It’s now been 7 months or so since we last saw Rafa play a real match.  Last match was the shocking loss to Lukas Rosol.  Rosol turned out not to be all that, but for one day, when Rafa wasn’t feeling his best, Rosol went ballistic.  Rafa announced shortly afterwards that his knees were bothering him, and at the time, it seemed like sour grapes, as Rafa often has excuses about not playing his best.

But this time he was serious.  He skipped the Olympics, the US Open, and pretty much the rest of the year.

He was supposed to return to play at the Australian Open, but due to a flu, he decided not to play there either.

For the first time since 2005, Nadal is going to play the “golden swing”.  You know, after the US Open, players head to Asia to play?  Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai.  That’s the “Asian swing”.  The “golden swing” heads to South America to places in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, then to Mexico.   At the same time this is being played, there are events in the US (San Jose, Memphis, Delray Beach), and events in Europe and the middle east (Rotterdam, Marseille, Dubai).  It’s a pretty full section of the calendar at a time when all but the most devoted fans are not even paying attention.

2005 was a year when Rafa played a lot of clay events.  It was his most successful year winning tournaments when he won 11, many on clay (though not all).

This year, Rafa has elected to play the clay circuit in an effort to protect his knees.  He’s expected to mostly play on soft surfaces until the end of Wimbledon.  He might skip Miami, and just play Indian Wells, meaning he’d only have played one hardcourt tournament up through July.

Historically, the Spaniards, minus Rafa, have been successful in the golden swing.  This includes Ferrer, Almagro, and Ferrero.  Even Juan Martin del Potro, who should be a local favorite, rarely plays in the golden swing.  You’d expect to see players that like the clay like Italians or Jeremy Chardy head down to play.

Rafa has tried, as usual, to dissuade expectations.  He claims his knee still hurts some, and not to expect great results.  On the other hand, Vina del Mar is a 250 event, and is not likely to have a star-studded field.  Juan Monaco and Jeremy Chardy are the next two seeds.  Monaco has been ranked as high as 10 and Chardy recently had a successful Australian Open, so things could still be interesting.

Rafa has an early round bye, and should play his first match on Wednesday.  His appearance has given spark to this otherwise sleepy tournament.

Due to this comeback, Tennis Channel is covering this tournament, realizing that, for once, it’s worth covering, so kudos to them for doing that.