australian open
The Spaniard reaches the first Grand Slam of the season without victories and with the daunting task of defending the title
Thinking of Rafa Nadal lifting his 23rd Grand Slam on January 29 is practically a chimera, an impossibility, but that has been the guiding thread of the man from Manacor’s career. The more difficult something is, the easier Nadal makes it look.
The clearest example was a year ago, when he was down two sets, a ‘break’ against and 0-40 in favor of Daniil Medvedev and he lifted that match to achieve his 21st Grand Slam, winning all the ‘majors’ at least in twice and win his second Australian Open, a thorn in the side since 2009.
That comeback implies that Nadal is now the current champion and in charge of retaining the title, one of the great ‘buts’ of his career and that is that the Spaniard has never successfully defended a Grand Slam outside the clay of Roland Garros and He has only retained one hardcourt title, the Canadian Masters 1,000 in 2018 and 2019.
To this historic cyst we must add the bad sporting moment that the Spaniard is going through, with a single victory (against Casper Ruud in the ATP Finals) in the last seven games. From the US Open in August to mid-January, Nadal has only won one official match and has started the year with two losses, both set up in favor and both showing a lack of confidence.
The lack of victories and time on the track are the big questions for Nadal on his arrival in Melbourne, the second ‘major’ in which he has the most victories (76). The debut is not going to help. The draw, very hard, gave him a first round duel with Jack Draper, a British left-hander who is ranked 40th in the ranking and who has just made the semifinals this week in Adelaide.
It will be the first time in his career that Nadal has met such a highly ranked rival in his tournament debut. The prospects down the line, should he get past Draper, aren’t much better. Frances Tiafoe, in the round of 16; Daniil Medvedev, in rooms; Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the semifinals and Novak Djokovic, in the final. It is one of the toughest roads that Nadal has had in a Grand Slam, at least beforehand, because then the final tables have little to do with what the predictions show.
On the other side of the field is Djokovic, with his clearest route and with the certainty of having already won a title this year and being the most awarded in Melbourne with nine gimps. In addition, the Serbian plays without the pressure of defending any loot from last year. He did not participate in the tournament when he was deported for not being vaccinated against the covid, so a victory would ensure him 2,000 points and pass the absent Carlos Alcaraz at number one.
The man from Belgrade has had hamstring problems in recent days, but it seems like a minor ailment, as demonstrated by the fact that he endured an exhibition against Nick Kyrgios this Friday. His first rival at the Rod Laver Arena will be Roberto Carballés. In total, there will be twelve Spaniards in the tournament, nine in the men’s box and four in the women’s box.
other favorites
In addition to Nadal and Djokovic, the favorites include Tsitsipas, who has won three semifinals on these courts, Medvedev, whose confidence plummeted after the final he lost a year ago, but is always a danger on hard courts, Alexander Zverev , who returns after more than half a year out due to an ankle injury, and Nick Kyrgios, who has given up defending his doubles title to finally achieve a great result on his home soil. The man from Canberra has reached the final at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at the last US Open, his two best results in major tournaments.
In the women’s box, a successor is sought to Ashleigh Barty, who retired last year and who is the current champion. The big favorite is Iga Swiatek, winner at Roland Garros and US Open last season and who comfortably holds the number one in the world. Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari are her main rivals for the first Grand Slam of the year.
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