Rafael Nadal is the deserving world no.1 and arguably the man to beat right now. However, the Spanish legend is well aware that he needs to keep tabs on both the other big3 (Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic) and the new generation.
The tennis fans in Abu Dabhi had the chance to see a finger-licking final between Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the recent Mubadala World Tennis Championship. Eventually, it was Nadal that won the encounter at the final tiebreak. Still, Tsitsipas was clearly playing at the same level for more than 3 hours, and he was also not intimidated by the King of Clay.
During a recent interview with AS, Nadal explained why that win was extremely important for him to comment: “I’ve trained all my life. I took it as a serious tournament and the others, too. Tsitsipas left everything on the court and he demonstrates his emotions at the moment in the final.
It is the unofficial competition that we all take more seriously, because of the proximity of the new season, because it is a good test to know how you are. For me, it was an opportunity to do a real workout.”
Rafa will play the upcoming ATP Cup in Perth, where he will also spend the end of the year. He is aiming at more glory in 2020, and he has the opportunity to equal Roger Federer’s slam record if he conquers the upcoming Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.1, the Spaniard played his last match on the 24th of November when he defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3 7-67 in the Rubber 2 in Davis Cup.
During this season the Spaniard has a 52-7 win-loss record. Nadal conquered 4 titles in 2019 in Rome, at the French Open, in Montreal and at the U.S. Open. Nadal was the finalist at the Australian Open.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’s ranking and performance in 2019
Currently the world no.6, Stefanos played his last match on the 17th of November when he beat Dominic Thiem 6-76 6-2 7-64 in the final in London to win his 4th career title.
In this year the Greek has a 53-25 win-loss record. The Greek clinched 3 titles in 2019 in Marseille, in Estoril and in London. Tsitsipas was the finalist in Dubai, in Madrid and in Beijing.
Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas played each other 7 times. The head to head is 6-1 for Nadal.
The last time that they played each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-74 6-4 7-5 in the round robin in London (Nitto ATP Finals) on the 15th of November 2019.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.