Rafael Nadal is having an outstanding run at the current US Open. The Spanish sensation is in incredible shape, and with both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer already out of the competition, he is the hot favorite to conquer the title.
Rafa’s struggles
The King of Clay is also impressing because he was struggling at the beginning of the season. Rafa was in great form during the Australian Open where he reached the final after trouncing everyone on the way with straight-sets wins. However, in the final, he had to bow to an even better Novak Djokovic.
The following months were a bit of a nightmare for the Mallorcan that had to withdraw in the semifinal in Indian Wells before facing Federer. Later Nadal was having problems with his confidence to fail to win a single title in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, and Madrid and that was a big deal for him.
The resurgence
Nadal is well-known for never giving up, and the Spanish legend bounced back in style to win the title in Rome and (of course) in Paris. After reaching the semifinal in Wimbledon, Nadal also conquered Montreal, and he is now in the quarters at the US Open.
The live rankings and the battle for the world no.1
Out of the blue, Nadal is finding him in an unexpected situation in the ATP rankings. In fact, even if Djokovic is still the world no.1, Rafa is leading the year to date rankings, and he has now 320 points more than the Serbian sensation in the “live year to date rankings.” If Rafa wins the US Open he will lead the Year to Date rankings having almost 2,000 points more than Djokovic.
Why Nadal should postpone his wedding
Rafa will get married with Xisca Perello on October the 19th, and that means that he will certainly miss both the ATP500 in Basel and the one in Vienna. However, the 28th of the same month, the last ATP1000 of the season will take place in Bercy, and that could be crucial for the world no.1 race, and it is not plausible that Nadal will compete in France. Recently Rafa admitted that he will play only 2 tournaments after the US Open for the rest of the season. One should be the ATP1000 in Shanghai and the other the ATP Finals in London.
For this reason, the popular tennis commentator Greg Rusedski suggested that the King of Clay should postpone his wedding to say:
“If Rafa wins, he’s at 19, one away from Roger. You can give him the French next year because he just doesn’t seem to ever lose there.
“But also this man, he’s trying to go for year-end No 1. He’s ahead of the race of Novak Djokovic.
He’s planning only to play two events before the end of the season because he’s going to get married. He might change that schedule if he wins this event.”
Nadal at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2019
Ranked no.2, the Spaniard has a 44-6 win-loss record in 2019. The Spaniard is at the U.S. Open where he defeated John Millman 6-3 6-2 6-2, Thanasi Kokkinakis w/o, Hyeon Chung 6-3 6-4 6-2, and Marin Cilic 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-2.
The Spaniard will fight against Schwartzman in the quarter. The head to head is 7-0 for Nadal.
The last time that they competed against each other, Nadal won 6-3 6-1 in the 3rd round in Indian wells in 12th March 2019.
Nadal has won 3 titles 2019 in Rome, at the French Open and in Montreal. The Spaniard was the finalist at the Australian Open.
The Spaniard won 83 titles in his career: 19 on hard courts, 59 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 4 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Rafael Nadal |
| Embed from Getty Images |
