After another successful season, Rafael Nadal is back on the training ground in Manacor and is starting preparations for the 2021 campaign. A week ago, the 20-time major champion trained with the up-and-coming young weapon Felix Auger-Aliassime and shared on Friday Place with another rising star, Emil Ruusuvuori.
The 21-year-old Finn is a regular guest in Manacor, shared the practice field with Rafa a year ago and uses this experience to crack the top 100 of the season behind us. Born in Helsinki, he started the 2019 season from just outside the top 400 and made incredible progress.
He won two futures and four Challenger crowns from five finals to crack the top 120. Emil started the season with just three Challenger wins, raised his level since the spring events and became one of the most successful players at that level.
Ruusuvuori won the Fergana title to improve his ranking. He reached another final in Augsburg before conquering the Rafa Nadal Open in Mallorca and making it into the top 200 after the US Open. In September Emil took two heroic wins for Finland against Austria in the Davis Cup, defeating Dominic Thiem 6: 3, 6: 2 and a week later secured the title in Glasgow Challenger.
14 triumphs from the last 15 encounters! Emil ended the season on a high level, lifting the fourth Challenger crown at home in Helsinki and hoping for more in 2020.
Nadal trained at his academy on Mallorca with the young Ruusuvuori
The youngster was the finalist in his first challenger of the season before joining the ATP Tour events, qualifying for the second round in Montpellier and failing to secure a main draw spot in Rotterdam, Marseille and Dubai.
After the restart of the season, Ruusuvuori scored a win in Cincinnati and the US Open, established himself as a top 100 player and reached the first ATP semifinals in Nur-Sultan in late October. For the 14th time in the last 16 years, Rafael Nadal has secured a major title to make the season special.
The Spaniard lost first place to Novak Djokovic after the Australian Open and won the title in Acapulco just before the coronavirus outbreak. He spent the next six and a half months at home and returned to Rome in September.
Rafa could not defend the title, suffered the quarter-final defeat by Diego Schwartzman and went to Roland Garros with many doubts. As so often before, Rafa showed his greatness when it came down to it, winning the title without losing a set and joining Roger Federer on 20 major crowns.
Rafa had the chance to fight for his first ATP Finals Cup. He served for beating Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals but found himself on the losing side to end the season and take a well-deserved break.
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