Absent since the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal is expected to return to competition at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, his compatriot David Ferrer has announced.
This Tuesday was organized the presentation of the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona. A clay-court tournament whose director is none other than the former Roland-Garros finalist and world No. 3, David Ferrer. The Catalan tournament, scheduled for the week of April 17, promises to be very tough, with the presence of Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev and even Rafael Nadal…
The man with 22 Grand Slam victories was inevitably at the heart of the discussions in Barcelona, where he won twelve times between 2005 and 2021. And David Ferrer agreed to give some news, Rafael Nadal being absent from the courts since his hip injury sustained during the Australian Open. “He trains five days a week. The idea is that he resumes in Monte-Carlo (from April 8 to 16, editor’s note). Personally, I want him to have a good tour on earth.”said Ferrer.
Nadal has not won Monte Carlo since 2018
Package for the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000 in March, Rafael Nadal is registered in Monte-Carlo, a tournament he won eleven times between 2005 and 2018, but which has not succeeded since, with a defeat in the semi-final against Fabio Fognini in 2019, in the quarter-final against Andrey Rublev in 2021 and a withdrawal in 2022 due to rib injury (the 2020 edition had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic). Dropped to 13th place in the world this week, a first since April 2005, Rafael Nadal has 2,270 points to defend during the clay-court season, following his quarter-final in Madrid, his eighth in Rome and his victory at Roland-Garros. of last year.
This year, we could therefore see him in four tournaments before arriving at Porte d’Auteuil, as in his heyday. “The important thing for me is above all to try to be in good health when I return, because what I want to fight for is the ultimate goal, which is Roland-Garros” , confided the Mallorcan in early March. To see him lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the fifteenth time, at 37, after suffering so many injuries and facing a more difficult table than usual because of his classification, would be almost unreal. But the Spaniard has accustomed us to so many exploits…
