Rafael Nadal was satisfied with his 7-5 7-5 victory over Casper Ruud as he ended his 2022 season in style.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion may not be in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals but the Spaniard ended his season in style.
Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in straight sets as he looks ahead to next season while Ruud will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas or Andrey Rublev in the last four.
Despite losing his first two matches to Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nadal showed resilience and a much consistent level to take down the third seed.
After his victory Nadal dismissed claims that he needed to win the match today but was satisfied with his performance and attitude, “About how much I need? I don’t know. I really don’t think going to make a big difference in the future,” Nadal admitted in Turin.
“At the end it’s about finish the season with a victory. It’s about see myself competitive against a great player with chances of victory. It’s about to have the personal satisfaction that after a couple of very tough days, I went yesterday on the practice courts and I make a very good practice with the right attitude. Today I receive the prize for that practice of yesterday, and that’s it.
“Three matches here. At the end that’s what I need now, as I said even before the tournament start, even if I practicing well, I need days on court and matches, something I was not able to make.
“That happened the last month, and I think I was able to improve every day a little bit, no? Today was a good level of tennis for me, serving well, playing with more determination at the right moments.”
Nadal would have pleased to end another incredible season on a high having suffered a couple of significant injuries at the end of the year.
The Spaniard will now look to enjoy time as a father before heading to Latin America to play a few matches against Casper Ruud in preparation for the 2023 season.
It will be an interesting season for Nadal who will begin by defending his Australian Open title having won it this year.
In his post-match press conference Nadal admitted he is uncertain about how the Australian swing will go but will prepare as hard as possible in Latin America, “Even if the courts are different, it’s about being competitive and be under confidence and be under the rhythm of the competition,” Nadal spoke about the Australian Open.
“At the end, in my case – I can’t talk for everyone – but in my case, if I am in rhythm of competition, winning matches, in a good confidence, normally I don’t have a big problem to be competitive in every single court or surface. That’s the thing.
“But just excited I going to be there. If nothing goes wrong, going to be there early. That’s what I need. Even if it’s an effort for me and sacrifice to go very early from home, I think that’s what I need to do after what happened the last five months.
“Try to be there early, not only because of the preparation of Australia, but because of preparation for myself for the rest of the season. What I need today is spend hours on the court in a competitive level. That’s going to helps. At the same time every time that I played in Latino America, I charge the batteries of energy because the crowd there are so passionate.
“I enjoy the fact that I going to be playing there in front of them. I don’t know if maybe last time in my professional tennis career being active. So excited about that. Probably going to be one of the last opportunities.”
Nadal is expected to start his season at the new mixed doubles tournament, the United Cup which starts on the 29th of December in preparation for the Australian Open which starts on the 16th of January.
Boris Becker has claimed that Alexander Zverev deserves more respect despite Zverev failing to live up to his potential at Grand Slams.
Zverev has only reached one Grand Slam final in his career despite being a regular inside the world’s top ten as well as performing at regular ATP events.
This season Zverev played a limited schedule after recovering from an ankle injury but still managed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.
However most critics have been loud when judging Zverev’s career as it was looking likely that he would be a regular Grand Slam champion.
The German has failed to live up to expectations but former Grand Slam champion Boris Becker believes Zverev deserves more respect.
Speaking to Eurosport Becker also said that Zverev’s father being the coach is a more than successful approach when it comes to the former US Open finalist’s career, “In my opinion, he doesn’t get enough respect from the tennis experts internationally,” Becker explained.
“They’re all talking about the young three or four, but don’t give Zverev, Medvedev or Rublev enough respect. He’s playing with his fist in his pocket a little bit, wants everyone show that he is not a thing of the past, but that his best time is yet to come.
“Surely his father knows best what is good for his son, but if you look into the box at the competition, you can also see changes.”
Becker has followed Zverev for most of his career so knows that the best is yet to come from the German.
Alexander Zverev will look to prove himself next season when he starts his 2024 season when he represents Germany at the United Cup.
Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero has analysed the key areas for the Spaniard’s development heading into the 2024 season.
