In trouble. Although the figures are used to playing and managing the pressure, Rafael Nadal will face a tough challenge on the return from the professional circuit, after the coronavirus pandemic. In principle, you must decide when to resume the action, something that you have not yet defined, like other figures. In less than two months the competition will return, as stipulated by the ATP, and the Spanish will try to defend more than 5,000 points. On the other hand, in that period up to Roland Garros, there are almost 3,000 who will seek to revalidate Novak Djokovc, No. 1 in the world and currently with coronavirus.
Therefore, the fight will continue to the top of the individual ranking but the one who must row will be Nadal. The Spanish currently has 9,850 units and the Serbian has 10,220. The advantage of the leader of the classification is scarce 370 points, but the most forced to win to avoid losing the train is the escort.
In a recent statement, when the return to activity was made official in mid-August, the ATP ruled on the item in the ranking, which has been frozen since March 16, 2020: “As the situation continues to progress, will make a decision in the coming weeks regarding the most appropriate and fair way for the ranking to resume in parallel to the resumption of the circuit. “
What is clear is that Nadal will come out to defend, in little more than a month, two Grand Slam, the US Open and then Roland Garros, and the Masters 1000 in Rome. There he has the vast majority of his challenge, with 2,000 units to be revalidated in each title achieved in New York and Paris last year, plus another 1,000 for the crown in the capital of Italy.
The challenge is to have to return to full, already on hard courts, with the prelude to, Masters 1000 of Cincinnati, to be disputed as the US Open in New York -to avoid more trips by the tennis players-, and will soon go to the European clay. Therefore, it will be a matter of having to return in great shape, after more than five months of inactivity due to the pandemic.
On his own, Djokovic, who is isolated because he tested positive for covid-19, will try to defend the Madrid title, the units of the Rome final and the Roland Garros semifinals. Instead, he has a lot to add at the US Open, where in 2019 he fell in eighths. However, you have to see how many tournaments each one will play, because compressing the calendar in very consecutive weeks will surely cause absences in some important appointments.
It remains for the ATP to define whether there will be a tour of Asia, to close this very particular 2020 in Europe, with some indoor tournaments and the final appointment in London. Undoubtedly, on the return and in the middle of a dispute for No. 1, the greatest pressure will be on Nadal’s shoulders, against a more “relaxed” Djokovic, somehow.
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