Rafael Nadal is fine-tuning his preparation for the clay-court season. The King of Clay will play his first tournament on the dirt next week in Monte Carlo, where he won the title already 11 times. His main rivals will be Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas since Dominic Thiem decided not to compete in the Principality.
The injury
Rafael Nadal suffered from a back injury during the recent Australian Open. For this reason, the world number three decided not to compete on hard courts after the Australian summer. Instead, Rafa decided to recover and practice as much as he could on clay. The good news is that his doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro when taking to RTVE, sounded quite positive about Nadal’s improvement. He revealed:
“Nadal is training well. He is training hard. His goal is clay, Monte Carlo first and Roland Garros is the final goal.”
Rafael Nadal’s schedules will be as packed as usual during the clay-court season. After Monte Carlo, he will compete in Barcelona (19th of April) to then head to Madrid (3rd of May), Rome (15th of May) before playing the French Open (24th of May).
Rafael Nadal in 2021
At the moment ranked no.3, Nadal played his last match on the 17th of February when he lost to world no.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5 in the quarter of the Australian Open (draw).
This year Nadal has achieved a composed 4-1 match record.
Novak Djokovic in 2021
At the moment ranked no.1, Djokovic played his last match on the 21st of February when he defeated world no.2 Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-2 6-2 in the final of the Australian Open to win his 82nd career title.
This season Djokovic achieved an overall 9-0 win-loss record. Novak conquered 1 title at the Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic fought against each other 56 times. Their current record is 29-27 for Djokovic. Previously, the last time when they played each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-0 6-2 7-5 in the final in Paris (French Open) in October 2020.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021
Currently ranked no.5 (career-high), Stefanos played his last match on the 1st of April when he was overcome by world no.16 Hubert Hurkacz 2-6 6-3 6-4 in the quarter in Miami (draw).
This year Tsitsipas has a 17-5 record. Stefanos Tsitsipas’s most significant result of the present year was reaching the final in Acapulco.
Rafael Nadal |
| Embed from Getty Images |
