Rafa Nadal has returned from Australia with two new titles in his baggage: the ATP 250 in Melbourne and the most special, the Australian Open champion title, which has made him the tennis player with the most Grand Slam trophies in history . The Spaniard already has upcoming appointments on his agenda: the closest, the Acapulco tournament -from February 21 to 26-, with a luxury poster in which the four semifinalists appear in Melbourne. Indian Wells is also on the horizon and, of course, the dirt tour, which he hopes to arrive “as prepared as possible”.
The 2022 season could not have started in a better way for Rafa Nadal, who already has two new titles. The Spaniard, number 5 in the ATP since last Monday, remains unbeaten at this start of the year after winning the ATP 250 in Melbourne and the Australian Open. Already in Spain after his tour on Aussie soil, the Balearic will try to recover and return to training for the next appointments scheduled on his agenda.
A few weeks ago, Rafa Nadal confirmed his presence at the Acapulco tournament, which takes place from February 21 to 26. The Spaniard has already competed on other occasions, winning the title in three editions and in another being a finalist. The Mexican tournament debuts a stadium on this occasion, with a capacity for more than 10,000 people in the stands and located in the Diamante area, the most exclusive in Acapulco .
And to all this…
Can you believe that we are going to see the two protagonists of this FINAL at #AMT2022 in 23 days? 😱😱😱
📸 @AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/lkgqbm57IJ
– Mexican Open (@AbiertoTelcel) January 30, 2022
The Mexican Open has a luxury poster with tennis players of the stature of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas or Matteo Berrettini, that is, the semifinalists of the Australian Open, and there is also Alexander Zverev, third racket on the circuit. The tournament awaits the champion of the Australian Open, although the Spaniard slipped in a press conference that, given the unexpected results in the first Grand Slam of the season, he has to “make decisions in the coming days.”
Indian Wells target and clay tour
Outside the Davis Cup list for the play-off against Romania (March 4 and 5), Nadal ‘s main objective in the third month of the year will be Indian Wells (March 10-20), with which he will open the Masters 1000 tour. “I would like to be, yes or yes, in Indian Wells,” he said in Melbourne. The Balearic has three titles and one final in his 14 participations in the Californian tournament. His last participation dates from 2019 -in 2020 it was not held and last year he did not attend-, in an edition in which he has a bitter memory, since he could not jump on the track to face Roger Federer in the semifinals.
After Indian Wells, the Miami Masters 1000 appears on the ATP circuit calendar -from March 23 to April 4-, although in principle said tournament does not enter the plans of the Spanish. Nadal would leave a few weeks off to prepare for one of the highlights year after year on his agenda: the clay tour. “I want to arrive well prepared,” he said.
Nadal’s first date on clay will be in Monte Carlo – from April 10 to 17 – and then he is expected to make his usual stops: Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Paris, where he aspires to conquer his 14th Roland Garros title. The objective of this year for Nadal is to compete as much as possible, as long as the physical allows it.
