournament Use Wilson Triniti Ball
  • Wilson Triniti Tennis Ball Review
  • Blue Wilson ProStaff RF97

The vault

ATP Top 10 Rankings

1. Novak Djokovic
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Roger Federer
4. Dominic Thiem
5. Daniil Medvedev
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas
7. Alexander Zverev
8. Matteo Berretini
9. Gael Monfils
10. David Goffin

WTA Top 10 Rankings

1. Ashleigh Barty
2. Simona Halep
3. Karolina Pliskova
4. Bianca Andreescu
5. Sofia Kenin
6. Kiki Bertens
7. Elina Svitolina
8. Serena Williams
9. Belinda Bencic
10. Naomi Osaka

TennisThis.com Twitter Feed

Tweets by @tennisthis

Favorite Sites

  • ATP & WTA Tennis
  • Fuebuena.com.ar
  • Ladies Who Tennis Blog
  • On Top
  • Tennis Abides
  • TennisCom.Com

Niemann-Pick Children’s Fund

 Niemann-Pick Children's Fund

Copyright © 2025 · Tennis String Reviews · Tennis Racquet Reviews · Site Map