Spanish maestro Rafael Nadal has revealed his schedule for the 2019 season and is set to play at many big tournaments like the Australian Open, Madrid Masters and French Open among others.
His 2019 schedule is expected to be far more extensive than the previous year’s. It is quite evident that Nadal is eager to get back to the top and give his 100% on the courts. Below is the list of tournaments that the Spaniard will be participating in.
January – March
Nadal will start his pre-season preparations by playing exhibition matches at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in late December. That will be one of his two exhibition events at the start of the year, with the other one being in Sydney.
His involvement in the two events is separated by his professional commitment to the Brisbane International, where he is likely to feature as the top seed. Thereafter, he will travel to Melbourne to compete in the Australian Open.
After the Australian Open, he will have some time to rest. His tournament will be in Acapulco that is set to start in the final week of February. This will be then followed by back to back participation in the Indian Wells and Miami Masters.
April – June
The month of April will mark the official start of the clay season and needless to mention, Nadal will be looking forward to this the most.
He will start his run on the clay by participating in the Monte-Carlo Masters – an event he has won a record 11 times. He is also the three-time defending champion there. The Spaniard will then travel to Spain to play in the ATP Barcelona, which he will follow with two Masters’ tournaments in Madrid and Rome.
Nadal will conclude the clay season with a showdown at the Roland Garros – a title the King of Clay will be eager to defend in Paris.
July – September
According to his schedule, his involvement on the grass courts is limited only to Wimbledon. This means that Nadal will have the entire month of June to rest and prepare for the second half of the year.
After his stint at the SW19, the Spaniard will start his preparations for the US Open Series by playing in Montreal and Cincinnati. He will conclude the series by visiting the Flushing Meadows and participating in the final Grand Slam of the year.
He will then participate in the Laver Cup. Being an exhibition tournament, the World No. 2 will have ample time to recharge his batteries for the final leg of the season.
October – November
In these two months, Nadal has confirmed his participation only for the Shanghai Masters and Paris Masters. He will also play in the ATP World Tour Finals, provided he qualifies for the tournament.
The Spaniard will have a chance to end the season on a sweet note by playing in the Davis Cup in front of his home crowd in Spain.
By the looks of it, Nadal has taken strategic breaks at the start and the middle of the season. Given that his appearance at tournaments is well-timed, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine him ending the season with several trophies as the World No. 1 once again.
Nadal’s 2018 season was quite stunning to say the least. He won a total of five titles – including the Roland Garros and kept his winning percentage for the season at an astounding 91.83%.
His win-loss rate for the year was 45-4 although, he participated in only nine tournaments. His season was cut short by the several injuries he picked up during the year. In fact, it was owing to his injuries that the Spaniard was forced to retire from the semifinal of the US Open and forced to miss the remainder of the season.
That was also the reason why Nadal lost the No. 1 crown to Novak Djokovic. However, since then, the 32-year-old has had plenty of time to recuperate and prepare for the new season. He has been training at his academy in Mallorca and appears to be completely fit.
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