Nadal trains in Bercy: goal number 1

First Paris, then Turin, to pursue the only major tournament missing from its endless showcase. And who knows, maybe even finish the year at world number one for the sixth time in his career. In this season finale the new father Rafael Nadal throws the gauntlet, not only to the very young compatriot Carlitos Alcaraz, the nineteen year old at the top of the ATP ranking, but perhaps also to himself, to his career. He thought the Roland Garros final, by his own admission, would be his last match. Then the foot therapies luckily worked and the 36-year-old Majorcan phenomenon is still here, world number two, with 22 slams and on the hunt for new, incredible records.

For the story

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He is keen to equal Andre Agassi, the only one to have managed to conquer all four slams, the Davis Cup (by the way: he will not be present in Malaga, but in South America for a tour), the Finals and the Olympic gold medal in singles. In short, the “golden slam”. To better prepare for the final rush, after seeing the birth of his son (at the end of a very troubled pregnancy of his wife Xisca), Nadal will also participate in Paris Bercy (another tournament never won), as confirmed by his coach Carlos Moya . Doing well in both France and Turin, Nadal could then find himself incredibly at the top of the rankings at the end of the year, Alcaraz obviously allowing.

The detachment from n.1

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To date, the difference between the two is just over 800 points, but if the young Carlitos were to conquer Basel, the gap would increase to around 1200 points. Between Bercy and the Finals, there are 2500 in total up for grabs, so the feat would not be impossible. Difficult, of course. Complicated, for sure. Impossible, no. Finding himself at the top of the world rankings (where he was for 209 weeks) is not an obsession, for Rafa, but returning to being number one in the world more than two and a half years after the last time (it was February 2020 ), and at 36, it would have a particular flavor. A further way of saying “yeah, I’m still here”.