World number 2 Rafael Nadal has not informed his fans of many things since arriving in Adelaide and served his two-week quarantine before the Melbourne trip. The Spaniard had a quiet time last week and we couldn’t see any pictures or videos of him from the yard or balcony.
We recently saw a video from Nadal’s training sessions in which the 20-time major champion is in full swing under the boiling Australian sun. Rafa should train with Jannik Sinner next week and they should be on 29.
Play an exhibition game with Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic before they all go to Melbourne. Nadal will lead Spain at the ATP Cup for the second time in a row in the first week of February and is hoping for a strong start to the season and the chance to fight for the title they lost to Serbia a year ago.
Spain meet Australia and Greece in Group B. Nadal plays against the young players Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur, against whom he played an epic game in Sydney a year ago. After the ATP Cup, Nadal will be 21st at the Australian Open.
Strive for a major crown and remain empty-handed at the first major event of the season since 2009. Rafa then lost four more title fights in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2019 and suffered a terrible loss to Novak Djokovic two years ago in his worst performance in a major final.
Twelve months ago, Rafa lost a narrow quarter-final in Melbourne against Dominic Thiem 7: 6, 7: 6, 4: 6, 7: 6 in four hours and ten minutes, wasting his chances and missing the chance to reach the semifinals.
Rafael Nadal is serving a two-week quarantine in Adelaide
Rafa won the 85th ATP title in Acapulco at the end of February and spent the next six and a half months after the coronavirus outbreak in Mallorca.
Returning to Rome, Nadal suffered the quarter-final defeat by Diego Schwartzman before bouncing back at Roland Garros for the 13th Paris Cup! Facing all rivals and challenging conditions in the French capital in October, Rafa defeated all seven rivals in straight sets to claim 20th place.
Major title that matched Roger Federer. At the end of the season, Nadal lost in the semifinals at the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals, finished the year in the top 2 and hoped for more of them in 2021.
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