Rafael Nadal faces a new challenge this season as he looks to get back to his grand slam-winning ways.
And while the Spaniard is no stranger to launching comebacks, he is not using this term to describe his ambitions this year this year – after all, if you’re No5 in the world, you don’t really need a “comeback”.
Nadal has many times successfully returned from injury setbacks but on this occasion, the Mallorcan is not trying to get over a physical problem, he’s labouring to overcome the physchological ones that marred the majority of his 2015 campaign.
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When it was his knee, foot or any other part of his body, the process of recovery was based on medical advice, rehab, and gaining the confidence to step on court without getting hurt again.
When it’s mental, the solution is not as clear-cut and the process must be far trickier.
In Abu Dhabi, Nadal said his mental issues have been fixed which is why he played better towards the end of last season and why he was in brilliant form in his brief appearance at Zayed Sports City over the weekend.
But the question remains: Can he find his mental strength when it matters the most against the likes of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer?
In his triumphant press conference on Saturday, Nadal told journalists he no longer wants to talk about 2015 and it was a fair request. His decline last year has been over-discussed, over-analysed and documented to death.
If Nadal wants to move past his troubles, it must be incredibly difficult to do so while constantly being forced to talk about them every day.
The 29-year-old says he’s not one to live in the past. Not his glory days and not his tough times. Closing the chapter on 2015 will definitely be key for him to regain his edge this season.
The good news so far for Nadal fans is that in Abu Dhabi he was beaming with positivity, looks motivated and was happy to talk about how confident he felt. “I am confident I will be very competitive in 2016” were his exact words.
On the court, he was moving as well as he ever has been, and the hesitation he exhibited many times last season was no longer there.
His match with David Ferrer on Friday was the highlight of the weekend and indeed his description that they played like “it was six months into the season” was apt as both had rhythm so rarely expected from players on New Year’s Day.
Nadal seems laser-focused which is a good sign for what is to come.
He didn’t take a break and got back to work on the court just a couple of days after the ATP World Tour Finals in November, which explains why he’s hitting so freely.
That is good news for his first few months of the season but the worry would be that by the time the Wimbledon-Olympics-US Open stretch comes around, he’d be too exhausted to compete to his higest standard.
Scheduling is key for everybody this year with the Rio Games making it a tougher calendar and Nadal will have to make sure he gets some time off so he doesn’t run out of gas halfway through.
For now, the forecast is bright for Spain’s favourite comeback kid and he might get his first test of the season against Djokovic should they make the Doha final next Saturday.
