On the steps of the Gallerie d’Italia in the majestic Piazza San Carlo, Rafael Nadal explains that his son, who was born in October, is with him in Turin. The 36-year-old is set for his debut in the Italian city, where he will be competing in his 11th Nitto ATP Finals starting on Sunday.
The Spaniard, who has a chance to finish the year as No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the sixth time in his career, is bidding to claim the only big title that is yet to adorn his trophy cabinet, and to put the icing on the cake of his unforgettable season.
“I arrive here without match time, but in Paris I was playing well, a set and break up against Tommy Paul, a good player,” the World No. 2 told ATPTour.com, having fallen at the first hurdle in the Rolex Paris Masters. “I’m happy because I’ve been able to train and I’m excited to play well. If I didn’t think I had a chance to fight for what I came for, I wouldn’t be here. I think I have a chance.”
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After several weeks without playing, Nadal returned to competition at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy, where he bowed out in his opener against the American Paul in three sets. He was evidently fatigued.
“There was no big problem,” admitted the Spaniard. “A long time without competing. I had a small problem with my stomach. I was nauseous at the end of the third set, I felt awful, but I didn’t say anything because it wouldn’t have been right,” he added. “I’m fine. A bad day. Later I was able to get back to training normally without any problems.
“It’s clear that in the past five months, I’ve played very little,” continued the 22-time Grand Slam champion. “Unfortunately, what happened at Wimbledon happened, and from there I’ve played very little. It was an accumulation of negative situations in terms of fitness,” he explained.
“To me, it’s important to end the year competing, which I wasn’t able to do in 2021. You never know. Things often change dramatically in sport. I’m playing well, but it’s better to arrive with confidence and wins because there’s no margin for error here, playing against the best.”
Thursday’s draw placed Nadal’s name in the Green Group, where he will face Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz. With a 5-1 combined record against the trio, the draw would seem to…
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