"His form is a huge handicap in the first few rounds": Wilander believes Nadal's poor form will make him vulnerable at Australian Open

Mats Wilander is sure that Rafael Nadal is good enough to find a way to advance to the second week of the Australian Open but he noted his poor form as a handicap.

Nadal has lost six of the last 7 matches that he played with the US Open being the last event where he won two matches in a row. It's a far different look compared to last year when he found himself undefeated heading into the Australian Open with a trophy in hand. That poor form is a problem according to Wilander:

“His form is a huge handicap in the first few rounds, because when you have lost six out of seven, and then you start thinking, ‘wow, I haven't won two matches in a row since the US Open’, that is not good for your confidence, and it's great for the confidence of the rest of the players."

Despite that, Wilander things he can get it done:

“But if he starts winning the first few rounds and he's being tested, then I think that once you get to a quarter-finals, it doesn't matter if you won six out of seven because now you're talking about the 22 Grand Slam champion and last year's defending champion.”

He also speculated about Nadal winning it again although he sees Djokovic as the number one favourite:

“If Rafa wins, that will be big as he then goes into his favourite tournament. If Djokovic wins, they’re both on 22 and the race is back on, 100%. So, it's obviously very important for Novak to win this tournament, but it's most probably more important for me if Rafa wins because Rafa is not going to have that many chances in the next two, three years."