Rafael Nadal has been on a winning streak this year on the ATP tour. While he was on his crutches less than six months ago after having undergone treatment for a foot injury that can’t be healed, he is now back to his vintage form. He won his 21st Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open this year and went on to win his 91st tour level title at Acapulco.

Mats Wilander, a seven-time Grand Slam winning former player from Sweden, recently opened up about Rafael Nadal’s exceptional form heading into the clay season. Currently, he is gearing up for the Indian Wells Masters. Next up is his favorite surface – the red clay, where his records and achievements are all but uncontested.

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Mats Wilander hails Rafael Nadal as the age-less clay-court king

The Swedish former player talked about why he felt Nadal was different from two of his biggest rivals – Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. He also pointed out the fact regarding Nadal and his team’s uncertainty about his comeback on the ATP tour. But, not only is he back, he is making sure that his success ride will be etched in history books.

“Obviously, he is turning 36 during the French Open. It would be amazing if he can keep this up ,when we really thought last year that this is very close to being surely the end of Rafa’s career. I would never imagine that, even though he would be playing, physically, that he would be able to do what he is doing. No, not in a million years I thought that Rafa Nadal could do that.” Wilander hails Nadal’s comeback.

Wilander also observed that Rafa’s relentless drive to constantly improve might just be the quality that separates him from his contemporaries. “Now, we are back to Rafa Nadal, the age-less clay-court king. I mean, he is closer to 16-years old than he is 36 years old  emotionally and that is where he separates himself from the other Big-3,” he concluded.

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