Too Good For His Own Good?

I am seeing a conundrum looming for Rafael Nadal.

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He is too good for his own good.

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He's just won three tournaments in three weeks. Even in the heyday of the golden years of the Federer empire, this wasn't exactly normal. And though he's got a week off now, he's got another one coming up. Which he'll probably win. And then the French Open, where you would feel safe betting your house on him playing seven matches.

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So, if you were Rafa Nadal, what would you do? In 2007 we saw him win three tournaments (these same three) and then get beaten in the final of Hamburg (by Roger Federer, but still) because he was just so damn exhausted. We know he is capable of fighting through a LOT of exhaustion - hello, backing up the Aussie Open semi against Verdasco with the final against Federer - but how much can any man take?

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Though Rafa is, of course, a machine.

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I think a lot of players in his position would skip Madrid - but it's in Spain, his homeland, and also it's right up close to the French Open, making it a good lead up tournament. Would Rafa come into the French Open cold if he just said, 'okay, I've proved my excellence on clay now, I don't need to play Madrid - let someone else have one of the damn Masters trophies'?

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Probably not. It's Rafa. He's a machine. He has proved, far and away, that when it comes to the red stuff, he is the best of all time. The only question mark over him now is this - is he too good for his own good? Will he wear himself out before the big one with all this winning?

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Today's Results

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Marion Bartoli def. Peng Shuai, 6-0 7-6 (7-3)

Kaia Kanepi def. Vania King, 6-4 6-3

Patty Schnyder def. Mariana Duque Marino, 7-6 (7-1) 6-3

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Anne Keothavong, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Sybille Bammer def. Li Na, 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Vera Dushevina, 6-4 6-1

Francesca Schiavone def. Alberta Brianti, 6-3 6-4

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Amélie Mauresmo, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Mariya Koryttseva, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Samantha Stosur, 6-4 6-2

Ayumi Morita def. Monica Niculescu, 6-1 6-3

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Estoril Open (Estoril)

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Maximo Gonzalez def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4 6-3

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BMW Open (Munich)

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Nicolas Almagro def. Jan Hernych, 6-3 6-4

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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Dinara Safina, 6-4 6-3