Por Srivathsa Sridhar
Mar 21 (Reuters) – Rafa Nadal’s absence in Indian Wells saw the 22-time Grand Slam champion drop out of the Top 10 for the first time since 2005 on Monday, but the Spaniard will remain the “man to beat” at the Indianapolis Open. France if he recovers his physical form.
Nadal was forced to sit out the California Masters 1000, where he reached the final last year, as he continues to recover from a hip problem that ended his Australian Open title defense in the second round in January.
Unable to defend his 600 Indian Wells points, Nadal has dropped four places to 13th in the standings, ending his record 912-week tenure in the top 10, which began when reigning number one Carlos Alcaraz had no not two years
However, Nadal is preparing to return to action at the Monte Carlo Masters next month before the French Open, which he has won 14 times in his career, and his time out of the top 10 could be brief.
World number four Casper Ruud, who lost to Nadal in the Roland Garros final last year, said he would not be surprised to see the 36-year-old lift the trophy once more.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, because he will probably use these weeks and months to prepare for Roland Garros,” Ruud told Eurosport as part of the “Ruud Talk” series.
“It doesn’t matter if he loses in Monte Carlo, Rome or Madrid. The only thing that is probably on his mind these days is just to be fit, to be healthy and to be ready for Roland Garros.”
Tennis lost two of its greats when Serena Williams and Roger Federer left the sport last year, but Nadal and his rival Novak Djokovic are still going.
Djokovic, who turns 36 in May, has shown few signs of slowing down and matched Nadal’s record 22 Grand Slams by winning the Australian Open.
“For the whole tennis world it would be nice to see one last meeting at Roland Garros,” said former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, adding that Djokovic would be favorite to win the remaining major tournaments this year.
“The only tournament is Roland Garros: if Rafa is fit there, it’s the exact opposite. He’s the man to beat when he’s won the tournament 14 times, it’s crazy.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing in Spanish by Flora Gómez)
