Rafael Nadal believes that he can be competitive for Roland Garros despite his 7-5 6-1 defeat to Alex De Minaur in Barcelona.

The 12-time champion suffered a straight sets defeat to the in-form Australian in the second round.

There was a valiant comeback from Nadal in the opening set as he recovered from a break down to get back onto level terms.

However De Minaur was too strong for Nadal as the world number eleven won nine of the last ten games to set up a third round meeting with Daniel Altmaier or Arthur Fils.

After the match Nadal congratulated De Minaur on the victory and analysed his own performance, “I mean Alex is a great player but honestly no, in terms of tennis today he’s in better shape than me so he is playing at a really high level since the beginning of the season, I think he made a really important step forward in his level of tennis,” Nadal told reporters in Barcelona.

“So just happy for him and congratulate him for the level he played today. And I think I was able to show myself most important to show the world and show myself when I was really trying and showed a high percentage of intensity, my level was there to compete.

“And I didn’t practice a lot so that encourages me to keep going and tells me that if I spend the day on the tour and keep practicing with the players on this surface, I really hope and really believe that I can keep being competitive and my body will allow me to push the way that I know.”

The defeat to De Minaur was Nadal’s third match all season having struggled with injury with the Spaniard hinting this could be his last time playing in Barcelona.

Despite the loss Nadal admits he feels happier and more comfortable than he did a couple of weeks ago, “I feel much more comfortable and much more happier today than one week and a half ago,” Nadal explained.

“I managed to play two matches, playing against great players and I mean when I was able to play I was not very far without a doubt. And I feel myself that if I’m able to keep practicing days on the tour and if my body allows me to spend hours on court and have the practices the way that I need.”

Now the next goal for Nadal is to try to reclaim his Roland Garros title, a tournament he has won on 14 different occasions.

As for Roland Garros Nadal just hopes he can be competitive for the second Grand Slam of the season as he intensifies his preparations over the next few weeks, “I hope to be competitive, that’s the truth and I hope and believe that I can be competitive in a few weeks,” Nadal stated.

“That’s the way I need to perceive today and my final goal is to give myself a chance to be realistically competing at Roland Garros. In my tennis career I was able to compete at the highest level at every single tournament, trying to win tournaments and I was not able to do it today.

“But I hope to be ready in a few weeks.”

Before Roland Garros, Nadal will hope to play in Madrid which starts on the 25th of April.

As the French Open swiftly approaches, Coco Gauff is eager to end her three-year title drought on the clay which she describes as one of her favourite surfaces.

The world No.3 has only claimed one Tour-level trophy on the dirt so far in her career which was at the 2021 Parma Open in Italy. However, she has proven herself to be a force on the surface by reaching the quarter-finals or better at the French Open on three separate occasions. Something she has yet to do at any other major event. Her best Roland Garros performance was in 2022 when she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek. 

Gauff returns to competitive tennis this week at the stacked Stuttgart Grand Prix which has eight out of the world’s top 10 players in the draw. The American says she is ‘optimistic’ heading into the clay swing following what has been a solid first quarter of the season. 

“I think clay and hard are definitely my favorite surfaces,” Gauff said during a pre-tournament press conference in Stuttgart. “Again, I can play well on all of them depending on how I show up to a tournament, honestly.
“But for the clay court season this year, I’m really optimistic. Obviously, the goal is to win the French Open, but that’s every season of any top player. I mean, your goals should be to try to win the big tournament.”

With big ambitions, a determined Gauff is hoping to win one of the three big events leading up to the French Open. Recently, she rehired Jean-Cristophe Faurel to her team, which is currently being led by Brad Gilbert. Faurel started working with the tennis star when she was 14 but ended up having to stop their collaboration due to travel problems related to his Visa. An issue that has now been solved. 

“I’m not looking at French Open right now. I’m focused on Stuttgart,” Gauff stated. “I want to win, try to win Madrid or Rome or here, just because I can’t remember — the last time I won a clay court title was, like, a couple years ago if I’m not mistaken.
“So I kind of just want to get a recent clay title under my belt. So any of the ones along the next couple weeks would be nice.” 

Gauff is the third seed in Stuttgart after Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. Her opening match will be against compatriot Sachia Vickery. If she wins, Gauff will move into her seventh Tour-level quarter-final on the clay of her career.

Rafael Nadal believes it would be ‘stupidity’ to regard him as a favourite to claim the Barcelona Open title this week after winning his first round match in straight sets. 

The 22-time Grand Slam champion is playing in his first clay-court event since the 2022 French Open after missing the majority of last season due to injury. It is also only the second ATP event of any kind that Nadal has played this year after Brisbane. 

Despite his lack of match play, the Spaniard got off to a solid start on Wednesday with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3, win over Flavio Cobolli. During the match, he dropped serve only once and won 78% of his first service points. Nadal has now recorded 78 consecutive wins over players ranked outside the top 20 on clay. The last time he was beaten by a player outside the top 20 was back in 2016 at the Rio Open. 

Given his credentials, many consider the 37-year-old to be a title contender in Barcelona this week. Recently Stefanos Tsitsipas told reporters that he wouldn’t be surprised if he reached the final this year. Something the king of clay disputes. 

“Today to say that I am favourite I think is stupidity, Tsitsipas knows that it’s not the case,” said Nadal who is a 12-time champion in Barcelona.
“I understand what he says as respect for what I have done in this tournament. Everybody knows I am not favourite to win a tournament.”

Nadal will next play world No.11 Alex de Minaur, who is the highest-ranked player he has faced on the Tour since the 2022 ATP Finals. The Australian has already won 22 matches so far in 2024, claiming a title in Alcapulco. 

“I didn’t have the slightest idea if I was favourite (against Cobolli), I know tomorrow (Thursday) I will not be,” he said.
“But it doesn’t matter, I will go out and play and it will be an experience against a top level player.”

Nadal is bidding to reach the third round in Barcelona for the 16th time in 17 appearances. He holds the tournament record for most match wins (67) and titles won (12).