Pete Sampras admitted that seeing Rafael Nadal losing to unheralded opponent in clay-court is quite shocking, though American tennis legend stressed that the game is still not over for the Spaniard as he's very much capable of getting back to his old form.
In an interview with CNN, Sampras shared his insights on the current situation in men's tennis, where world's no.1 Novak Djokovic has been head and shoulders above the rest so far.
Sampras, who is currently tied with Rafael Nadal with 14 Grand Slam titles in his career, believes the battle for the title of the greatest tennis player ever boils down between Djokovic and current holder Roger Federer, counting out a struggling Nadal in the race might be a little premature.
The American noted Nadal still has the skills-set to dominate in this era of power hitters. Unfortunately, Sampras thinks Nadal seems to have already lost that aggressiveness that made him one of the most fearsome competitors in the history of the game.
"He's hitting a lot of short balls," Sampras said of Nadal via Tennis.com. "He's not as aggressive. He just seems really tense out there, he's nervous. When he's losing on clay that's shocking to me ... But it's not over for him. He's too good. He's won too much."
It has been a rough year for Nadal so far. After bowing out in the first round of the Australian Open at the hands of Fernando Verdasco, the Spaniard suffered back-to-back semis setbacks in Argentina Open and Rio Open, clay-court tournaments he used to dominate.
Nevertheless, Nadal is still determined to show he can still play at a high level. As for taking the world's no.1 ranking from Djokovic, the Spaniard is taking a conservative stance on that matter.
"Talk about the world number one is another thing because we have a Novak Djokovic very strong, but what should focus Rafa Nadal is in daily work, in the constantly improve their tennis. I know he's fighting, and maybe now is not at its best ranking and tennis, but in this line soon get important victories," Costa said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo.
The 29-year old Nadal is competing at the Indian Wells Open. He's scheduled to play Gilles Muller in the second round.