King of clay Rafael Nadal can rule supreme on grass

General / Ralph Ellis / 12 June 2008 / Leave a Comment

Ralph Ellis tells us why he gets sick of hearing about Rafael Nadal around the house at this time of year and why he's a great bet to break Roger Federer's dominance at SW19 in a week's time

It doesn't come easy for me to heap praise on Rafael Nadal. For a start my wife falls in love with him at this time every year. I don't understand it personally. I asked her: "Apart from fame, money, youth, and muscles what's he got that I haven't?" "Hair," she said.

What he could also get this year is a Wimbledon title and at [4.7] looks a very good bet. Okay, so he's normally a clay court specialist and it's not hard to see why Roger Federer remains favourite at [2.28], but after two losing finals this could be the year to make it third time lucky.

At 22 the Spaniard still has the drive and intensity to put his body through the physical demands of capturing the world number one spot from Federer, and he now has the big psychological advantage of having completely sploshed the man who has been his nemesis at SW19 in the French Open final. He's cute enough to know that to follow Paris with a tournament win at the Artois Championships would also send out an intimidating signal before the real grass court business begins.

Nadal is virtually unbackable at [1.05] to see off Kei Nishikori at Queen's Club today, but is worth backing at [3.95] to win the tournament come Sunday. He was in superb form to see off the experienced Jonas Bjorkman 6-2 6-2 in just 66 minutes, and he's talking a good game too about why he's not bothered with any rest after the gruelling demands of Paris to get himself straight into the Wimbledon groove.

While the Daily Mirror have asked him only what he thinks of Spain's Euro 2008 chances - not surprisingly he fancies his countrymen to go all the way - the Daily Express's Frank Wiechula has focused squarely on how Nadal has slipped quickly into the groove on grass. He'd found time for practice and a doubles match before starting his campaign in the tournament proper.

Nadal says: "I have four Grand Slams already and I want to have more, and to get them on different surfaces and that includes at Wimbledon. Mentally it is tough to switch from clay that is so slow to grass, and the feeling when you are touching the ball is different. You are having memories while you are playing on how you used to play on this in previous years, so the more time you can spend on the court the better. My best Wimbledon memory was last year's final when I played an unbelievable match but it was also the worst because I still lost."

The great Bjorn Borg was the last to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, and many say it can't be done in the modern era of a more physically demanding sport. Nadal looks to have every chance to prove that wrong. Cue more grief from Mrs Ellis!

Five things you didn't know about Rafael Nadal

1. He was only 14 years old when he beat former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash in
an exhibition match

2. He plays left-handed, but is actually right handed in everything else he does

3. His uncle was Miguel Angel, the Spanish footballer known as 'the beast of
Barcelona'

4. He warm-up ritual for matches involves taking a shower before he goes on court

5. He likes to slow matches down - he once took a full minute between serves instead
of the 20 seconds allowed