Rafael Nadal is a changed man. Now when he loses sleep it’s because of his newborn baby and not world number one.
Despite his many absences from the circuit this season, Nadal has a chance to finish at the top of the standings again. He currently has 5,820 points, second to Carlos Alcaraz and his 6,650. But Nadal made it clear on Tuesday what his priorities are when asked about it.
There will be no fight.
Nadal finished the year five times at the top of the rankings, tied with Roger Federer. Only Novak Djokovic (7) and Pete Sampras (6) have done better.
“I’m not fighting to be the noh 1, said the Spaniard during a press conference at the Paris Masters. It’s something I said a long time ago: I won’t fight for the top spot anymore. I accomplished the feat a few times and it made me very happy and proud. But I’m at the point in my career where I’m not fighting for that rank anymore.
“It’s obvious that the first time I climbed to the top, in 2008, I really wanted to be there. I thought I got great results in 2005, 2006 and 2007 as well. I won a lot of tournaments, I collected a lot of points. »
“Today is different. I only played about ten tournaments, finishing only eight. Difficult to be number 1 in these conditions. »
Dad number 1
For the moment he wants to be the dad noh 1.
The Paris tournament is his first since his wife, Maria Francesca Perello, gave birth to their first child, a boy, in early October. Nadal admitted he saw things differently since then.
“It’s kind of interesting to see, even having only known him for two or three weeks, that leaving your boy at home, you miss him. We are lucky with today’s technology to be able to videoconference whenever you want. »
Nadal took advantage of a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the duel between Tommy Paul and Roberto Bautista Agut in the second on Wednesday. He hasn’t played since September, when he teamed up with Federer in doubles at the Laver Cup, the Swiss’ last game of his career.
The Spaniard has won the Australian and French Opens this season to take his tally of career Grand Slam triumphs to 22, one more than Djokovic and two better than Federer. On the circuit, however, we feel that a changing of the guard is taking place. At least in Spain, where Nadal passed the baton to Alcaraz, a 19-year-old prodigy.
Due to injuries, Nadal was limited to 10 tournaments. An abdominal injury notably forced him to withdraw from the Wimbledon semi-finals and bothered him all summer.
The first world rank at the end of the year will only be decided after the ATP Finals, on November 13 in Turin. Alcaraz could materialize this place for the first time. He would become the first player not named Nadal, Djokovic, Federer or Andy Murray since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, noh 3, and Casper Ruud, noh 4, also have a slim chance of achieving the feat, since 1000 points will be awarded to the winner of the Paris Masters and 1500 others for a perfect run at the ATP Finals.