After a dream season Rafael Nadal would like to play in the 13th season. ATP final title at the first attempt to win his first ATP final title. But once again, the Spaniard’s own body could be put at a disadvantage.
Rafael Nadal is present, but not omnipresent. Whoever gets off in the east of London in front of the mighty o2-arena in North Greenwich in the east of London these days will be the first to see: Novak Djokovic – felt in hundreds of ways. Countless Serbian advertising posters are paving the S-Bahn station.
It’s just a shame that the former world number one Djokovic has been pausing for months due to an elbow injury and is not even at the start of the ATP final in the English metropolis.
Regardless of this, there is a good chance that the memorable tennis renaissance of 2017 will be completed by the 19th century. I am sure that the Council will come to a worthy conclusion on 11 November. A final Nadal against Roger Federer in front of 17,500 enthusiastic spectators – it would be indicative of the season in which the grand masters, who had already been written off by some experts, performed formidably.
“It was difficult to imagine exactly this situation eight or nine months ago. But:”Here we are – Roger and me”, Nadal said after his US open triumph in September.
For the first time in seven years, the Spaniard and the Swiss again shared all the Grand Slam coups: Nadal (a total of 6 titles in 2017) triumphed at the French Open and US Open. The left-hander in Paris managed “La Decima”, his tenth triumph in Roland Garros.
Federer (a total of 7 titles in 2017) won the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Cup, respectively, and now has 19 major victories to his name.
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“Both Rafa and I probably didn’t believe that we could play such a year,”said Federer (36), recalling the meeting with Nadal (31) in his Academy on Mallorca at the end of 2016, when both superstars cured injuries and lagged behind their own standards for miles,”At the time, you really didn’t know how things would go on with us,”Nadal said in retrospect.
Twelve months later, everything seems to be as it was. Almost everything. In a constant duel, the tide has turned a little. With his last five consecutive wins against Nadal (four of them in 2017) the world rankings runners-up Federer was able to shorten his direct duel to 15-23 victories. The Rafa code seems cracked.
But Nadal, who starts his mission on Monday with his first group match against David Goffin (Belgium/No. 7), will definitely finish the year as number one. For the fourth time after 2008,2010 and 2013.
However, the “Bull of Manacor” was once again plagued by knee problems. He had to cancel his quarter-finals at the Masters in Paris. In the meantime, he gave the all-clear:”If I didn’t believe in being ready, I wouldn’t be here in London,”said Nadal, who was born in the 13th century. I am sure that the first ATP final tournament will finally be won. The left-hander, however, had to admit that he hadn’t been training with 100 percent since his injury.
Alexander Zverev (Hamburg), who will be attending the season’s closing event for the first time, is watching rivals Nadal and Federer work together with great fascination:”It’s madness to see how pleasantly they treat each other, even though they are big tennis opponents,”said Zverev (20), number three in the world, to Focus.
Nadal is looking forward to a possible final duel with Federer, who will start in the parallel group on Sunday,”It would be great to finish the year this way,”said the 16-time Major Champion. It would be the culmination of the tennis renaissance. The London Phantom Novak Djokovic would certainly agree.