Rafael Nadal fuels retirement rumors with once in a 15-year act
Rafael Nadal will be back at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after a hiatus of 15 years. He will not play in Acapulco Open which will be played from February 27 till March 4 this year.
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Rafael Nadal (Image Credit: The Indian Express)
Rafael Nadal loves challenges. He is the undisputed King of Clay. However, in the last few years, he has been able to win titles on grass and hard court surfaces. He has traveled extensively around the world and won tournaments, both ATP and Grand Slam tournaments. However, it is for the first time in his career, that he is not ready to defend his ATP singles title.
Recent news has come in that the Spaniard is looking to skip the Acapulco Open (popularly known as Mexican Open) 2023 and instead decided to play at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2023. Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships or Dubai Open is an ATP 500 tournament. This tournament will be played from February 27 till March 4 this year. It will be played on hard courts. However, this is the first time in the last 15 years, when Rafael Nadal is going to participate in this competition. He last played here in 2008. He won this tournament in 2006, beating Roger Federer in the final.
However, the 22-time Grand Slam men’s singles title winner is the defending champion of Mexican Open. This tournament is scheduled from February 20 till February 26 this year. This tournament is considered important by tennis players as an ideal preparatory event before the start of the 2023 Indian Wells Open (first ATP 1000 tournament of the season) which will be played March 6 to March 19, 2023.
Eminent journalist Reem Abulleill shared this news on social media.
Rafael Nadal started his2023 season by participating in the United Cup for Team Spain. However, he lost both the singles matches against Team Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie and Australia’s Alex de Minaur. He will be looking to get his season back on track by winning the Australian Open 2023.
Australian Open 2023 can help Rafael Nadal
The 2-time Australian Open champion has been struggling with both form and fitness in the past few months. He played his last official match in 2022 against Casper Ruud at the ATP Finals 2022. It was the Group-stage match of the competition with no significance as he lost his first two matches against Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime respectively, and was knocked out of the competition.
He did play a few exhibition matches with Casper Ruud and other talented tennis players throughout his Latin American tour. He started his 2023 season by leading Team Spain at the United Cup 2023. However, despite a strong team and with the experience of Rafael Nadal, it failed to advance into the next stages of the competition.
Australian Open 2023 could be the chance for the Spaniard to redeem himself. Also, because of his continuous struggles with fitness, he decided to play only a few tournaments this season. So, he would like to give his best at the Australian Open. He is also the defending champion of Australian Open. Hence, all eyes will be upon him as he starts his quest to win his career’s third Australian Open title in a few days.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)