No trip to Asia for Rafael Nadal?
Rafael Nadal could do without the Asian tour this year after exhausting US Open.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Sep 11, 2019, 08:41 pm
With his victory at the US Open, Rafael Nadal has immortalized himself in the tennis history books. After his dramatic final victory over Daniil Medvedev, the Spaniard now holds 19 Grand Slam titles, only a major triumph behind record holder Roger Federer.
After the success in New York, Nadal wants to keep the number of tournaments to a minimum for the rest of the year. First of all, the 33-year-old is due for the Laver Cup in Geneva, at the end of the season the Mallorcan wants to serve in Paris-Bercy and at the ATP Finals in London.
Nadal has not yet decided to start in Shanghai. "Everything is still open," said the Spaniard about a start at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament. "Thanks to the results that I have achieved, I can reduce my calendar," added the second in the world rankings.
Wedding in October
Unlike in previous years, Rafa will definitely not start at the ATP 500 event in Beijing. Despite the good starting position in the fight for world ranking leadership - Nadal is about 2,000 points ahead of Novak Djokovic in the Race to London - the 33-year-old does not want to do too much. Immediately after winning the US Open, the twelve-time French Open winner had declared that returning to the top of the world rankings was not one of his priorities.
Probably also because Nadal is due to have a wedding with his long-time girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello in October. The two invited over 500 guests, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Roger Federer. Nadal could compete again in doubles with the Swiss at the Laver Cup - the answer will be from September 21.