Rafael Nadal hits the practice court in preparations for 2019!
The 17-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal had been struggling with injuries and form for a couple of years, winning just five ATP titles between Roland Garros 2014 and Monte Carlo 2017, staying in the Top 10 but failing to make an impression and compete for Majors. That all changed last year when he regained his composure during the clay season, winning six ATP titles including Roland Garros, US Open and two Masters 1000 events, finishing the season as the year-end number 1 player for the first time since 2013. Rafa was the player to beat in the most of 2018 as well, battling with Roger Federer for the number 1 spot before making the difference at Wimbledon, Toronto and the US Open.
Nadal is the Tour leading player with five ATP titles in 2018 but he was unable to finish the season in the way he wanted and challenge the upcoming Novak Djokovic for the ATP throne, having to retire due to a knee injury in the semi-final of the US Open and finishing his season after that match. Despite an amazing 45-4 score and those five titles that have been keeping him in the top-two, Rafa struggled a lot on the hard courts, retiring at the Australian Open and in New York and withdrawing from Brisbane, Acapulco, Indian Wells, Miami, Cincinnati, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and the ATP Finals (he has qualified for the 14th straight year)!
After the US Open, Nadal did his best to recover and fight for the year-end number 1 spot with Novak but that simply wasn't possible, missing the entire post-US Open action for the second time after 2012 when he was also sidelined due to injuries. After that right knee injury, Rafa also struggled with abdomen and ankle injury that required a small surgery on November 5. One of the greatest players of all time needed a few weeks off and he is now ready to get back into best possible shape, sharing the first picture from the practice court at his Rafa Nadal Academy with his fans.
Rafa will kick off the new season at the Mubadala WCT at the end of December against Kevin Anderson or Hyeon Chung before heading to Brisbane where he will play the first official event in 2019.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2GcfwHl
No comments