Greece tennis star
Stefanos Tsitsipas believes that former
world number one
Rafael Nadal will start the
Barcelona Open as a firm
favourite. The 37-year-old is often regarded as one of the greatest players in
the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 22
Grand Slam titles. Fourteen of those major victories came while playing at the
Roland Garros and it is because of this reason he is also renowned as the ‘King
of Clay’.
Nadal has recently returned to action after spending nearly a
year off the court because of a knee injury but that has not gone as per the
plan. The legendary tennis star has been out of action ever since taking part
in the Brisbane Internation. In between, he missed the Australian Open, Indian
Wells, Miami Open and the Monte-Carlo Masters. Tsitsipas, who recently lifted
the title in Monaco after beating Norway’s Casper Ruud in the final, backed
Nadal to lift the title once again in the upcoming Barcelona Open.
“Well, I would say that Rafa, regardless of whether he
hasn’t played at all or if that’s his first tournament, we all know what Rafa
is capable of and how quickly he can adjust to one of his favourite surfaces,
which is a clay court,” said Tsitsipas. “I would not be surprised if we saw
Rafa be in the finals of Barcelona, because that is something that he has done
over and over again for years and years and years.
“What he does have is this competitiveness and this fierce
tennis when he gets into the momentum that sometimes feels like on the outside
perspective like unstoppable. On court, things feel different, because you get
the feeling of his ball. When you’re watching, you just get a visual sensation,
but I have all six sensations enabled and activated when I have to face him. I
think he’s the ultimate challenge on clay.
Rafael Nadal is set to play in the Barcelona Open after missing four major events.
“Whether he’s playing now at let’s say later stages of his
career or the ones before, I think what he has now that he didn’t before is
experience, and he for sure knows ways to win points and to prevail in more
economy mode than he was before.”