Guys who start early don't seem to have long careers. Nadal has been on the main tour since he was 15, he's been going deep in tournaments for a few years now and he's been pounding the weights while he's still been growing. All that comes back to bite you eventually. It's like Hewitt - you get a good couple of years, and then it's downhill. It will happen with Nadal sooner rather than later IMHO.

That's not to say Nadal isn't an incredibly talented player, he clearly is, but I think he put too many miles on the clock early. Watching him vs Blake today and I was surprised at how much better James Blake seemed at points in the match. Blake is obviously one of those guys who can blow anyone off court for an hour when he's on his game, but even so - Nadal just looked out of ideas. I don't know if it's just a blip in form, or if he's just tired after a long season, but I just didn't get the sense that I was watching the second best player on the planet.