ATP chief Andrea Gaudenzi confident Rafael Nadal will play the year-end championships despite complaints about the surface
Follow Us
Andrea Gaudenzi (L) and Rafael Nadal
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi has suggested in an interview that he is confident 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will play at this year’s Tour Finals in Turin despite having earlier expressed his indifference with the event being continuously held on hard courts. Nadal also recently became father for the first time to a baby boy with his wife Maria, leading to further speculations on his absence from the year-end championships.
“I don’t know. I hope he’ll come. In my opinion he will, because he’s never won the ATP Finals. He’s won everything else, but is still to secure an ATP Finals (title). He has always complained about the fact it’s played on hardcourt and not on clay. He’s got a point, but it’s quite inevitable considering the scheduling. Anyway I know it’s an event he would like to win at all costs because it’s the only important title missing in his palmarès,” Gaudenzi told Ubi Tennis.
Gaudenzi also said former World No.1 Novak Djokovic featuring at the event was almost a certainty, with the Serb earlier having sealed his place at the event.
Rafael Nadal still has chances to seal year-end World No.1 finish
Nadal is currently less than 1000 points behind Alcaraz in the live rankings with the Paris Masters and ATP Finals both offering lucrative ranking points at stake.
If Nadal can win at the hard courts in Paris, he can really bridge the gap as he did not even play the tournament last year while Alcaraz reached the third round, and will be defending points.
Both Nadal and Alcaraz, however, did not compete in the ATP Finals marquee event last year, with Alcaraz not even qualified for the tournament, having only recently reached the Top 8, after which he monumentally climbed to World No.1 post winning the US Open.
Interestingly, 19-year-old Alcaraz also became the youngest World No.1 in the history of men’s tennis following his first major win at Flushing Meadows this year, overtaking former Australian player Lleyton Hewitt by a few months.
There are some that are already debating whether Alcaraz can go on to become the Greatest of All Time, even speculating that he could eclipse the 30 Grand Slam mark in the future, including his coach and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Also Read: Paula Badosa slams press for objectifying female tennis players, forgiving men for their mistakes
Stay Updated!
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)