Rafael Nadal confirmed as first player for Barcelona Open
Rafael Nadal will play again at his home tournament in Barcelona next year. The 33-year-old has a semifinals to defend in the ATP 500 tournament from the previous year.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Dec 10, 2019, 08:08 pm
It was just in Barcelona when Rafael Nadal made the turnaround in the past season. After his success against Leonardo Mayer, in which the Spaniard acted as insecure as rarely, Nadal took in his hotel room a few hours and laid a new strategy for the rest of the year.
What followed was a single run of success: Among other things, the Mallorcan won the Grand Slam titles in Paris and New York and completed the season as world number one. Nadal 2020 would like to do without a similar motivation hole, but the Spaniard has already confirmed his entry into the tournament in the Catalan capital.
Last year's defeat against Dominic Thiem
Overall, Nadal has already triumphed eleven times in Barcelona. In 2019, the 19-time Grand Slam winner in the semifinals defeated the eventual winner Dominic Thiem 4: 6 and 4: 6. A few weeks later, however, the 33-year-old was able to return the favor in the French Open final.
Nadal will open its clay court season traditionally in Monte Carlo. After that, the Spaniard will contest the tournament in Barcelona, before it will go in Madrid and a week later in Rome for two ATP Masters 1000 titles. The big highlight is finally on the program with the French Open in Paris.