20-time Major champion Rafael Nadal led the field at the last Masters 1000 event last year in Paris. After the 13th crown at Roland Garros, Nadal was not sure if he would compete in the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals. Still, he doesn’t.
2 of the world decided to participate in the Masters 1000 event in the French capital, in search of one of the rare notable titles that were missing from his rich collection. Rafa made his debut in Paris in 2007, reaching the final but winning just four matches against David Nalbandian to settle for runner-up.
Suffering from many injuries in the months after the US Open over the years, Nadal was never the favorite on an indoor hard court, reaching three more semi-finals in Paris but never again challenging for the title. In 2019, Rafa advanced to the last four following a win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before retiring with an abdominal injury ahead of the Denis Shapovalov clash, still earning valuable points in the battle for no.1 against Novak Djokovic.
After a proper and deserved rest, Rafa sought back-to-back crowns in the French capital last November following the historic success of Roland Garros, positioning himself as the top seed when defending champion Novak Djokovic decided to skip Paris.
Nadal played just five tournaments in 2020 before Paris, winning two ATP crowns at Acapulco and Roland Garros. Spending six months at home, Nadal stayed off the tennis court in March and April, starting practice in May and not liking the conditions in New York ahead of Cincinnati and the US Open.
The Spaniard skipped both events, pocketing 2000 points for the 2019 US Open title and setting his sights on Rome and Roland Garros.
Rafa has already signed up for the Canadian Masters
Rafael Nadal, while speaking about coping with the pressure and uneasiness before a high-profile match, opened up about a bad habit of his.
Nadal, after explaining how cleaning and polishing his boots and arranging his equipment help him calm his nerves, admitted, “My mother and sister, chuckle when they remember this. Because they say that when it comes to sport, I am disciplined and orderly person.
But in everything else, I am distracted and chaotic. They are right. My room at home is always a mess. My hotel room when I am travelling too and I often forget things,” he added. Nadal now, after taking weeks of much-deserved rest, is all set for the upcoming hard-court season.
