Will Rafa Become 1 Again 2019
Rafael Nadal Shoots for the ATP Finals Title Over again
The year-end tournament is the only significant championship missing from his résumé, but another injury threatens his chances.
The end of the tennis season has not been kind to Rafael Nadal.
While the 33-year-one-time Spaniard has ended the year ranked No. i four times from 2008 to 2017, he did it on the forcefulness of early-season success at the major championships.
In 2008, Nadal won the French Open and Wimbledon. In 2010, he captured the French, Wimbledon and United states Open up titles. And in 2013 and '17, he was victorious at the French and U.S. Opens. In those years, Nadal's command of the top spot was secured before the conclusion of the yr-terminate ATP Finals, which brainstorm Sunday at London's O2 Arena.
More oftentimes than not, by flavor's end, Nadal's trunk has been hobbling and battered. Though he has qualified for the ATP Finals every year since 2005, he has merely played the tournament 8 times, pulling out with injuries nearly every other year. Two years ago, he withdrew with a knee injury and last year he had ankle surgery.
This year, Nadal'due south participation in London was put in jeopardy when he withdrew minutes before the start of his semifinal against Denis Shapovalov at the Paris Masters on Sat with an intestinal strain sustained during his prematch warm-upwards. Had Nadal won the Paris Masters, he would accept clinched the twelvemonth-end No. i before the ATP Finals began.
"I hope to be set up for London," Nadal said in Paris. "That's the biggest goal. I will do all that I can and what is mathematically possible to recover for it."
The ATP Finals is the only significant title missing from Nadal's résumé. He has reached the final twice , losing to Roger Federer in 2010 and Novak Djokovic in 2013.
Despite his withdrawal in Paris, Nadal regained the No. 1 ranking on Mon . He is the second-oldest No. 1 in ATP rankings history, behind Federer, who was 36 when he regained No. 1 only before Wimbledon last twelvemonth. Andre Agassi was likewise 33 when he became No. 1 for his last time in 2003.
Bold Nadal does compete in the ATP Finals, the year-end No. one ranking could come up downwardly to a battle between him and Djokovic, the eventual winner over Shapovalov in Paris.
Nadal and Djokovic split the 2 majors this twelvemonth, though Nadal also reached the final at the Australian Open, where he lost to Djokovic. Nadal beat Dominic Thiem to merits a 12th French Open in June and won his fourth U.S. Open when he beat Daniil Medvedev . Djokovic won his sixth Australian Open and ousted Roger Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker at Wimbledon.
"If you had told Rafa at the offset of the year that he would win one Grand Slam, he'd say, 'O.One thousand., a good year,'" said Brad Gilbert , a former world No. iv and now an ESPN analyst. "You tell him he wins two Slams, he pushes the chips all in. He'south had a slap-up twelvemonth so far."
Nadal typically does non perform well late in the season, if he plays at all. His career tape on indoor courts going into the ATP Finals is 82-37 as compared with 888-159 outdoors. He has won 82 career titles outdoors and merely ii indoors.
This year, entering the ATP Finals, he had played just four indoor matches, a win over Milos Raonic at the Laver Cup and three in Paris. He besides took time off to marry his longtime girlfriend, Xisca Perell ó, in October .
In all, Nadal has played but one 2 tournaments this season. Only one time , in Acapulco in February, did he lose before the semifinals. Just, as too often happens with him, his body failed him, forcing him to pull out of Indian Wells and Miami.
He besides quit afterwards his 2nd match at the Laver Cup in September. In all, Nadal pulled out of seven tournaments this yr because of an assortment of ailments.
Despite his five-week layoff following the U.Due south. Open and Laver Loving cup, Nadal seemed fresh and content when he arrived in Paris. He had played an exhibition with Djokovic in Kazakhstan the previous week and so held a friendly practise session with him in Paris. A week later, Nadal ended Djokovic's concur on the No. 1 ranking.
If Nadal is unable to compete in London, Djokovic must reach the last by going undefeated in his three round-robin matches or lose a round robin but all the same win the championship. If Nadal plays, he could clinch No. 1 by winning his 3 circular-robin matches. That may not be and then like shooting fish in a barrel given the caliber of the field.
The other top eight players are Federer, Medvedev, Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas , the defending champion Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini . Nadal is in the same round-robin group as Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Zverev, thus avoiding Djokovic and Federer until at least the semifinals.
When Nadal is healthy, he is difficult to beat on any surface.
"When I shut my eyes and think about Rafa, I only imagine the consummate aspects of his game," said Karen Khachanov , who has lost to Nadal six times over the last 3 years . "He'southward such a fighter, and he'southward always connected. No affair how close a match is, he tin can always plow around a situation and come dorsum to win."
If Nadal does finish the yr No. 1, he will be tied with Djokovic, Federer and Jimmy Connors with five yr-end No. one finishes apiece, simply ane behind the tape-holder, Pete Sampras , who was No. 1 every year from 1993 to 1998 .
"I'm very proud about the year that I'm having, and now is the moment to keep pushing a little fleck," said Nadal just before the offset of the Paris Masters. "As I said during the final couple of years, it is not my goal to be No. ane. It's about the demand to organize my calendar and try to do the right things to play as long as possible."
That said, Nadal is not balky to ending another year at the pinnacle.
"I sleep the same when I'thou No. 1 and No. 2," he said. "Of course, I prefer to be No. i."
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/sports/tennis/rafael-nadal-tries-atp-again.html
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