Rafael Nadal breaks silence on dethroning Carlos Alcaraz as the World No. 1 before the end of season
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Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal will return to action for the first time since the 2022 Laver Cup. The Spaniard is the second seed at the ongoing 2022 Paris Masters, where his second-round opponent is yet to be confirmed. With 5810 points, Nadal trails current World No. 1, Carlos Alcaraz, by 920 points.
With the Paris Masters offering 1000 ranking points, Nadal is in a close race with the reigning US Open champion to achieve the World No. 1 rank. Nadal was at the top of the rankings in 2020 and has been shuffling within the Top-10 since then. With a chance to reclaim the top spot, Nadal finally addressed the race between him and Alcaraz.
“To be clear: I don’t fight to be number one. I fight to be competitive in every event where I play. I will not do it anymore at this stage of my career. I had this goal in the past, and I was happy and proud to achieve that, for the first time in 2008.
“I’m good, I’m happy to be on the Tour again, in a city very important for me, as everyone knows. Just trying to put myself in the position to be competitive,” said Nadal during his press conference ahead of his first match in Bercy since 2020.
Also Read: Carlos Alcaraz denies rivalry with Rafael Nadal, insists that the World No.2 isn’t his “enemy”
Becoming World No. 1 at Paris Masters 2022 would need Rafael Nadal to bring out his career-best performance
With 36 Masters titles up on his trophy cabinet, Nadal is the second-most decorated singles champion on the ATP Tour in the highest tier of the Tour. The 22-time major winner is, however, yet to win the Miami Masters and the Paris Masters. While he is a 5-time runner-up in Miami, Nadal has made his way to the finals in Paris only once, back in 2007.
With Alcaraz reaching the Round of 16 in Bercy last year, he is not defending many points. However, in the case of an early defeat for the teen, he would need to hope that Nadal does not win his first-ever Paris Masters title this year and dethrone or come in touching distance of his rank.
With both the Spaniards having qualified for the 2022 ATP Finals, the race for the World No. 1 is further exciting as it also confirms the Year-End No. 1 rank. History is, however, not on Nadal’s side there as well as he is a 2-time runner-up in the year-end championships but is yet to win the coveted title.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)