Rafael Nadal became the first player to clinch a spot in the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals with his 7-5, 7-6(4) victory over Stan Wawrinka in the third round of the Rogers Cup on Thursday night.
“It was a good match,” Nadal assessed. “Of course, a very positive victory for me against a very tough opponent. (I’m) happy to see Stan playing that well again. So I am very pleased. That’s what I needed–a match like this to be a little bit more confident, and I did it.”
The world No. 1’s place in London was a foregone conclusion going into this tournament, with one major title (French Open), two slam semifinals (Australian Open and Wimbledon), two Masters 1000 triumphs (Monte-Carlo and Rome), and an additional title in Barcelona. But it became official on Wednesday, when he reached a point total of 5,940 for the season. It is mathematically impossible for eight other players to reach the 5,875-point mark in 2018–currently the magic number to clinch.
Nadal has never won the year-end championship in just eight career appearances. He has now qualified 14 times, but injuries have often prevented from finishing seasons at the tour’s grand finale. The Spaniard attempted to play in 2017 only to withdraw after losing his first-round robin match to David Goffin. Nadal is 12-9 lifetime in six trips to the O2 Arena in London, with three successful round-robin bids–including two runner-up performances.
Alexander Zverev is currently second in the race to London, followed by Roger Federer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, and Kevin Anderson. John Isner and Fabio Fognini would be the two alternates if the regular season ended now.
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congrats, Rafa
Where would Rafa be now ? Somewhere in US or back to Mallorca ? Any ideas
On Monday, Rafa played golf in Toronto.
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Anonymous AT 8:31 PM = augusta08.
🙂
He may be at Mexico, having a short holiday at the hotel he invested in; and then starts training a few days later.
Yes, usually HC swing sort of disallows European players to move back, something which they can do during clay swing. But still it would be a good rest for him. I think back to back tourneys for Rafa and Fed would be very tough now especially on HC where it takes a lot of toll.
winning in Toronto made skipping so much easy for Rafa. He got a good practice and he gets a good rest and can go to NY early next week now.