Rafael Nadal adds another tournament to his schedule

clayqueen

clayqueen

Bionic Poster
Rafael Nadal will make a stunning return to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (DDFTC) next month, 15 years after his last competitive appearance in the United Arab Emirates.

Rafa, the DDFTC men’s champion in 2006, last appeared at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in 2008. Since then, he has established himself as one of the greatest male players in tennis history, winning a record 22 Grand Slam titles. Currently ranked No.2 in the world, Rafa will return for the annual ATP 500 event, which runs from the 27th of February to the 4th of March.

Having reached the quarterfinals in Dubai in 2005, Rafa returned in 2006 to beat, among others, Briton Tim Henman and Germany’s Rainer Schuttler on route to the final. Against World No.1 and top seed Roger Federer, Rafa triumphed 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to mark his first victory over the Swiss in an ATP final. When Federer retired last year, ending one of the greatest tennis rivalries of all-time, Rafa’s record against Federer stood at 13-10 in ATP finals.

Source: dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com
 
Nadal - GOAT said:
No ATP 500 will be able to afford both I guess.. so they are always likely to split up.
Click to expand...
Will anyone pay Djokovic appearance fees in Dubai judging by what he did at the World Tennis League just a few weeks ago when he pulled out of all his competitive matches at the last minute? I'm one of the people who was there on the Wednesday when he pulled out with seconds to go. For all we know he's been banned from playing in Dubai.
 
Nadal_Django said:
So the moment Djokovic announces Acapulco this guy moves his businesses in Dubai. :-D
Click to expand...

Nadal confirmed he would not be playing Acapulco a long time ago during his highly successful exhibition tour, well before Djokovic had been announced for the tournament:

Nadal is currently on an exhibition tour in Latin America after the conclusion of the regular tennis season, and he revealed he will not be back for the next campaign.
“It will most likely be the last time I play in Mexico, Acapulco 2023 is not on my calendar and the 2024 season seems far away,” he explained.

Don't let the truth get in the way ;)
 
clayqueen said:
Djokovic heard that Nadal had signed up for Dubai so he immediately signed up for Acapulco.
Click to expand...

Nadal made the decision not to visit Acapulco after his exhibition tour stops in Mexico, and so Acapulco had to settle for a distant second choice in Djokovic,

Nadal is currently on an exhibition tour in Latin America after the conclusion of the regular tennis season, and he revealed he will not be back for the next campaign.
“It will most likely be the last time I play in Mexico, Acapulco 2023 is not on my calendar and the 2024 season seems far away,” he explained.

Whereas Nadal is trying to make sure he visits plenty of cities before his career ends, Djokovic is getting whiplash just chasing the biggest paychecks.
 
weakera said:
Nadal made the decision not to visit Acapulco after his exhibition tour stops in Mexico, and so Acapulco had to settle for a distant second choice in Djokovic,

Nadal is currently on an exhibition tour in Latin America after the conclusion of the regular tennis season, and he revealed he will not be back for the next campaign.
“It will most likely be the last time I play in Mexico, Acapulco 2023 is not on my calendar and the 2024 season seems far away,” he explained.

Whereas Nadal is trying to make sure he visits plenty of cities before his career ends, Djokovic is getting whiplash just chasing the biggest paychecks.
Click to expand...
Ok, how did you come to that conclusion XD. Nadal played Acapulco couple of times, same with Djokovic, now they changed roles.
 
tennis_pro said:
Yes Djokovic is scared of Nadal on hard courts. Even Federer did a lot better against Nadal on clay.
Click to expand...

Close, but Federer was actually less than half as successful against Nadal on clay,

Nadal vs. Djokovic on HC: 7-20 (25.9%)
Federer vs. Nadal on Clay: 2-14 (12.5%)

And this was despite Federer essentially retiring from clay for the last several years of his career lol
 
weakera said:
Close, but Federer was actually less than half as successful against Nadal on clay,

Nadal vs. Djokovic on HC: 7-20 (25.9%)
Federer vs. Nadal on Clay: 2-14 (12.5%)

And this was despite Federer essentially retiring from clay for the last several years of his career lol
Click to expand...
I meant since 2013. There is absolutely no reason for Nadal to go setless against Djokovic for almost a decade, they are roughly the same age unlike Fed. Even Fed at 38 could pull off a win against Djokovic.
 
weakera said:
Nadal confirmed he would not be playing Acapulco a long time ago during his highly successful exhibition tour, well before Djokovic had been announced for the tournament:

Nadal is currently on an exhibition tour in Latin America after the conclusion of the regular tennis season, and he revealed he will not be back for the next campaign.
“It will most likely be the last time I play in Mexico, Acapulco 2023 is not on my calendar and the 2024 season seems far away,” he explained.

