Rafael Nadal Set For Madrid Return Next Week

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Rafael Nadal Set For Madrid Return Next Week
By Ken Miller, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Saturday, April 30, 2022 9:46am PST USA

Madrid-- The world number four and third seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain is set to rejoin the men's tennis tour next week at the Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain following a month long break from the tour due to a rib stress fracture.

The 35 year old Nadal began the year by winning 20 matches in a row including the title at the Australian Open in Melbourne in January before losing in the Indian Wells final to the American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-6(7-5) while being hampered by injury.

Nadal has won a men's record 21 singles' grand slam titles

Rafael Nadal of Spain

Rafael Nadal has an astonishing 105-3 Roland Garros career record.

and stands as the favorite at Roland Garros, the second of the four grand slams.

Roland Garros which begins Sunday, May 22nd. Nadal, known as the king of clay, has won the Roland Garros singles' title a record 13 times.

Nadal has an astonishing 105-3 Roland Garros career record.

At Madrid, Nadal has a first round bye and will face either Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia or Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in round two.

In the quarterfinals, Nadal could play the red hot 18 year old and seventh seeded Carlos Alcarez also of Spain.

Alcarez is 23-3 this year after winning titles in Rio de Janeiro and Miami.

Head to head, Nadal leads Alcarez 2-0 after posting a win last year at Madrid as well as last month in Indian Wells.

Should Nadal get past Alcarez in the Madrid quarterfinals, he could face the world number one and top seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the semifinals.

Djokovic leads Nadal head to head 30-28 with Djokovic winning the duos' last meeting in last year's Roland Garros final 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-4), 6-2.

In the Madrid final, Nadal could face either the second seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany or the fourth seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

In a field stacked with talent, eight of the top ten ranked men's tennis players are entered with only the second ranked Daniil Medvedev of Russia (hernia) and the sixth ranked Matteo Berrettini of Italy (right hand) not entered both due to surgeries.