Tennis, Rafa Nadal remains stunned: admission from Cincinnati

Despite a very long and successful career, he still manages to surprise.

Rafael Nadal will be among the stars at the Cincinnati Masters 1000, the Mallorcan’s only stop to prepare for the US Open. And here he aims to bring home another Grand Slam, and more.

Despite having skipped the entire 2021 calendar, in fact, the many events of recent months have turned the ATP calendar upside down. No athlete currently has more than 7,000 points, for the first time since the ranking reform dating back to 2009. And this could resoundingly allow Nadal to re-enter the battle to grab the No. 1 spot.

“To be able to compete to be the best in the world represents a lot to me at this point in my career,” Nadal admitted then, at Media Day in Cincinnati. “Never did I expect that it could happen again. Of course, my current priority remains to be healthy and to play the tournaments that my schedule provides. But I don’t want to force it, for the sake of my body. I will always give my best, but I can say that I am very happy with the position I hold in the ATP ranking already currently. If it then goes up again, that would be amazing news.”