Rafael Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings is probably ancient history. At 35, the record holder for Grand Slam victories declared on Tuesday February 22 that he was resigned to no longer fighting for the place of world No. 1. A small event, three weeks after his victory at the Australian Open.
The Spaniard, now 5th in the ATP rankings, easily qualified for the second round of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco (Mexico) on Tuesday. Insufficient to maintain the dream of dethroning the Serbian Novak Djokovic or his probable successor, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, if the latter wins in Mexico.
“I think that is now a thing of the past. My physical problems unfortunately prevent me from being able to hope to become number one again”
Rafael Nadalat a press conference in Acapulco.
Nadal became No. 1 for the first time on August 18, 2008, but has not had this honor since January 10, 2020. However, he remains in the top five in the world, currently 150 points behind 4th, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas , and 1,587 points ahead of the 6th, the Italian Matteo Berrettini.
“I sometimes felt in a position to be number 1, but my physical condition did not allow it. Today, my objectives are different, I will not pursue this goal, it would be a mistake to persevere”underlined the Mallorcan.
Before his victory in Australia, he had been sidelined for more than four months for treatment of a left foot injury and contracting the coronavirus late last year.
“I have played very little for years”recalled Nadal. “I’m asked if I’m going to reduce the number of my appearances even more but if I reduce them even more, I might as well quit tennis”he noted.