Funny how a Grand slam title and an appearance in the finals of two other Slams somehow still constituted a not-so-good year for Nadal. Most other players would kill for a year like that, and yet somehow Nadal's year has not been his best. He lost for the first time in his career to the same player six times in a row. It's the first time since 2004 that he won less than 5 titles. He experienced his worst loss ever against his chief rival Roger Federer.
So it's absolutely amazing that Rafa was able to end what was a challenging year for him on a high note by leading Spain to another Davis Cup win. He won both of his singles matches, and had to weather the storm of winners and come from behind against Juan Martin Del Potro to give Spain an unassailable 3-1 lead.
This DC should hopefully give Rafa a boost as we move into the 2012 season. Last year (2010), Novak Djokovic was having a decent year. Then he wins Davis Cup for Serbia and all of a sudden, he becomes near-invincible for most of 2011. In 2009, Nadal won only the Australian Open and lost in the French Open for the first time before leading Spain to a DC win. This resulted in Nadal having one of his best years ever in 2010, finally winning a career slam. Hopefully, a Davis Cup win is a good omen and Nadal can turn things around, both in his career and against his new nemesis, Djokovic.
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