Former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal returned to winning ways on clay at the 2024 Barcelona Open. Playing in his first match on clay since winning the 2022 French Open, the King of Clay defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3 this Tuesday. It was also just the second tournament of the season for Nadal having injured himself in Brisbane.
Following his injury in Brisbane, the Spaniard made multiple attempts at making a comeback. But his physical distress kept him on the sidelines. As he now makes a return, he is under-confident, or realistic, for that matter, in knowing that he can be easily defeated.
Also, with his current rank being 644, he has to face the top seeds at the tournament early on. Following the win over Cobolli, he will now take on Alex de Minaur in the second round. In other circumstances, many would have declared Nadal the favorite, but this time around it’s the other way around and Nadal knows it.
It's stupid, let's face it, he (Tsitsipas) knows that's not the case. I suppose there is a lot of respect for what I have been in this tournament, but everyone knows that I am no longer a favorite to aspire to win a tournament. There is simply a story behind it that weighs heavily on rivals. To this day I am not the favorite, maybe in today's game yes, it is possible. said Rafael Nadal, as reported by Punto de Break
The 22-time Grand Slam singles title winner was, however, honest in admitting these results don’t matter to him anymore. He remains focused on finding his form and being better prepared for future tournaments, more importantly, the French Open.
I know that tomorrow (against de Minaur) I am not a favorite, but it doesn't matter either. These are things for you, you have to write about these things, for me it is an experience playing against a top-level player. It will be a test for me. We will see how I respond. added Rafael Nadal
The 37-year-old knows his limitations, and it was visible during his first match in Barcelona as well. Although he showed the entire range of shots and glimpses of ‘vintage Nadal’, he looked a bit hesitant at times to reach for the oddball. Given his long injury lay-off, it was obvious and it will go away only with time.
Rafael Nadal leads the head-to-head against Alex de Minaur
Today’s clash in Barcelona will be the fifth career meeting between Nadal and de Minaur. It will also be the first meeting on clay for the two players who have earlier met on grass and hard courts.
Nadal won the first three meetings between them. The latest clash between them took place in the round-robin stage of the 2022 United Cup, where de Minaur registered his maiden win against the Spaniard.
The Australian made his debut on clay for the season in the Monte Carlo Masters. He reached the quarter-finals before losing to top seed Novak Djokovic in straight sets. The World No. 11 has struggled on clay and that’s the only thing Nadal would look to exploit when they clash at Pista Rafa Nadal Stadium.
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