Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal are separated by 700 points on the ATP Race list. The younger Spaniard has a chance to increase the lead in Basel this week, with a winning start on Monday night and more to look forward to in the rest of the event.
Nadal hasn’t played since the US Open, battling an abdominal injury since Wimbledon and working hard on his comeback. He will do it in Paris next week, as the 22-time Major champion has decided to contest the last two tournaments of the season and fight for No.
1 of the year with his compatriot. Novak Djokovic will be his main rival in Paris, seeking his seventh title in the French capital and the fourth in a row after Wimbledon, Tel Aviv and Astana. The Serb believes that Nadal will challenge Alcaraz for No.
1 of the year in the coming weeks. Rafa will be eager to end the season on a high note and pursue the title that is missing from his rich collection. Nadal had a couple of chances to win the Paris Masters and ATP Finals, he squandered them and was hoping for more chances this year.
Of course, it won’t be easy, especially if he can’t get the best out of himself after an injury and such a long break. Nadal withdrew before the Wimbledon semi-final and has only played five matches since then. He suffered an early loss in Cincinnati and fell to Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round of the US Open, missing the chance to become No.
1 after New York. Alcaraz and Nadal are the top favorites in a battle for the No. 1 of the year, with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud awaiting their chances. “Alcaraz is number 1 in the world, and there is nothing to add, the ranking proves it.
Nole really wanted to visit the US.
Novak Djokovic had a disastrous start to the season when he was sent home ahead of the 2022 Australian Open. «It was more than three months from when he won Wimbledon to the next tournament in Israel,» Djokovic said.
«Somehow, except when I was injured, I never experienced such long breaks. I can’t say that this break was caused by my will because I wanted to go to America, but it wasn’t possible. The positive thing is that I had more time to prepare and work on some elements of the game that tennis players normally don’t have time to work on due to the tight schedule of tournaments. In my opinion, that’s a good thing,» he added.
