‘It’s obviously Rafa,’ Tracy Austin believes Rafael Nadal the best in the world despite Daniil Medvedev’s top rank
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Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev with their trophies at the 2022 Australian Open
Rafael Nadal returned to the tour with a bang after his historic win at the Australian Open last month. The Spaniard entered a stacked field of players which include Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev among others at the Mexican Open. He eventually won the tournament, beating world No.1 Daniil Medvedev en route to the title.
The world No.4 went past close rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles and is now in the lead for most majors won.
Austin showers Nadal with praise
Following his title win in Melbourne last month, Rafael Nadal became the fourth man in history to have won all Grand Slams at least twice (along with Novak Djokovic, Rod Laver, and Roy Emerson). After he followed that up with a title in Guadalajara, former professional Tracy Austin has lauded the Spaniard.
During a recent conversation on Tennis Channel, two-time Slam champion Tracy Austin was asked if she considers Nadal the best player in the world despite Daniil Medvedev having recently clinched the No. 1 position. The former American professional said that for this year, the best player is definitely Rafa as is shown by his incredible form and record this season.
“Wow, that’s a great question because Rafa’s been selective about how many tournaments he’s playing because of that left foot injury; he did not play for the last five months of 2021,” said Tracy.
The American said that despite the quest being tough, Rafael Nadal would be the No.1 player for her this year due to his incredible form and also due to the fact that Novak Djokovic not playing in Melbourne helping Medvedev achieve the top rank.
“So he’s not playing as many tournaments and also remember Novak Djokovic didn’t get to play the Australian so that helped Medvedev become World No. 1. I think for this year, can I sit on the fence there? For this year it’s obviously Rafa Nadal,” said Tracy.
The American concluded by saying that such exceptional form is absolutely absurd at such a age, as Nadal has made his best start to a season ever.
“Now at 35 that’s absurd, at 35 years old, to go in 15-0, best season start of his career ever, is absolutely amazing,” said Tracy.
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Akash Mandal
(433 Articles Published)