Rafael Nadal tries to arrive in Barcelona on time | ATP Tour

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Nadal tries to arrive in Barcelona on time

The 12-time champion has been training at the Real Club Tenis Barcelona for three days

April 12, 2024

Rafael Nadal trained this Friday with Alejandro Davidovich in Barcelona.
By ATPTour.com/es Staff

It won’t be for not having tried. No one can blame Rafael Nadal for not having done everything in his power to arrive on time for this edition of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, which takes place from April 15 to 21.

The Spaniard trained this Friday on the courts of the Real Club Tenis de Barcelona-1899, which hosts this ATP 500 on clay. He did it for the third day in a row, narrowing his chances of participating for the seventeenth time in one of the four tournaments he has won ten or more times in his career.

Nadal appeared in a red sleeveless shirt and white pants at the court that bears his name at 11 in the morning to train with his compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Under intense heat, the Spaniard was testing himself for just over two hours, doing various exercises and even playing a set.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion was accompanied at all times by his coaches Carlos Moyà, Marc López and Gustavo Marcaccio. In addition to his physiotherapist Rafael Maymó, his manager Carlos Costa and Dr. Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro.

Despite not having been able to participate in the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo that were part of his initial roadmap, the Spaniard continues to exercise on the clay in Barcelona to find optimal condition to return to competition.

And this Friday afternoon he returned to the training court, in this case No. 18 of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899, to continue carving different aspects of his game. This time with Moyà and López as sparring partners.

“With the hope of being here these days before the start of the tournament. I’m here to see how it goes… with the desire to try to play. I’ll tell you about it. It’s important to say that I don’t want to confirm that I will play, I hope so. We’ll see,” he said after his first training session last Wednesday.

Since then, Nadal has not stopped working on clay. The objective is to occupy one of the 64 squares in the table, which will be drawn this Saturday. Time will tell and, if he is finally gone, it will not be for not having tried.