Rafael Nadal is fully convinced that the ATP Cup and the Davis Cup need to be merged. The Spaniard joins the likes of Novak Djokovic, who are very adamant with the idea that it is better to have only one tennis world cup.
“I think it is a great competition, but at the same time, I can’t change my mind that two world cups in one month is not real. So it is not possible. So we need to find a way to fix it, and we need to find a way to make a big deal with ITF and ATP to create a big World Team Cup competition, not two world cups in one month,” he said.
Regardless of the Loss, the Spaniard confessed that he was contented with the result. Nadal believes he did pull off a great fight despite playing consecutive matches against Alex de Minaur and David Goffin.
Congested matchdays to blame for Nadal’s loss?
The ATP Cup started 40 days after the 33-year-old played a major role in helping Spain clinch the Davis Cup. The 18 nation tournament was held in Madrid. However, it seems like the victory was shortlived since he suffered a loss against Novak Djokovic. This was his 19 consecutive straight-set loss against the Serbian on the hard courts. His last win against Djokovic took place in US Open back in 2013.
After the loss, Nadal decided not to play the immediate doubles match. Victor Troicki and Novak Djokovic defeated Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez 6-3,6-4. The Spaniard claimed that he opted out of the doubles match due to fatigue. He had undertaken an intense workload of two doubles and six singles matches under nine days, besides three round-robin matches in Perth. Afterwhich, he relocated top Sydney ahead of the finals.
“I have been playing a lot of tennis in the last couple of days. My level of energy is a little bit lower than usual because I played long yesterday, very long before yesterday, very long in Perth the last day,” he said.
Nadal will come back stronger
Despite the loss against Djokovic, Nadal believes he will come back stronger. He admitted that he would leave for Melbourne with a positive mind. The current world number one hopes to make a turnaround to his 2020 tennis performance once he takes to the court in Melbourne Park.
Rafael Nadal’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.1, Nadal played his last match on the 12th of January when he capitulated to Novak Djokovic 6-2 7-64 in the final in the ATP Cup.
Rafael Nadal’s most significant accomplishment of the current year was getting to the final in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney.
Novak Djokovic’s ranking and performance in 2020
Currently the world no.2, Novak played his last match on the 12th of January when he beat Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-64 in the final in the ATP Cup to win his 77th career title.
This season the Serbian has a 6-0 win-loss record. Novak clinched 1 title in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic played each other 55 times. The head to head is 29-26 for Djokovic.
The last time that they played each other, Novak Djokovic won 6-2 7-64 in the final in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney (ATP Cup) on the 12th of January 2020.
You can watch he highlights in the following video.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic |
| Embed from Getty Images |
