August Richard Pagliaro 08/14/2020

Watch: Nadal Trains for Rome Return

Rafael Nadal is revving up his competitive engine for his long-awaited return to red clay.The reigning US Open and Roland Garros champion, who will skip the Flushing Meadows major to focus on the abbreviated clay season, has been training on dirt with some students at the Rafa Nadal Academy in his native Mallorca.More: ATP Announces Revised 2020 CalendarFellow Mallorcan Jaume Munar andyoung players from the Academy, including Dani Rincón (Spain), Abdullah Shelbay (Jordan), Miko Eala (Philippines) and Rafael Giotis (Germany) have all practiced with the 19-time Grand Slam champion.

Nadal, who defeated Novak Djokovic to capture his ninth Rome title last year, will return for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, set for September 14th-21st in preparation for defending his Roland Garros championship.Photo credit: Barcelona Open BancSabadell – Trofeo Conde de Godo]]>

Richard Pagliaro

Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He is a graduate of New York University and has covered pro tennis for more than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and worked as a writer/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.