Rafael Nadal's scary pitch series
Rafael Nadal is the big absentee of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami. Once again, the hard courts were doomed to the Spaniard.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Mar 21, 2019, 05:22 pm
The Australian Open 2019 may have ended unpleasantly for Rafael Nadal with the clear loss to Novak Djokovic - but the Spaniard was once again able to play seven games en suite on a hard court in Melbourne. As the withdrawal before the semi-final match against Roger Federer shows: unfortunately not a matter of course. In the California desert, match five came to an end.
This is also shown by a look at Nadal's recent history of suffering, especially with regard to his matches away from the red ashes. At the beginning of the year, the 17-time major champion spared himself after only one appearance at the exhibition in Abu Dhabi, then canceled his participation in the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Brisbane entirely.
Ray of hope 2018 in Toronto
A continuation of the black series from 2018: Nadal broke off his season completely after giving up Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals of the US Open, not only foregoing the Davis Cup semi-finals in France, but also including the Asia tour the Shanghai Masters. And then also to the ATP final in London.
The bright spot on hard court last year came in Toronto, where Nadal defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. However, it was also the Spaniard's first appearance on this surface since the Australian Open earlier in 2018 - there he had to give up against Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals.
And then do without Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami. Unsurprisingly, Nadal has now done the latter again.