Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal36 years old, he withdrew from the Top 5, and we will hardly see him on the court again before the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. The big target for him is obviously Roland Garros, where he will go hunting for his 15th stamp.
It has been made official that Nadal will not participate in either the ATP 250 in Doha (February 20-25) or the ATP 500 in Dubai (February 27-March 4). Rafa will lose the 500 points derived from the title won last year in Acapulco and will fall further down the standings.
The Spaniard currently occupies the sixth position with 3815 points, 100 more than Felix Auger-Aliassime. Taylor Fritz, world number 8, has 3410, followed by Holger Rune and Hubert Hurkacz. Nadal’s tenure in the Top 10 is also undermined by Cameron Norrie and Daniil Medvedev, who have 2,760 and 2,750 points respectively.
It is not yet clear if the Spaniard will participate in the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Miami. In California, Rafa defends last year’s final, when he lost to Taylor Fritz and broke a rib. Nadal had skipped Miami and Monte Carlo in 2022, before giving up early in Madrid and Rome.
Nadal arrived in Paris in physically difficult conditions and left everyone speechless by winning his 22nd Major. The former world number 1 was overtaken by Novak Djokovic at the top of the historic Grand Slam rankings, after the Serb won his 10th Australian Open a few weeks ago.
Gill Gross on Rafael Nadal
Renowned tour tennis analyst for refereeing on the Tennis Channel and working with the US Open, Gill Gross recently had some fun charting ranks (or third parties) among the best players on tour.
And if his ranking is nothing scandalous at first glance, the American knowingly forgot to mention a certain Rafael Nadal. Here is his explanation… “I think there is a level 1. On level 1 there are Djokovic and Alcaraz. It could be said that Djokovic perhaps belongs to a separate level.
Let Alcaraz play tennis before placing him there. Tsitsipas is at level 2. I think he is only at level 2. Zverev is gone, Medvedev is not good right now. Let me tell you right now that I don’t know where to put Nadal. I don’t include Nadal in all this.
He is in a waiting period for me. He does not belong to any category. Level 3? Lots of players. I think Casper Ruud should be there. I think you have to put Felix Auger-Aliassime in there. I think you have to put Holger Rune in there.
I think you have to put Jannik Sinner in there. Then come Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev, Cameron Norrie, ”he said on his YouTube channel.
