Rafa Nadal is back and the tennis world awaits him with open arms. Having overcome the problems in the abdominal area that assailed him during his Wimbledon quarterfinal match, in which he managed to recover and complete an epic performance against Taylor Fritz, and which later forced him to withdraw before the semifinals, the Manacori returns with great aspirations. In fact, despite his absence in recent tournaments, Daniil Medvedev's early defeat in Montreal opens up the possibility of reaching the top of the ATP ranking in Cincinnati. His career in the United States begins against Borna Coric.
Nadal's debut at the Masters 1,000 in Cincinnati, where he starts as the second seed, will take place during the early hours of Wednesday to Thursday, not before 01:00 (Spanish time), on the Center Court. It can be seen live through Movistar Plus Deportes or
More than two months after his abandonment at Wimbledon, Nadal will pick up the racket again in an official match. The world number three will face number 152, Croatian Borna Coric, at his premiere in Cincinnati. This is being a year of ups and downs, of great successes and doubts about his physical condition and his future in the world of tennis. Champion of two Grand Slam tournaments, Roland Garros and the Australian Open, only injuries could stop him at Wimbledon, where he reached the semifinals despite chronic pain in his left foot and discomfort in the abdominal area.
With Alexander Zverev, number two in the world, still out due to the injury suffered, precisely, against Nadal at Roland Garros, the doors to the top of the ATP ranking are opening for the Spaniard earlier than expected. Medvedev's resounding fall in Montreal, where he lost close to a thousand points, makes overtaking him in the standings a possibility. However, for this Nadal would have to win the tournament, something in itself complicated, even more so with the unknown of his physical condition. In addition, the Russian tennis player could not reach the quarterfinals. He has already beaten Van de Zandschulp in the first round, so all the hopes of the man from Manacori go through the winner of the match between Tommy Paul and Denis Shapovalov.
Nadal will be thinking of doing his part, because although Medvedev maintains his place on the throne at the end of this event, the US Open is still ahead, a new opportunity. To do this, first, he must overcome Borna Coric this morning. The Croatian defeated Lorenzo Musetti in two hard-fought sets (7-6, 6-3) to face Nadal in his second round. Previously they met four times, with two wins for each. All of his crashes occurred on hard court. One of the Spaniard's defeats against Coric happened precisely in Cincinnati in 2016.
