The time when Pete Sampras was very worried about Rafael Nadal and claimed something was ‘missing’ in his game

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Rafael Nadal enjoyed a spectacular career and produced a level of consistency that very few can match.

The Spaniard won at least one Grand Slam for 10 successive seasons and he hung up his racket with 22 majors to his name.

But there was a small period in Rafael Nadal’s career where he did not win a Grand Slam and questions were asked about if his time as a top player was coming to an end.

One of those people was 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras, who expressed his concerns with Nadal’s game during the mid-2010’s.

Why was Pete Sampras worried about Rafael Nadal’s game in 2016?

Sampras was one of many who were very surprised with Nadal’s level between 2015 and 2016. During these seasons the 38-year-old failed to win a major for the first time since 2004 and he almost dropped out of the world’s top 10.

While Nadal won a gold in the men’s doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics, there was little success for him that year, judging by his very high standards.

This left Sampras concerned and as the American assessed his fellow tennis icon’s game and back in 2016, he highlighted what Nadal was doing on court that summed up his poor performances.

“There is something that is missing in his game. I am not sure what. He is hitting a lot of short balls, he is not as aggressive,” Sampras told CNN in 2016.

“He seems really tense out there. He is nervous. Even when he is losing on clay, it is shocking to me. He lost a couple of matches in South America. I am amazed he is losing on clay.

“You lose confidence but I still had a serve whereas Rafa if he is not hitting it well and hitting it short, it’s tough to play defence out there so he is really struggling.”

What was Pete Sampras’ prediction about Rafael Nadal in 2016?

In 2016 Nadal won just 39 matches and lost 14, giving him a win percentage of 74%, which up to that point in his career was the lowest since 2004.

He won just two titles, the 2016 Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open, and he failed to go beyond the fourth round at any of the majors.

Furthermore, Nadal ended his season after the Shanghai Masters to recover from injury and finished the 2016 season ranked at number nine.

Despite the difficult time Nadal was having on court, Sampras predicted he would come back strong. “It is not over for him. I think he is too good,” Sampras said. “He has won too much. I went through a couple of years where I wasn’t playing well.”

Sampras was proved right as Nadal returned in 2017 and proceeded to win two Grand Slam titles and returned to the World number one position.

He won eight more Grand Slams between then and the rest of his career and finished year as the World number one on two occasions, further adding to the great legacy he had already set.