Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal recently played in the ATP Finals. The young Norwegian made it to the finals and lost to Novak Djokovic while the Spaniard couldn’t progress beyond the group stage.
Nadal and Ruud will now be seen in action in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the South American exhibition tennis tour. Ruud met Nadal in Mallorca ahead of their trip and the former posted a picture on his Instagram wall with the legendary Spaniard. Both players looked excited about their upcoming campaign. Ruud wrote the following in the caption:
“On our way!
Excited to be heading to Latin America with @rafaelnadal. See you soon, Argentina.”
Nadal and Ruud are currently ranked world No. 2 and 3, respectively, and had a great season overall. While Ruud managed to reach two Grand Slam finals, Nadal added two Grand Slam titles to his trophy cabinet. They faced each other on a couple of occasions this year. The experienced campaigner got the better of the youngster on both occasions.
Their first meeting came at the finals of the French Open. Nadal was at the peak of his powers at his favorite tournament and he made a light work of the youngster, winning a record-extending 14th French Open title. Their most recent encounter came in the group stage of the ATP Finals in Turin.
It was a dead rubber as Ruud had already progressed to the knockouts with two wins while Nadal had no hopes of going beyond following a couple of defeats. The southpaw was struggling with form but played his best match in the tournament and defeated Ruud in a tight affair.
At a press conference during the ATP Finals, Ruud said that he felt honored to be invited to the Latin American tour alongside his idol.
“It’s something that I was honored to be invited to the Latin American tour with Rafa,” Ruud said in a press conference at the ATP Finals.
“I’m not going to say it’s going to be very demanding. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. Let’s see when I get back. I still will have many days to recover from the jet lag and whatever,” he added.
Former players Gabriela Sabatini and Gisela Dulko will return to action on the tour and join Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal in mixed doubles matches.
Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud will be seen in action in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, November 23. They will then head to Santiago, Chile, for Day 2 of the tour on Friday, November 25.
The caravan will move to Bogota, Colombia, on November 26, and Quito, Ecuador, on Sunday, November 27. Belo Horizonte, Brazil, will play host on Tuesday, November 29, which is the penultimate day of the tour. The final day of the tour is on Thursday, December 1, and will take place in Mexico City.
The 36-year-old Rafael Nadal also posted a photo on his Instagram wall with Casper Ruud and wrote the following in the caption:
“Now we’re on our way. See you soon Argentina (and after…)”
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