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Tag: Rafa Nadal

  • Tributes as Nadal announces tennis retirement 

    Tributes as Nadal announces tennis retirement 

    As Rafa Nadal prepares to ride off into the sunset after a stellar career, his fellow professionals from eras old and new agree on one thing – the Spaniard remains an inspirational role model whose legacy has shaped tennis over the last 23 years.

    With 22 Grand Slam titles in the bag, including a record 14 at Roland Garros where he was virtually unbeatable, 38-year-old Nadal said he is at peace with his decision to hang up his racket after the Davis Cup next month.

    Nadal has won the Davis Cup four times and he will bow out on home turf where he will team up with his protégé Carlos Alcaraz, the proverbial prince and reigning French Open champion ready to inherit the crown from the ‘King of Clay’.

    As a child Alcaraz had watched Nadal and was grateful for the “immense gift, opens new tab” of playing alongside him at the Paris Olympics earlier this year which was held at Roland Garros.

    “I couldn’t believe it when I watched it… It was tough to accept it. I was in shock a little bit,” Alcaraz told reporters at the Shanghai Masters.

    “It is really difficult news for everybody and even tougher for me. He has been my idol since I start playing tennis. I look up to him. Proudly, thanks to him, I really wanted to become a professional tennis player.

    “Losing him, in a certain way, is going to be difficult for us, so I will try to enjoy as much as I can when he’s going to play (and) enjoy the time with him as much as I can. But it is a shame for tennis and for me.”

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    World number one Jannik Sinner said Nadal’s announcement was a bitter pill to swallow and that he was “very lucky” to have got to know him on the Tour, adding that the younger generation learned from Nadal’s values and on-court etiquette.

    “We all saw how good he has been as a player, the lessons he taught us, the young players, how to behave on the court, how to handle situations on the court, tough situations. He gave to all of us a lot of emotions when we saw him playing,” Sinner said.

    “And also to stay humble at the same time, not changing with the success, choosing the right people around him, having a great family. There are so many great things he gave to all of us.

    “Obviously it’s tough, but in another way everything has a beginning and also an ending.”

    Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari thanked Nadal for inspiring them along with 20-year-old American Coco Gauff, who was not even born when he turned professional.

  • Nadal gets walkover into U.S. Open third round

    Three-time champion Rafa Nadal got a walkover into the third round of the U.S. Open after Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew from their evening match on Thursday.

    Kokkinakis, whose clash with the Spanish second seed was scheduled to close out the Thursday night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, withdrew with a right shoulder injury, tournament organizers said in a statement.

    Read Also: Nadal tells Thiem: you’ll win it one day

    The 23-year-old Australian, who has struggled badly with injury in recent years, beat Bulgarian qualifier Ilya Ivashka in his opening match this week and was seeking his first appearance in the U.S. Open third round.

    Nadal will now face South Korean Chung Hyeon who stunned 32nd seed Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in a comeback victory after going down by two sets to win 6-1, 6-2, 5-7, 3-6, 6-7.

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  • Nadal shrugs off injury concerns, pays tribute to Murray

    Former champion Rafa Nadal shrugged off concerns about his fitness ahead of the Australian Open on Saturday.

    He also paid tribute to fellow ‘Big Four’ rival Andy Murray, a day after the emotional Briton revealed plans to retire.

    The 2009 winner Nadal pulled out of the Brisbane International warmup with a thigh strain, raising fears about his campaign at Melbourne Park after his 2018 season ended early with ankle surgery.

    However, the 32-year-old Spaniard declared himself ready to throw himself into a 14th campaign in Melbourne, starting with a first round match against Australian wildcard James Duckworth.

    “If I am not feeling good, I will not be here,” the 17-time Grand Slam champion said at Melbourne Park on Saturday.

    “I have good feelings in terms of the surgery that I have in the foot. I can say it’s almost done.

    “Then, of course, after surgery, after months without competing, having troubles to practise, of course there are always issues when you come back.

    “But nothing new for me. I had a couple of (times) of this. Just accept the challenges the body presents and the tennis presents.”

    In an emotional media conference on Friday, a tearful Murray revealed the pain from his troublesome right hip was proving too much to bear.

    He then said the Australian Open could be his last tournament as a professional.

    Read Also: Injured Rafael Nadal retires in fifth set

    Of the many banged-up players on tour, Nadal may be the most able to empathise with Murray, having spent long periods on the sidelines with serious knee problems.

    “It will be a very important loss for us, for the world of tennis, for the tour, for the fans, even for the rival that he has been part of and a great competitor,” Nadal said of the three-times Grand Slam champion.

    “But that’s life. Seems like he has not (had) a very long career because today players are playing that long.

    “But he’s 31. 10 years ago, if he retired at 31, we will say he had a great and very long career. That’s the real thing. So all the best for him. We will miss him.”

    Nadal was forced to retire hurt in the fifth set of last year’s quarter-final against eventual finalist Marin Cilic.

