By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday October 24, 2022
Carlos Moya, coach of Nadal, says the Spaniard will be ready to go for next week's Paris Masters.
Photo Source: Getty
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday, October 24, 2022
Rafael Nadal is raring to go and planning to make a run at No.1 over the next three weeks.
According to his coach, Carlos Moya, Nadal is fit and ready to participate in next week’s Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held from November 13 to 19.
"Before arriving in Turin, you have to play matches in Paris, which are similar,” Moya said in a television interview with IB3 (comments translated by Eurosport).
Nadal, who last played singles at the US Open, where he lost to Frances Tiafoe in the round of 16, most recently took the court at the Laver Cup where he partnered Roger Federer in the Swiss’ final professional match in London on September 23.
Since then the 36-year-old has been practicing in Mallorca but not without welcome distractions: he was home to witness the birth of his first child earlier this month.
Though he has been hampered by injuries throughout the 2022 campaign, Nadal has been in scintillating form when at or close to peak health.
He has claimed his 21st and 22nd major titles, at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, and owns a 38-5 record with four titles overall.
If he can manage a big push at Paris and Turin he will also have a shot at passing Carlos Alcaraz for the No.1 ranking.
Moya believes his charge can do it. His friend and rival Novak Djokovic also believes it is possible.
It's a familiar story: never count Nadal out...
“I am sure that Nadal will try to dethrone him until the end of the year, he has got a chance,” Djokovic recently said in an interview with the Serbian publication Sportal.
Nadal is currently 695 points behind Alcaraz in the Race, and could make up big points with a run at either Paris or Turin, but there is a caveat: he has never won either event. Nadal is 22-6 lifetime at Bercy with one final and four semifinals to his name; at the ATP Finals he is 20-16 with final appearances in 2010 and 2013.