- Rafael Nadal ranking history took a beating out of the top 10
- He is ranked world No.13
- His ranking dipped after a hip injury at the Australian Open
Rafael Nadal ranking history took a beating out of the top 10 in ATP Tour ranking to world No.13 currently, a first in nearly 18 years.
The last time Nadal featured outside the comfort of the top 10 tennis players in the world was in April 2005. His drop is courtesy of injuries plaguing him since Wimbledon in 2022.
American tennis star Mackenzie McDonald knocked Nadal out of the Australian Open in the second round. Nadal couldn’t match up to McDonald due to a hip injury which he is now recovering from since January.
The 36-year-old said the pain he experienced was too much and had never felt that ever before. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner spent 912 weeks in the top 10, which is a record for men’s tennis.
Nadal’s absence from the top spots, meanwhile, might not last long given that he plans to make a comeback in time for the clay court season. In recent weeks, he has shared numerous images and videos on social media of himself working out on clay courts.
Rafael Nadal Training. Photo/Tennis.com
This tournament could be yet another feat in Rafael Nadal ranking history. The French Open which he has dominated for years is quickly approaching and his fans hope he is in better form to take on Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. He is looking forward to the warm-up tournament in Monte Carlo in April.
It will be a prelude to the second Grand Slam tournament of the year scheduled to start on May 28. Despite all of his injury concerns, current world No. 4 Casper Ruud opines that Nadal could still surprise many by winning his 23rd Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
Ruud draws his conclusion from Nadal’s comeback in the 2022 ATP Tour season. After being out of the 2021 season for six months with a foot injury, he returned to the Australian Open and won the tournament.
He followed up this win with yet another slam victory at Roland Garros.
WHO HAS BEATEN NADAL THE MOST?
Going back to Rafael Nadal ranking history, Djokovic holds the lead of thrashing Nadal 30 times in 59 matches they battled each other on. No other player has ever come close to defeating the Spaniard 30 times.
The first time Djokovic and Nadal faced off was in 2006 in the Roland Garris quarterfinals. In that encounter, Nadal prevailed in the opening two sets until Djokovic retired owing to injury.
This encounter opened one of the biggest rivalries in tennis history between the Spaniard and the Serbian. By the end of 2010, Nadal had a 16-7 head-to-head advantage over Djokovic, but the Serb began to play at a whole different level after that.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC VS RAFAEL NADAL
With the meteoric rise of Alcaraz in tennis, Djokovic in February maintained that Nadal remains his biggest competitor in the sport. Djokovic said that despite battling for the world No.1 ranking with Alcaraz, he carries on the spirit to square it out with Nadal who equals his 22 Grand Slam victories so far.
Carlos Alcaraz is currently ranked the World No. 1 player in men’s singles. Photo/ CNN.
He praised Alcaraz’s determination to rise to the highest level at 19 adding that he is the next star player in tennis but that doesn’t take away his spirit to compete against Nadal.
“I cannot call him my main rival [Alcaraz]. My main rival is still Nadal, you know, even though Alcaraz is obviously No 2 [in the world rankings].
“He is arguably the next biggest thing in our sport or he is already there. I just feel the rivalry with Nadal is something that is difficult to eliminate just because someone is doing great things in the last year and a half, you know,” Tennis365 reports.
Nadal won his 21st Grand Slam in 2022 at the Australian Open and won his 22nd a few months later at Roland Garros. However, he sustained an injury that pushed him out of Wimbledon and the US Open.
Djokovic added a 21st Grand Slam at Wimbledon where he defeated Nick Kyrgios. He, however, missed out on an opportunity to chase a 22nd slam in 2022 at the US Open. With such a duel, there is so much more to Rafael Nadal ranking history in the coming days.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login