By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday August 15, 2022
Rafael Nadal returns to action this week at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati and it could be a special week for the Spaniard, as he has a shot to reclaim the No.1 ranking.
Nadal is more fixated on remaining healthy and carefully playing himself back into form after he was sidelined by an abdominal injury at Wimbledon.
“It means a lot to me to have that opportunity,” Nadal says of possibly returning to No.1. “Something that I didn’t expect could happen again. The main thing is to stay healthy and play the events that I want to play. I will not play more than what I believe works well for my body.”
Nadal, 35-3 on the season with two Grand Slam titles, says of course he’ll be thrilled if it happens. But first and foremost he needs to keep an eye on the abdominal injury that foiled his chances for a Wimbledon title in July.
"I had a small tear in the abdomen, so it is dangerous," Nadal said on Sunday. "The abdominal is a place that is dangerous because on every serve you put a lot of effort there. I am trying to do things properly, trying to be a bit more conservative. I hope I can be ready for the action here."
Nadal will take the court on Wednesdsay night for his second-round match in Cincinnati. He would need to win the title with Daniil Medvedev losing before the quarterfinals in order to begin his 210th week at No.1 next Monday.
It's not his primary concern.
“I am going to put all my efforts into every single event I play,” he said. “It is something that doesn’t matter if I have the chance to be No. 1, but I am happy to be in this position and if it happens, I will be very happy.”
But the 35-year-old is toting low expectations due to the fact that he hasn’t played a match since early July. Furthermore, he has not played a match on hard courts since he lost the Indian Wells final in late March.
“You need to know that when you come back after a while that things aren’t going to be perfect,” Nadal said. “You can’t expect to play at an amazing level from the beginning. Knowing that you [must] be humble enough to fight with the tools that you have at the beginning to win the first match. Then when you win a match or two matches things change and you start to feel competitive again.
“If you are playing well, and I think I am playing more or less ok, you have some good feelings on court. But competition is different and you need to accept that things are going to be difficult, even more so in a Masters 1000 because when you come back, even at a Grand Slam, if you are lucky with the draw, even if you aren’t playing at a high level you have a chance to win a couple of matches. But at a Masters 1000, opponents are very demanding right from the beginning so you need to play at a high level and that is what I am going to try to do.”