Guy Forget: Rafael Nadal has the weapons to finally win Paris Masters

Paris Masters tournament director Guy Forget appeared to suggest that world No. 2 Rafael Nadal is the top favorite to win it all at Bercy as he insists the Spaniard has the weapons to make it all the way at the tournament.

Nadal, who made his maiden Paris Masters final in 2007, ended up losing badly to David Nalbandian at Bercy 13 years ago. 

This year, he is seeded at No. 1 in the Paris main draw and aiming to lift his maiden title at Bercy.

"He has the weapons to do it, in particular by imposing his ball length,” Forget told L'Equipe, per Sportskeeda. “I found him performing at this level this year at Roland Garros. He found I think more depth by playing a little differently.

"With these patterns, he can win at Bercy."

Forget also said he's disappointed that fans won't be allowed to attend this week's event in Bercy but he is happy that the tournament was given the green light to be staged. 

"Behind closed doors, we are certainly a little disappointed, but the tournament will take place, that’s the positive point," Forget said, per Tennis Majors.

A number of high-profile names decided against playing Paris and Forget didn't hide his disappointment but didn't name single out no one. 

Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Roberto Bautista Agut, Fabio Fognini, Grigor Dimitrov, Denis Shapovalov, Gael Monfils, Benoit Paire and Cristian Garin are some of the names that decided to skip Paris.

"I’m a little disappointed and saddened that some could have come and given themselves a chance to perform well here, Forget said. "There are 1,000 points for the winner… This is one of the nine biggest tournaments in the world after the Grand Slams. So why deprive themselves when for some, they went several months without hitting the ball?"

Forget says some players will regret these missed opportunities 

Forget continued: "When a career ends, for physical reasons, for ranking reasons, a lot of players say to themselves: ‘Ah it was still great, I had this opportunity to play, to earn a good living, to win ATP points, to give emotions to an audience…’

“For those few rare individuals, I find it a bit of a shame. But the others say thank you, and that’s good.”

As many other sporting events, the Paris Masters also suffered a financial hit by the coronavirus pandemic. 

"The prize money is less,” concludes Forget, “but everyone has to stick together and accept the cuts.”

The biggest name to decide against playing Paris was 17-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic.    Last week, world No. 1 Djokovic made the Vienna quarterfinal and secured the year-end No. 1 ranking.

"I won't play in Paris as I can't add to my points tally but I will go to Vienna and London," Djokovic told Belgade daily Sportski Zurnal two weeks ago.

"I can win up to 500 points in Vienna as I didn't play there last year and there are also a lot of points available in London."

Forget didn't want to mention Djokovic by the name but he's certainly especially disappointed that the top-ranked player in the world is missing Paris.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2HXjntd