Nadal's Year and Future Riding on U.S. Open

No one will deny that Rafael Nadal has had a difficult year thus far. He won the Australian Open at the start of the season, continuing a magical run through the 2008 season, however that seems like a decade ago now (doesn't it?). Beyond the Australian Open and leading up to the French, Nadal was simply being "Nadal." Winning five titles out of 10 tries, and making people wonder if Federer was ever going to get a beat back on the Spaniard.Things changed drastically however one sunny afternoon in Madrid, when Federer looking more like his usual self drilled Nadal in the final 6-4, 6-3. The round before, Nadal in spectacular fashion barely managed to get through Djokovic in what will end up being one of the better 2009 non-slam matches of the year.With that loss, Nadal walked into the French Open with reduced momentum, an apparent knee issue, and some personal family related issues. Of course, those personal issues didn't surface all of a sudden, but that is none of ...