Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, absent due to their respective injuries in the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000 that concludes this weekend, are now officially in the participation table for the Conde de Godó trophy in Barcelona, whose draw was held this Saturday and determined that there cannot be a dream final between these two Spanish idols.
Rafa Nadal, historic twelve-time champion of the tournament, even attended the ceremony as an innocent hand, a curious role that he already played in his first participation in this tournament, back in 2003, when the Spaniard was a teenager of only 16 years old.
In dry dock since January, suffering first from a muscle injury to the iliac psoas in his left leg and then from an abdominal problem, the Manacor native has shown in recent days to be quite recovered and to be at least in a state that allows him allows you to compete in this 500th ATP tournament, the beginning of your preparation for the great challenge of Roland Garros.
After training in a double session, Nadal played another intensive simulation competition this Saturday with the Russian top-10 Andrey Rublev. Barring a new setback, he is ready to debut on Tuesday in what will be his return to clay, which he has not stepped on since he won his fourteenth Roland Garros in 2022.
Rafa Nadal will return to the competition against the Italian Flavio Cobolli, 21 years old and number 63 on the circuit. If he overcomes the debut, he will continue with the fourth seed, the Australian Alex de Minaur, recent quarterfinalist in Monte Carlo. Arthur Fils would play in the eighth and in the quarters, Ugo Humbert.
If he overcomes these first obstacles, the man from Manacor could face off in the penultimate round with Carlos Alcaraz, who will not have an easy path either and continues to nurse his problems in his right forearm.
The Murcian, dominator of the tournament in 2022 and 2023, will open on Wednesday against the Frenchman Luca Van Assche or the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang. In the round of 16, Borna Coric and in the quarterfinals a very tough match against Tsitsipas. The semifinal desired by everyone would be against Nadal and, a priori, the survivor would fight for the title against Andrey Rublev or Casper Ruud. Pure a priori conjectures.
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