The former world number one’s season has come to an end after a successful year which saw him win the Wimbledon title as well as winning two Masters 1000 titles.
Alcaraz capped off an incredible season by reaching the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
However there is a long way for the Spaniard to go if he wants to consistently go toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic.
Speaking to Marca Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke about the Spaniard’s development and said that Alcaraz is too emotional, “Be more regular in games, not open doors. Sometimes there are mistakes and it is something that we have to improve a lot,” Ferrero commented.
“Although it is true that he opens doors, he always competes well and at the highest level. He knows it, the other day he already said that Novak doesn’t give you one. He has to improve his decision making and he will achieve that with experience. Carlos is very emotional and that sometimes helps him and other times not so much.”
It’s clear Alcaraz’s high-quality is there but to consistently do it against Djokovic is another task altogether as the Spaniard looks to go from strength-to strength next season.
One area that is clearly a priority for Alcaraz is physical conditioning especially considering what happened against Djokovic at Roland Garros earlier in the season.
Ferrero said that will be a clear focus heading into 2024 but couldn’t guarantee that Alcaraz will play a tournament before the Australian Open, “Because of the year and the fatigue he has been in, what he needs is rest and disconnecting for 8-10 days with his friends,” Ferrero stated.
“From there, the thinking must go back to working really hard, strong and well to start very strongly in Australia. One can never be sure of that. Sometimes you play a tournament and it doesn’t go well, you left home too early. There are many ways of thinking.
“This year we haven’t played Australia and he finishes number two. That means there is no urgency to play a tournament early. Carlos is a player who enters competition quickly, you don’t usually see him without rhythm.
“Although it is true that he becomes more dangerous from the round of 16, from the quarter-finals. I am confident that the two exhibition matches and the training sessions will help us play a good tournament.”
Alcaraz will be looking to play the Australian Open which starts on the 15th of January after the Spaniard missed last year’s tournament due to a leg injury.
The tournament director of the Australian Open says he is ‘certain’ that Rafael Nadal will play at the Grand Slam even though the Spaniard has yet to outline his comeback plans.
Craig Tiley told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday he hopes to receive some clarity over Nadal’s intentions in the next couple of weeks but is confident he will play. However, the tennis official had previously claimed in October that the former world No.1 had already committed to play in the event before his team denied that statement.
Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, hasn’t played a Tour match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. He was originally expecting to take an eight-week break but the recovery didn’t go to plan and he ended up having surgery. In May he confirmed that he will take an extended break from the sport to heal his body and admitted that retirement next year is a possibility.
“Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day because he’s a massive drawcard for us,” the Reuters News Agency quoted Tiley as saying. “He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up. “Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago.”
Earlier this month Nadal confirmed that he intends to return to the Tour but admits that he will continue to experience a degree of pain. Although he has yet to give any information about which tournament he will begin his comeback at. The 2024 season begins during the first week of January.
“I’m well, training, and happy. I’m at a good stage of my life,”atptour.com quoted Nadal as telling reporters in Barcelona. “Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good.’
Will Kyrgios play?
Another player Tiley is eager to welcome back is home player and former Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios who has only played one Tour-level match this season due to injury. He underwent knee surgery in January and then tore a ligament in his wrist during the summer. As a result, the Australian currently doesn’t have an ATP ranking due to his inactivity.
“We have spoken to Nick, and he obviously wants to do the best he possibly can to give him the best chance to play in January,” Tiley said of Kyrgios. “Whether he’s playing, whether he’s doing something else, Nick will be here in January and to get him to play will be great. But we’ve got to take it as it comes and he’s got to make sure he takes care of his health …”
Kyrgios recently worked as an analyst for the Tennis Channel during this year’s ATP Finals in Turin and gave a brief update on his ongoing recovery during a segment.
“After last year, I had such a great year, and I’m so hungry to get back out there,” the 2022 Wimbledon finalist commented. “So I’m doing everything I can to get back out there. Obviously, you know how injuries are every day, just doing the rehab, doing the gym work.”
The Australian Open will begin on Sunday 14th January. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending champions.