Rafael Nadal: Grandmaster's return to his favorite surface
When Rafael Nadal starts chasing his twelfth title in the principality at the Monte Carlo Country Club on Wednesday, the Spaniard will be surrounded by an all-too-well-known feeling: being the great hunted. Once again, the 32-year-old will be the "man to beat" on his favorite sand.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Apr 17, 2019, 07:39 am
Nadal will open the clay court season against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. Not an easy task for the Mallorcan, who will play his first match in Monte Carlo since the quarter-finals in Indian Wells. In the California desert, the world number two had to give Roger Federer where before the semi-finals due to a knee injury.
Nadal seems to have overcome these problems for the first time. The 17-time Grand Slam winner has been preparing for the European clay court season for two weeks now - and this without knee pain: "My knee feels good. Now I have to work on my tennis. I hope that the rhythm will change through that Competition comes back. "
My knee feels good.
Rafael Nadal
In recent years Nadal has always found the rhythm in the Principality quite quickly, eleven of the last 14 times the Spaniard has entered the list of winners of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament. "This event is important. It is the start of the clay court season that is important to me," said Nadal.
Nadal: "Hope I can keep my level"
However, the Spaniard is not frustrated by the persistent injury concerns: "Life was too good for me to be frustrated. But sometimes it is difficult to accept all the problems." Apart from the physical problems, he feels competitive: "I hope that I can maintain my level."
Against Bautista Agut, Nadal leads 2-0 in the head to head. Both previous duels have taken place on clay, both in Madrid 2014 and at the French Open 2018 the clay court king did not make a sentence. A Bautista Aguts victory would be a big surprise - in contrast to Nadal's twelfth title win at the end of the week.