Rafael Nadal is not in the ideal situation going into the defence of his US Open title which he begins tonight against Andrey Golubev.
It's two months since the Wimbledon final but Nadal still seems flustered by his five successive losses to Novak Djokovic this year. No player had ever succeeded in getting inside the Spaniard's head but Djokovic appears to have done that and Nadal is still rattled. He told the press going into this tournament that he has not had enough practise time to find a long-term solution to Djokovic's game but if he can reproduce the kind of tennis which took him to the title last year, he may be in contention once again.
Nadal arrived at the 2010 US Open unveiling a cannon of a first serve. It made him almost unplayable and if he can cut loose with it again, play closer to the baseline and flatten out his forehand then he could be in with a shot.
In Montreal and Cincinnati he was feeding his opponents with far too many mid-court balls and eventually got punished.
Whichever Nadal turns up, he should have few problems against Golubev who probably can't wait for the season to end. The 24 year old from Kazakhstan won just two matches in the first seven months and badly needs some time away from the game to refresh himself.
