It may only be an exhibition, and a lucrative one at that, but Rafael Nadal kicked off his 2016 campaign with a title at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Saturday. Nadal triumphed in the final 7-6(2), 6-3 over Milos Raonic after one hour and 30 minutes.
The world No. 5 steamrolled through the opening tiebreaker before seizing a significant upper hand by breaking for 3-1 in the second. He eventually converted match point on serve at 5-3 with a punishing inside-out forehand.
“It’s a great feeling,” Nadal assured. “It’s a great way to start the new season winning against two of the best players in the world (Raonic and David Ferrer) and playing at the right level. I played a good level of tennis and I’m happy for that.
This is the third time he has prevailed in Abu Dhabi, having previously lifted the trophy in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
“I’m happy to win the title here in Abu Dhabi again,” the No. 2 seed added. “I tried hard every year (to win), but I feel that I arrived in very good shape this year.”
“It’s been phenomenal,” Raonic agreed. “It’s been a premium way to set up 2016. You get three great matches against great players (Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, and Kevin Anderson) and it gives you a lot to build off–a lot of insight. Hopefully things will keep going well through the first month of the year.”
It was a productive day for Spaniards, as Ferrer preceded Nadal’s victory by securing third place in the six-man field with a 6-7(1), 6-4, 10-8 victory over Wawrinka in a showdown between the two semifinal losers.
Wawrinka seemed to be in control of the match most of the way, but he struggled when playing from ahead. The fourth-ranked Swiss dropped the second set after taking the first and he could not seal the deal despite leading 5-0 in the super-tiebreaker. Ferrer took 10 of the last 13 points to steal the win from his opponent’s grasp after one hour and 28 minutes of competition.
Ferrer and Nadal will officially begin their seasons this upcoming week in Doha, while Wawrinka heads to Chennai as the two-time defending champion of that 250-point tournament.
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