World number 2 Rafael Nadal should be fine for the upcoming Australian Open, which starts on Monday. In contrast to 2020, Nadal could not lead his country at the ATP Cup and skipped all three series against Australia, Greece and Italy (possible clashes against Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini) due to a slight back injury.
Rafa didn’t want to risk anything before the first major of the season, stayed away from official games and participated in training sessions to shape his game. Nadal spent the first two weeks of the Aussie swing in Adelaide, trained together with Jannik Sinner during the quarantine and competed on 29.
January a competitive game against Dominic Thiem at A Day at the Drive. The Spaniard beat the Austrian 7: 5, 6: 4 after a solid performance, hoped for more at the ATP Cup and was looking for the title he had lost a year ago after a defeat against Novak Djokovic.
Even so, Rafa experienced a minor setback with this minor issue, extended his official debut and worked hard to prepare for the Australian Open. On Saturday, Nadal shared the practice area with young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who is currently the most famous Spanish prospect.
Carlos is 17 years old and qualified for the Australian Open in January. He will be the youngest player in the draw next week. After restarting the season last August, Carlos was the player to beat on the Challenger Tour.
He won 20 of 24 games by the end of the year and had trophies in Trieste, Barcelona and Alicante.
Rafael Nadal trained with Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne
The super talented player who works with Juan Carlos Ferrero made history at the ATP 250 Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne, beating top seed David Goffin 6-3, 6-3 to enter the third round.
Carlos became the youngest player since Richard Gasquet in Buenos Aires 2004 with the top 15 win. The teenager had the opportunity to learn a lot from his seasoned compatriot who will try to write the record books May 21.
Winning the Major Cup and leaving Roger Federer on the 20th. Nadal could not win everything after 2009 in Melbourne and lost four finals against Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer between 2012 and 2019.
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