LONDON — When the losses were coming thick and fast earlier this year, Rafael Nadal resembled a man tormented -- what had always come so naturally, he now had to think about.
The powerful topspin forehand, the signature shot which propelled him to 14 grand slam titles and made him virtually unplayable on clay, was deserting him at crucial moments.
With his movement tentative and his confidence at a low ebb, Nadal was humiliated by Novak Djokovic in the French Open quarter-finals -- a tournament he had ruled for a decade.
Lesser players also hunted him down, with many predicting the Mallorcan was stuck in an irreversible downward spiral.