Nadal Hopes to Break Losing Streak

After four straight defeats, and going 0 for 8 in his last eight sets played, world #2 Rafael Nadal returns to his favorite clay surface and hopefully, winning ways as he leads the Spanish team in this year's Davis Cup final. Nadal suffered an uncharacteristic 4 match losing streak in his last two tournaments. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Paris Masters. He lost again to Djokovic, and also to Robin Soderling and Nikolay Davydenko at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Nadal will play world #20 Tomas Berdych in the opening match of the Davis Cup final on Friday (12/04) as Spain bids to retain its title against the Czech Republic. Nadal has a 5-3 record against Berdych, and a 4-0 record against Czech #1 and world #12 Radek Stepanek. The tie is being held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. The Spanish team is hoping to become the first team since Sweden in 1998 to defend its crown. Spain leads the head-to-head series with the Czech Republic, 3-2.

In the event that Nadal loses both matches in the tie, he will head into 2010 with a six match losing streak and his confidence shot. Majority of Nadal's ranking points were earned during the first half of 2009 - with the rate he is playing right now, it is very possible that he will not be amongst the top 4 players when the 2010 French Open comes around.