Rafael Nadal returned to the ATP Tour last week at the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati after suffering an abdominal injury that forced him to miss the Wimbledon semifinals. Without much preparation, the Spaniard rushed his options to be in Cincinnati and try himself before the last Grand Slam of the year.
“I wisely went to Cincinnati, too, in training. In the game I tried to give my best version without forcing the serve. I fought to the end, I had my chances, ”he summed up his return. “Before the tournament started I had only played two sets, so it’s hard,” he added of his recent experience in Ohio.
“Even so I had my chance, the preparation hadn’t been very long, but I gave myself a chance. It was not possible. We are going to try it here again, with better preparation”. Over the days, Nadal has been gaining confidence and rhythm before his debut against the Australian Rinky Hijikata.
“From my point of view, I am training quite well. We’ll see what happens, but I’m happy with the training sessions”, he pointed out. ““I try to get better and better in each training session, to be competitive from the first round.
We will see” For this he measures his strength against the best players in the world before the competition. “I’ve been on the circuit for two weeks now, even though I’ve only played one official match. But I am training every day with guys who help me, without a doubt.
I have played sets every day for the last five days. That helps” The injury, which he describes as “dangerous”, requires maximum caution, even in training.
Mark Knowles praises Nadal
Former doubles World No. 1 Mark Knowles has tipped Rafael Nadal to go all the way at the US Open in the next fortnight.
“Rafael Nadal knows how to win Majors. He has got a great draw early. Only time Rafa gets in a bit of trouble on hardcourt is early. I like his chances. He has got to play himself in,” he said. Knowles thinks the 36-year-old could prevail over the young Spaniard and go all the way, as Medvedev has a ‘tricky’ draw, with Nick Kyrgios lurking in his section.
“He has got Alcaraz possibly if they both advance to the semifinal, I am going to go with experience,” said Knowles. “Medvedev has got a tricky draw, depending on what happens in the Nick Kyrgios section. I am going with Rafael Nadal on the men’s side.”
