Rafael Nadal decided to get a prolonged break after he lost in the French Open semifinal at the hands of Novak Djokovic. The Spanish sensation pulled out from Wimbledon and the Olympic Games to try to be as competitive as he can on hard courts.
Nadal’s schedules in North America
Rafael Nadal’s mission will be also to stop Novak Djokovic, who has been chasing his Calendar Grand Slam. The Spanish sensation is currently scheduled to play his next tournament in Washington. Next, he should compete in Toronto, Cincinnati, and in New York for the US Open.
In the meantime, Nadal’s Academy posted this video while the Spanish champion was training with his own coach Carlo Moya.
Rafael Nadal in 2021
At the moment ranked no.3, Rafael played his last match on the 11th of June when he lost to world no.1 Novak Djokovic 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) 6-2 in the semifinal in French Open (draw).
Until now, during this year Nadal achieved a compiled 23-4 match record. The Spaniard has won 2 titles in 2021 in Barcelona and in Rome.
Djokovic in Tokyo, ranking, and results in 2021
Currently the world no.1, the Serbian owns a 36-3 win-loss record in 2021. Novak is participating in Tokyo where he overcame Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-2 and Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 6-3.
Novak Djokovic will compete against the world no.34 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the 3rd
round. Their current record is 1-0 for Djokovic.Novak clinched 4 titles in 2021 at the Australian Open, in Belgrade, at the French Open and in Wimbledon. The Serbian reached the final in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia).
The Serbian won 85 titles in his career: 48 on hard courts, 17 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 7 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic clashed against each other 58 times. The head to head is 30-28 for Djokovic. The last time they squared off, Novak Djokovic won 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) 6-2 in the semifinal in Paris (French Open) on the 11th of June 2021.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.