Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has had a rough go of it in 2016. He was walloped by Novak Djokovic in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final, knocked out of the Australian Open in the first round, and eliminated by Dominic Thiem and Pablo Cuevas in the semi-finals at the Argentina Open and Rio Open, respectively.
Nadal's last tournament win came against a relatively weak field last July. He's consistently racked up losses of late to the top competitors in the game, and his last Grand Slam championship came at Roland Garros back in 2014. And his record to start this season is merely 8-4.
Nevertheless, a report on Sportsrageous last month revealed that Nadal is aiming for a French Open title. It's the place where he's won nine of his 14 Grand Slam titles, and he says it's where he'd most like to win one more.
Most in the tennis world have grown to doubt whether Nadal can still play consistently enough to pull off another Grand Slam win. Once as strong a champion as there was in the sport, the Spaniard has lately had a very hard time staying on the court, let alone in elite form.
That said, he remains the fifth-ranked player in the ATP. Odds posted at Gambling.com gave him only a slightly worse chance than Roger Federer to win the Australian Open earlier this year, and he has a history of dominating the French. Some would have said a few years ago that Nadal playing at about 70 percent of his capabilities could have won this particular Grand Slam; we may be about to find out if that's true.
The interesting thing is that Nadal finally seems to be admitting to his declining talents. Even last year after his U.S. Open exit, he admitted he didn't know if he could win another Slam. Now 29 years old, he's speaking as if he may only have one more chance. And if that's the case, he's probably wise to target Roland Garros.
