Rafael Nadal to get massive mural in the hometown of Manacor

The 20-time Major champion Rafael Nadal will get a massive mural at the entrance to his hometown of Manacor. Mateu Catala, the President in the Municipality said that the proposal would be registered with Manacor City Council in the upcoming days, shortly after the Manacor's lockdown ending. Nadal's mural will be installed beside the industrial estate on the road to Palma, paying tribute to a great champion and boosting their tourism in these challenging times for the entire planet. For the 14th time in the last 16 years, Rafael Nadal will finish the season with at least one Major title in his collection. It wasn't an easy task to achieve in 2020, especially after the Australian Open quarter-final loss and closed gates at Wimbledon. Nadal won the first title of the season in Acapulco in February, traveling to Indian Wells but not staying there for too long, as the pandemic locked the season and forced the players to go home.

Rafa spent the next six months at his paradise island of Mallorca, enjoying time with his family and not hitting the practice court for two months. The grand champion hadn't picked a racquet before May, making a slow return and trying to find motivation and desire to compete again. Instead of chasing titles at his beloved clay events, Rafa had to stay at home in Manacor, working on clay and deciding to skip Cincinnati and the US Open in New York. With 2000 points for the last year's US Open title safely in his bag, Nadal continued to train on clay, entering the first event after six and a half months in Rome. The Spaniard failed to defend the title won last year, losing in the quarter-final to Diego Schwartzman and returning to the practice court for more training runs ahead of Roland Garros.

The Parisian tournament was the last chance for Rafa to secure a Major trophy in 2020, facing different conditions than ever before in the French capital and hoping to find his best tennis after playing only three matches since March! Despite cold and rainy weather, the new Wilson balls and a roof above Court Philippe-Chatrier, Nadal was ready for all the challenges, securing the 13th Roland Garros crown without losing a set and matching Roger Federer's record of 20 Major titles. In the final, Nadal defeated world no. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5, losing serve once and delivering seven breaks to beat a great rival and write history books. By the end of the season, Rafa tried his luck at the Paris Masters, suffering the semi-final loss to Alexander Zverev and reaching the same round at the ATP Finals. Nadal served for the victory against Daniil Medvedev in London, only to suffer a 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 defeat and finish the season. 

"The outline for the proposal has just been finished. We want to compliment the placement of Rafael Nadal's image with a tribute to other world champions from the Municipality," Mateu Catala, PIMEM President in the Municipality said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3qhiuxs