    It was eight years after he pulled out midway through his last-eight clash against Murray with a knee injury.

    Doubts about the second seed’s ability to withstand seven matches on hardcourts were reinforced when he retired in the U.S. Open semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro last year.

    Despite that, Nadal is leaving no stone unturned in Melbourne and brings a remodelled serve aimed at generating more pace and, hopefully, shortening points.

    “You need to make yourself feel alive, you know?” he said.

    “There are always things to improve … I didn’t compete with this new serve, so let’s see how it works.

    “I am confident it’s going to work well.”

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  • Federer eyes 7th ATP Finals title, after Shanghai triumph

    Federer eyes 7th ATP Finals title, after Shanghai triumph

    Roger Federer is eyeing a seventh ATP Finals crown and has not ruled out pinching the world no. one ranking from Rafa Nadal, if he maintains the form that won him his second Shanghai Masters trophy on Sunday.

     Federer the 19-times grand slam winner claimed his 94th title and sixth this year with an emphatic defeat of Nadal in the Shanghai final and is hungry for a first ATP Finals win since 2011.

    “London is my priority now and I really want to win the World Tour Finals,”  the evergreen 36-year-old told Sky Sports.

    “I am very excited to have had the year that I have had and everything that comes from here is a bonus.

    “Finishing the year as world no. one is a long shot and I don’t think it will happen, but if I play like this, who knows?

    “Maybe I will get close again.”

    Shangai was Federer’s first tournament since the U.S. Open and the confidence he gained from his opening matches helped him through a taxing schedule.

    “It’s been a tough week, five straight matches is always a test and a challenge for anybody’s body, especially with the pressure rising,” he said.

    “I felt I was playing well all week and that settled my nerves because I was returning well from the (opening) match here against (Diego) Schwartzman.

    “The serve only got better and I saved the best for last … In a way, not surprising because I felt good all week — I was ready.”

    The Swiss next headlines his home Basel International starting Oct. 21.

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  • Federer’s pullout of Cincinnati, hands number one spot to Nadal

    Federer’s pullout of Cincinnati, hands number one spot to Nadal

    Roger Federer has pulled out of the Cincinnati Open with a back injury, meaning Rafa Nadal will return next week as the world number one for the first time since 2014.

    Federer, who has participated in the Ohio warm-up tournament for the U.S. Open on seven occasions, said he had picked up the injury in Montreal, where he lost to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the final.

    “I am very sorry to pull out of the Western and Southern Open as I always enjoy playing here,” Federer said in a statement issued by the tournament.

    “Cincinnati has some of the best fans in the world and I am sorry I will miss them.

    “Unfortunately, I tweaked my back in Montreal and I need to rest this week.”

    Federer’s withdrawal assures that Nadal will be top of the rankings when they are issued on Aug. 21.

    The Spaniard will be back in the top spot for the first time since July 6, 2014.

    Nadal will take the number one position from Briton Andy Murray, who previously announced he would not play in Cincinnati due to a hip injury.

    Nadal, who has won one grand slam and two Masters 1000 titles in 2017, was upset by 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov at the Rogers Cup last week.

  • French Open: Rain offers fans bumper Day 11

    French Open: Rain offers fans bumper Day 11

    Tennis fans with tickets for Roland Garros on Wednesday are in for a bumper day of action, after rain and storms caused cancellations on Tuesday.

    The squally conditions have evened things up in the men’s draw, where all four quarter-finals will now be thrashed out on Day 11.

    Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic had been due to get a day off on Wednesday, while the top half of the draw battled it out, but now all men will be treated equal.

    Nadal, seeking a 10th French Open crown, plays friend and fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, while Djokovic faces Austria’s Dominic Thiem.

    Top seed Andy Murray clashes with Japan’s Kei Nishikori, while Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic complete the lineup.

    French fans will get behind Caroline Garcia as she attempts to reach the semi-finals against Czech Karolina Pliskova, while Romanian Simone Halep plays Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

  • Nadal still favourite as French Open begins

    Nadal still favourite as French Open begins

    If this season’s records are supposed to provide an indication to the man who will be crowned ‘king of Roland Garros’, Rafa Nadal’s hopes of winning a record-extending ninth French Open title could be in jeopardy.

    For the first time in a decade, the world number one lost three matches on red dirt in the build-up to the claycourt major and the Spaniard could have to beat all three conquerors – Nicolas Almagro, David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic – if he is to successfully defend his title on June 8.

    Nadal also admitted to suffering jitters following his quarter-final exits at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open, by Ferrer and Almagro respectively, and those results proved that Nadal was no longer the indestructible force that he once was on clay.

    While the results have offered hope to his opponents, they are also aware that Roland Garros is another story for Nadal.

    The muscular left-hander carries a spine-chilling 59-1 record into this year’s tournament, having lost his only match on the Parisian clay in 2009.

    “I’m far behind Rafa and Novak. They are really above the other players,” Swiss third seed and Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who won the Monte Carlo title, told a news conference.