Wimbledon Track Record: Won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010. He has been runner-up in 2006, 2007 and 2011. In the past two years Nadal has failed to progress to the 3rd round, losing in the 2nd round in 2012 and the 1st round in 2013. Grass Court Game: Despite being a two time champion, Nadal is not a natural grass court player. His physical play with an emphasis on grinding opponents into submission is more suited to slow high bouncing clay courts than low bouncing grass courts. In many respects Nadal plays better on the grass if the weather has baked it to such an extent that it plays more like a clay court. This would mean that Nadal is likely to fare better at the latter stages of Wimbledon when the courts are balding than during the early stages when the grass is lush and playing fast and low. His top spin heavy shots do not work effectively on a grass court making him vulnerable to being hit off of the court. A recent example of this is his 2nd round loss to Dustin Brown at the Wimbledon warm up tournament in Halle. Overall the success of Nadal's grass court game is very much dependent on the weather as much as the opponent on the other side of the net. Current Form: Nadal has been enjoying a rollercoaster year thus far. After making the finals of The Australian Open Nadal has suffered shock losses to a number of lesser ranked players. He has made it known that he has been suffering from a back issue, and reports have suggested that he has been playing with a back brace. His usual dominance of the clay court season has been tempered by a loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Masters 1000 event in Rome and freak losses to fellow countrymen David Ferrer and Nicholas Almagro. However he has recently equalled Pete Sampras' haul of 14 grandslam titles by winning his 9th and 5th consecutive French Open title. Yet calls for Nadal to be labelled the greatest player of all time seen premature when his first match on the grass courts of Halle revealed the same dismal pattern of play that has seen this multiple Wimbledon champion bundled out of Wimbledon within the first days of the tournament. Wimbledon '14 Prediction: 4th Round Although Rafael Nadal will always be a favourite in any tournament that he chooses to play, it is clear that in order for him to win his third Wimbledon title a lot of things have to happen in a certain way. He needs the weather to be hot and dry, the courts to have as little lush grass as possible and a favourable draw that keeps big hitters away from him at least in the early rounds. Primarily he needs to survive the first week and then he can at least be considered as an increasing favourite to make the finals and have a shot at winning the trophy. While this could happen, the fact that he has not reached the 3rd round of Wimbledon since 2011 suggests that it is likely Nadal with his defensive play will fall to an aggressive shot maker by the time of the 4th round.
