There is reason to be cautiously optimistic over Rafael Nadal’s chances at the upcoming Paris Masters, according to one of the key members of his team.
Coach Carlos Moya has spoken out about the Spaniard as he prepares to play his first tournament since winning the US Open in September. Nadal recently withdrew from the Asian swing of the tour after failing to recover from inflammation in his left playing wrist. An injury that also forced him to pull out during the Laver Cup.
Nadal’s preparation for the final Masters tournament of the season has been like no other. A week ago, he married his partner in a lavish ceremony in Mallorca. Following on from that, he travelled to Kazakhstan to play Novak Djokovic in a charity exhibition match. Nadal won that match after prevailing in a 10-point tiebreak in the final set.
“It has been a bit different from what is usual. He has rested, which is the important thing.” Moya explained during an interview with atptour.com.
“He had a wonderful day at his wedding and immediately we were training, because instead of making the wedding trip after the ceremony, he did it before. So two days after the wedding we were already training. It has been different, but it has been very good days.”
Unlike Roland Garros, the tournament known commonly as Bercy has been more of a disappointment. It is one out of two Masters events that Nadal is yet to win along with the Miami Open. In total, he has only ever played there six times prior to this year with his best run being to the final in 2007. Last year he was absent due to injury.
“Two seasons ago, he had to retire in the quarter-finals and he came because the world’s No. 1 was at stake. Last year we came and had to have surgery the following week … The physical conditions here have not been in our favour.” Moya admits.
“Most of the seasons he has been present in Paris with very little rest, with many games and physically without being in the best condition. In fact, since I came to the team in the last two editions it was like that.“ He added.
Nadal is already in Paris training ahead of the tournament and even had a hitting session with rival Djokovic. The duo will occupy the top two seeds and are currently in a battle for the year-end No.1 position. Nadal has the advantage of not having to defend any ranking points for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, 2018 finalist Djokovic has 600 points at stake over the coming week.
Granted a bye in the first round, Nadal will open up against either Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or a yet to be confirmed qualifier. Later in the tournament, he could play Stan Wawrinka in the third round followed potentially by either Matteo Berrettini or Karen Khachanov.
“In tennis in general, and on this surface, in particular, there is not much room for error and recovery.” Nadal’s coach explains. “Just as on clay if you have ten or fifteen bad minutes you can recover, here you pay with the set and probably the game.”
In the tournament’s history, David Ferrer is the only Spanish player to have won the title back in 2012.
Nadal’s Paris Masters timeline
- 2007 – finalist
- 2008 – quarter-finals
- 2009 – semi-finals
- 2010-2012 – did not play
- 2013 – semi-finals
- 2014 -did not play
- 2015 – quarter-finals
- 2016 – did not play
- 2017 – quarter-finals
- 2018 – did not play
