Wimbledon 2013: Rafael Nadal And His Unfathomable Threat at Wimbly
Wimbledon Open organisers have drawn flak from several tennis analysts after they decided to stick with the ATP ranking in their seeding process for the upcoming Grand Slam hostilities at the All-England Club less than a week from now.
Nadal, who's coming off a sensational comeback run capped by another crown at Roland Garros, was surprisingly seeded at number five in the grass-court tournament - a factor that would lead to early rounds showdown between the Spaniard and one of his Big Four rivals.
A number of tennis followers believe the tournament organisers are compromising the balance of competition by deciding to place Nadal at a much lower seed despite the Spaniard's dominating run in the ATP Tour for the last three months. With the Nadal's current seeding, there's a high possibility the Spaniard faces either Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray as early as the quarterfinal round.
The 28-year-old Nadal is viewed as the favourite, heading into next week's competition after having won seven of his last nine tournaments since recovering from the knee injury. The Mallorcan netter will be considered a very dangerous early round opponent for any of the top-four seeds: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and David Ferrer.
Nadal already started his Wimbledon Open preparation by participating at the BNP Paribas Tennis Classic, facing Japanese teen sensation Kei Nishiori on the grass court of the Hurlingham Tennis Club on Friday.