Rafael Nadal
The ATP Barcelona Open (Godo) is scheduled to take place from April 17-23 at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona – Rafael Nadal will miss the tournament.
Rafael Nadal took to Twitter to convey his good wishes to his good friend and the Director of ATP Barcelona Open ahead of the tournament’s inaugural match next week.
Nadal’s compatriot and former Tennis star David Ferrer has been the Director of this tournament since 2019. Nadal was expected to make a comeback on the ATP tour and play at the Barcelona Open. However, the Spaniard has revealed that he hasn’t yet fully recovered from his hip injury and hence, he won’t be able to participate in the event.
Nadal has been out of action with a hip injury since the Australian Open earlier this year. He was expected to make a comeback during the clay-court season but the injury has forced him to withdraw from another event. The Spaniard hasn’t played a match since his second round loss at the Australian Open. Nadal is patiently waiting for a full recovery before coming back but it’s not certain when he will eventually be able to play. While Nadal won’t participate in the tournament, other stars like defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud are set to feature in this ATP-500 event.
The ATP Barcelona Open takes place on clay surface and it is no surprise that Nadal is the most successful player in the history of the tournament. The ‘King of Clay’ has won the singles title a record twelve times and the center court of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona has been renamed as the Rafael Nadal Arena in his honour. Nadal won this title every year from 2005-2013 barring 2010 and won it an additional four more times in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
Nadal’s record on clay surfaces has been impeccable over the years and he’s rightfully called the ‘King of Clay’. There is no doubt that the Spaniard is the greatest Tennis player on Clay in the history of the sport.
In his illustrious career till date, Nadal has won an all-time record of 22 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, including a record 14 French Open titles. He has won 92 ATP singles titles, including 36 Masters titles, with 63 of these on clay. Nadal is one of only two men to complete the career Golden Slam in singles. His 81 consecutive wins on clay is the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.
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