Don't let the truth get in the way ;)
Click to expand...

Does the second sentence of your quote mean he's considering retiring after the 2023 season?
 
I don't really like this decision. I think he should have skipped playing anything until IW. Dubai is too fast for him and he will get slaughtered there.
 
One can avoid beatings outside slams. But will Nadal do what he did in W'22 in AO'23 ( avoiding Djokovic outside of clay, citing injury). We will wait and see.


I though am pretty sure that there are atleast 3-4 more matches on clay that the 2 will play against each other, in their remaining careers.
 
TearTheRoofOff said:
Nadal's win is The Universe's loss. It seems zero sum extends to the cosmos.
Click to expand...
Well, for all positive energy there must be a balance, and "negative" energy is necessary.
Without opposing forces, the Universe could not continue to exist.
Happily for tennis, thanks to Nadal, someone named Federer was prevented from devouring all the records in this sport.
The Yin and the Yang, metaphorically speaking.
8-B
 
DSH said:
Well, for all positive energy there must be a balance, and "negative" energy is necessary.
Without opposing forces, the Universe could not continue to exist.
Happily for tennis, thanks to Nadal, someone named Federer was prevented from devouring all the records in this sport.
The Yin and the Yang, metaphorically speaking.
8-B
Click to expand...
I consider what has transpired with respect to best efforts an imbalance in the force, out of which has emerged a crash in tennistic value. Ironically, the cosmic and quasi-karmic efforts to maintain artificial balance have dismantled the order of all things and created a void into which all of the hitherto muggery and corresponding triumph is irrevocably subsumed. After some time, perhaps balance shall be considered restored, though with the the sport being rendered in a permanent state of 'meh', devoid of any of the peaks and valleys that once made it resonate with anyone's genuine interests; its sculptors' efforts ever truncated at a whelming ordinariness.
 
mahatma said:
One can avoid beatings outside slams. But will Nadal do what he did in W'22 in AO'23 ( avoiding Djokovic outside of clay, citing injury). We will wait and see.


I though am pretty sure that there are atleast 3-4 more matches on clay that the 2 will play against each other, in their remaining careers.
Click to expand...
Joker has been just as much to blame for their lack of non-clay meetings in recent years but whatever pushes your agenda (y)
 
The Blond Blur said:
Joker has been just as much to blame for their lack of non-clay meetings in recent years but whatever pushes your agenda (y)
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Nadal will have his chance to prove me wrong and meet in AO this time around. If he doesn’t, without any known injury now, it can’t be considered as an agenda.
 
Bad memories for Rafa?
Kyrgios-Nadal-Acapulco-2019-fin-de-mach-épique-points.jpg

Dubai is a ghastly place..
 
mahatma said:
Fair enough. Nadal will have his chance to prove me wrong and meet in AO this time around. If he doesn’t, without any known injury now, it can’t be considered as an agenda.
Click to expand...
When you keep implying that RAFA is “running away” or solely responsible for the lack of non-clay meetings that’s absolutely what it is. The Dude is basically 37 years old and has been out of his prime since 2014.
 
The Blond Blur said:
When you keep implying that RAFA is “running away” or solely responsible for the lack of non-clay meetings that’s absolutely what it is. The Dude is basically 37 years old and has been out of his prime since 2014.
Click to expand...
Besides that he is not a Cyborg like the Serbian player.
One gets tired, the other has unlimited energy.
They cannot be compared.
:D
 
The Blond Blur said:
When you keep implying that RAFA is “running away” or solely responsible for the lack of non-clay meetings that’s absolutely what it is. The Dude is basically 37 years old and has been out of his prime since 2014.
Click to expand...

And has been injured since early 90s. Nadal has literally played 40%(!) of all his matches on clay and clay has <25% of tour matches only. You can see where the bias comes from.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The_18th_Slam
Federer from 2006 Indian Wells to 2007 Dubai
2
Replies
55
Views
5K
mike danny
mike danny
B
Fujairah U.A.E. Tennis Tournaments (2) cancelled due to war
Replies
2
Views
122
Bartelby
Bartelby
S
Another prove to roger superiority over Nadal
Replies
20
Views
2K
Shaolin
Shaolin
Zardoz7/12
Andy Murray brings early end to nightmare Asian swing, but adds new tournament to his calendar
Replies
2
Views
539
Tennfan123
T
clayqueen
The Making of Rafael Nadal
Replies
17
Views
2K
clayqueen
clayqueen
Back
Top