Rafael Nadal, after a remarkable season, will arrive in Argentina: “Every time I played in Latin America it has recharged my batteries”

“I can’t be satisfied with my performance in the tournament, but closing the season with a victory is always positive.” To Spanish Rafael Nadal The Masters title continues to resist him, the only major tournament he could never win, however after achieving his only victory at the ATP Finals, in Turin (against the Norwegian Casper Ruud), left Italy with good feelings, beyond having been eliminated after suffering two defeats in the group stage. After a short break, in the next few hours will fly to Argentina to start a tour of exhibitions around the region.

“Now it’s time to go home for a while before embarking on a tour of Latin America again. Even if these are just exhibition games, it helps to stay in shape. Then, I will return home and I will begin my specific preparation for the beginning of the next season”, narrated Nadal, maximum winner of Grand Slam individual trophies, with 22.

The Spaniard will arrive in Buenos Aires next Tuesday and, at night, you will participate in a gala dinner in the Ocher Room of La Rural (for those who purchased the Vip Experience). On Wednesday he will play an exhibition with Ruud (4th and finalist of the Masters, this afternoon, against Novak Djokovic), at the Roca Park in the City of Buenos Aires.

“What I need now is to spend hours on a court at a good level of competition. Also, every time I’ve played in Latin America that has recharged my batteries because the public is passionate. I’m happy to go play there in front of them. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity as a professional player again. Then I will return home to enjoy my family a bit and work, that is, train. Do whatever it takes to be in good shape and ready to start the next season. But I don’t know exactly when I will leave (to Australia); as you know, my life has changed a bit (became a father in early October), I don’t make unilateral decisions (smiles)! If the United Cup starts on December 29, maybe I’ll play on January 1 and therefore leave on December 27… I don’t know. If everything goes well, that is the idea, ”Nadal commented on his future plans.

Nadal’s victory against Ruud in Turin

From next Tuesday to Sunday, in Malaga, the Davis Cup Finals will be held and Spain will be one of the eight teams that will compete. Nadal, several times Salad Bowl champion, had already warned captain Sergi Bruguera that this year they would not have him. “The captain knew that he was not an option this year after the last five or six months. If I represent my country, I must be able to do it thoroughly, with all the confidence and with the spirit that I had in 2019 in Madrid. This year I was not capable of all this. The captain has known this for months. For the future, I don’t know. I’m getting older! (He smiled). And even though I wish I was everywhere, I can’t anymore. I’m not sure I’ll be able to play Davis Cup again”, explained the former number 1, before leaving Turin.

Nadal will arrive in Argentina after a remarkable season in which he won two titles majors: Australia and Roland Garros, breaking with the forecasts if one takes into account that last year he had to stop competing in August due to the worsening of the congenital disease he suffers from in his left foot, called Müller-Weiss. It will not be his first time in the country, of course: he has performed at the ATP in Buenos Aires three times. The first, in 2005: at the age of 18 and ranked 48th, he lost in the quarterfinals to Gastón Gaudio. He returned to the Buenos Aires tournament in 2015, being 4th in the world and won the title. While in 2016, being 5th in the world, he was fired in the semifinals, against the Austrian Dominic Thiem (he would ultimately win the trophy).

The Spaniard also visited Argentina in November 2013 to fulfill different sporting and commercial commitments. He participated in a double farewell to David Nalbandian, in La Rural and in the Orfeo de Córdoba stadium.

The action next Wednesday, at Parque Roca, will begin at 1:45 p.m., with admission for those who have tickets for the meet & greet. As announced by the organization (Fenix ​​Entertainment Group), the stadium doors will open at 2:00 p.m. A tennis clinic is scheduled at 3:00 p.m. (only for those who purchase the Vip Full Experience). At 4:30 p.m. there will be a previous match, with young Argentines. The match between Nadal and Ruud is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. While, then, the event will close with a doubles between Nadal and Gabriela Sabatini against Ruud and Gisela Dulko.

For the first time, a female vice president in the BALTC

The Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club has for the first time a female vice president: the accountant Lucía Guelfi. This was confirmed after the assembly held yesterday at the most emblematic tennis club in Argentina, corresponding to the midterm elections.

The list was completed with: Guillermo Calandrino, Alfredo Bernardi, Ricardo Schmukler, Luis Lamón and Federico Cotella (main members); Geraldine Moffat, Cristina Tessi and Eugenia Klein (Alternate Members); and María Laura Terán and Sebastian Vocobelli (Account Reviewers).

The president of the BALTC, since November 2021, is Juan Carlos Mac Donnell.

THE NATION