Down the Line: Nadal can rebuild confidence on his favourite surface

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  • King of clay: Rafael Nadal is struggling but he is at home on the red dirt.

    The clay court season is upon us once again and throws up some fascinating sub-plots for the months ahead.

    The players are braced for some sliding and grinding on the red dirt, or in the WTA’s case, it’s going to be the green clay of Charleston this week, where Eugenie Bouchard and Ekaterina Makarova are the top two seeds.

    The men’s tour will kick off its clay proceedings on separate continents – in Houston and Casablanca.

    Former top-tenner Janko Tipsarevic received a wildcard into the main draw in Texas and will be playing his first match since October 2013. 

    The Serb has been sidelined with a foot injury, which required surgery to remove benign tumors from it, and his comeback match will be against a qualifier.

    Lleyton Hewitt is also a wildcard recipient in Houston, where he’ll be in action for the first time since his Australian Open second round exit last January, while Spaniard Feliciano Lopez is the top seed.

    This could be the Aussie’s farewell season so it’s nice that he’s stopping by a tournament he has won before, in 2009.  

    Guillermo Garcia Lopez headlines the field in Casablanca, which also includes Tunisian Malek Jaziri, who got married on Saturday but is skipping his honeymoon for the sake of playing in the neighboring Morocco – it’s practically a home event for him. 

    It’s hard to know why the WTA event in Katowice is on hard court, clearly the tournament in Poland is not clued in on how the calendar works, but that hasn’t stopped home favourite Agnieszka Radwanska from signing up. 

    But here are five questions which beg to be asked as we hit the clay…

    Will Nadal recapture his magic?

    It’s no secret Rafael Nadal is lacking some confidence at the moment – he admitted it himself – but there’s nothing like some dirt on his shoes and red clay in his socks to get him back into his groove. He’ll be chasing a ninth crown in Monte Carlo next week.

    A solid showing there can quickly do the trick.  

    Notable absentees from the Monte Carlo entry list are Andy Murray, who is getting married this month, and Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

    Stan Wawrinka is the defending champion and the Swiss will be looking to turn around his post-Rotterdam slump which has seen him lose early in Marseille, Indian Wells and Miami, to Sergiy Stakhovsky, Robin Haase and Adrian Mannarino, respectively.  

    Another player in desperate need of a rebound is Ernests Gulbis. He made so many points on clay last season – it is his best surface – and he’ll need to figure things out ASAP if he wants to stay close to the top-10. 

    Can Serena Williams take her dominance into the French Open?

    Williams has been practically unbeatable since Wimbledon last year – she’s lost just twice (including once via retirement) since August. Despite winning in Rome last season, Williams’ clay stretch was the most disappointing of the year for her, having lost to Garbine Muguruza in the second round at Roland Garros.

    She’s halfway into a Serena Slam (currently a title-holder in the last two majors), can she make it four in a row once again like she did in 2002/2003?

    Will Djokovic stop Nadal from winning a 10th title in France?

    Each year we feel Novak Djokovic is getting closer to interrupting Nadal’s historic dominance at the French Open and each year the Spaniard prevails.

    Djokovic is so far ahead at the moment in terms of form and confidence, and Nadal is on the opposite side of the spectrum.

    But for some reason, when they both play best of five in Paris, none of it seems to matter. Will the pattern finally reverse? My money’s still on Nadal.

    Who are the up-and-comers to watch this clay season?

    Keep an eye out for Dominic Thiem, who will be practising with Roger Federer in Zurich this week.

    He’s got Gunter Bresnik all to himself after the coach split with Gulbis and just made his first Masters 1000 quarter-final in Miami.

    On the women’s side, it’s got to be Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina. Both have won Roland Garros junior titles. 

    Who should be making their top-100 debut soon?

    Aussie teen Thanasi Kokkinakis and Tunisian ex-Roland Garros junior champion Ons Jabeur.

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