Back home, Rafael Nadal looks to resume his season where he left off before being sidelined by an injury that halted a great start to his year.
Nadal will seek his fourth title of the season this week at the Madrid Open as he returns to action following a rib stress fracture that kept him out for about a month.
Nadal had won his first 20 matches of the year before getting injured in the semifinals at Indian Wells. He made it to the final but lost to Taylor Fritz for his first defeat.
Until then, it had been the third-best start to a season on the ATP Tour since 1990. Nadal won the Australian Open for a record 21st Grand Slam title and also won in Melbourne and Acapulco. He missed tournaments in Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona because of the injury.
The 35-year-old Spaniard will be trying to win the Madrid title for the sixth time, and first since 2017, though he said last week he would have “few chances” of winning after arriving “with minimum preparation.” He will debut against either Miomir Kecmanovic or Alexander Bublik.—AP
