Rafael Nadal is a French Open assailant, having won the tournament–just one of four major tennis championships–a record 9 times, solidifying his status as the greatest clay-court singles player of all time.
However, after losing in the quarterfinals last year–someone not named Rafael Nadal won the French Open last year for the first time since 2009–Nadal is back with a vengeance, and is well on the way to besting his finish at the year’s first major championship. (He was ousted in the first round of the Australian Open earlier this year.) During today’s straight-sets victory over Sam Groth, Nadal was nearly beat by an overhead lob, but he would be outdone. The Spaniard sprinted towards the baseline, lined up the ball, and smacked a between-the-legs winner with his back facing the court that froze Groth and won him the point.
As you can see in the video clip above, everyone, including Groth, was pleased by what they’d just seen. Nadal back?
