Self-belief has hardly been abundant in the mind of Rafael Nadal throughout much of 2015 but with the competitive year now moving to a close, there are signs that the former world No 1 could again be contending for the biggest titles before too long.
Stanislas Wawrinka took possession of the French Open title in June and, although it was not he who ended the King of Clay’s reign at Roland Garros, victory over the Swiss was still one to be savoured as the Spaniard moved into the semi-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Nadal’s performance was as good as the 6-2, 6-1 scoreline suggests, although Wawrinka admitted his three-hour tussle against Marin Cilic the previous evening, and a couple of arduous weeks in Asia - including a title win in Tokyo last Sunday - had taken their toll.
This win was Nadal’s first against a top-five player since beating Novak Djokovic in the French Open final last year and his satisfaction was clear.
“Obviously I’m happy,” he said. “Before last I didn’t play the semi-finals on hard court this year. Now I am playing two weeks in a row in the closing rounds and that’s a big improvement for me.
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“In terms of confidence, in terms of level of tennis, in terms of everything I am playing better and I’m happy for that because I am working so hard. All the victories are important but obviously when you play against the best players, you want to play well and be competitive. To make that happen, I have to play my best.”
From 2-2 in the first set, Nadal went on a charge reminiscent of his grand slam-winning pomp and Wawrinka looked relieved just to have avoided a 6-0 first set whitewash.
Wawrinka had beaten Nadal in their two most recent meetings: in the 2014 Australian Open final when Nadal was stricken by back problems, and again on clay in Rome this spring.
“I was not feeling good enough to push him,” admitted the Swiss. “I was just struggling a little bit, it’s that simple. Against Nadal you cannot do anything if you’re not 100 per cent but in the past ten days, I’ve been playing a lot.”
However Wawrinka possesses the stature to assess whether Nadal is recapturing the form that made him such a fearsome opponent for so many years, not just on clay but on all surfaces.
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“Sure, he has the possibility to be back up there again,” Wawrinka said. “If we look at him, Roger [Federer], Andy [Murray], they all had one year struggling a little bit. They both came back at the top and so I don’t see why Nadal will not come back at his best.
“So far he’s not there yet, that’s for sure but it’s not easy. He was struggling this year but he’s a champion. So I’m sure he will have opportunity to win grand slams and be back at his top level.”