The late spring always brings about a few sure things. Memorial Day weekend comes along, trees and flowers are in full bloom, and Rafael Nadal wins the French Open. At least, that is how it has gone for much of the last decade. For his career, Nadal is 66-1 at Roland Garros, and he has won nine of the previous 10 French Opens.
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Nadal is an all-time great, and he is probably the greatest clay court player ever, but is his reign as an elite player ending? Nadal recently fell out of the top four in the world rankings for the first time in a decade, and people are speculating left and right that his relationship with girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello could be the reason why.
After one recent loss, Nadal was quick to point out that everything was going great in his life, which seemed like an obvious reference to Perello. After some uncharacteristic performances earlier this season, some folks even wondered if Nadal would avoid bringing Perello to the French Open in an effort to stay fully focused.
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Only Nadal can say for sure whether or not his attention and dedication to tennis is waning because of Perello, although the two do spend a lot of time together and appear to be very happy in their relationship.
A less obvious possiblity could be that Nadal is just as focused on tennis, but he may have been slacking on his rehab after numerous injuries in recent years. Many analysts argue that Rafa has lost a step on the court, and if he was focusing on Perello instead of healing himself, it would make sense as to why he looks less than 100 percent.
Nadal won his first match French Open match of 2015 in straight sets earlier today, which was a good start to his tournament. If he wants to quiet his doubters, continuing his unprecedented run of dominance at the French would be a strong statement.
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