Rafael Nadal in Argentina: melancholy for what happened, the support for Messi and the national team, and a message

Rafael Nadal, one of the most impressive legends in the history of tennis and top winner of Grand Slam individual trophies (with 22), came to Argentina for the fifth time in his career. In the midst of the Qatar 2022 World Cup fever and coinciding with the start of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga (where Spain is one of the eight countries that will compete), the current number 2 in the ranking arrived in our country, accompanied by the Norwegian Casper Ruud (3rd), to begin with a tour of exhibitions that will also take him through Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico.

Nadal, fourteen times winner of Roland Garros, and Ruud, recent finalist of the Masters tournament in Turin (on Sunday he lost the definition with the Serbian Novak Djokovic), arrived in Argentina this Tuesday morning, on a private flight from Mallorca. Before setting foot in the City of Buenos Aires, around noon, they made a sort of scale through Puerto Iguazú, to participate in a promotional/commercial action organized jointly by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Nation, the Ministry of Tourism of Misiones (in charge of José María Arrúa) and a Spanish hotel chain. They had a brief rally on a small armed court with the Devil’s Throat in the background.

Nadal and Ruud, who starred in the last French Open final (Rafa won 6-3, 6-3 and 6-0), They will face each other this Wednesday in an exhibition, starting at 6:00 p.m., at Parque Roca (will broadcast Fox Sports). The match will be followed by a mixed doubles: Rafa and Gabriela Sabatini against Ruud and Gisela Dulko. Sabatini has not performed in the country since 2009, when she played an exhibition with Martina Navratilova, at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, with the purpose of raising funds for the Faiam Foundation, which fights against myasthenia gravis.

Nadal (36 years old) arrived in Argentina after a remarkable season in which he won four titles, two of them Grand Slam: Australia and Roland Garros, breaking all expectations if one takes into account that last season he had to stop competing in August due to the worsening of the congenital disease that he suffers in his left foot, called Müller-Weiss.

None of Nadal’s three coaches are accompanying him on the tour. The Matador is assisted by his manager Carlos Costa, by his physiotherapist Rafael Maymó and by Tomeu Salvá, who is one of his best friends and coach of the Mallorcan academy.

This is not your first time in the countryOf course: he has already performed at the ATP in Buenos Aires three times. The first, in 2005, shortly before winning his first Roland Garros: 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, as the 4th in the world and won the title. While, in 2016, being 5th in the ranking, he was fired in the semifinals against the Austrian Dominic Thiem (he would ultimately win the trophy).

“I am very happy to be in Argentina, after several years of not having had the opportunity. In this sense, with the illusion of being able to share with the Argentine public, who is very passionate, understood in the sport. They have always treated me in the best possible way and I take positive energy with me”, said Nadal, during a press conference held in a mall in Palermo.

Nadal also visited Argentina in November 2013 to fulfill different sporting and commercial commitments. He participated in a double farewell to David Nalbandian, at La Rural (Djokovic was also there) and at the Orfeo de Córdoba stadium. In addition, Rafa and Nole, who at that time were 1st and 2nd in the ranking, respectively, were the protagonists of a promotion on the Perito Moreno glacier, rallying on top of a boat.

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