Rafael Nadal recently announced on social media that he will be returning to play in the Barcelona Open in the clay swing of the 2024 season. The tournament will be held from April 13 to 30 next year. The tournament director, David Ferrer, who is also one of Nadal’s closest friends and colleagues, expressed his delight at Nadal being all set to grace the Barcelona crowd with his presence and game again, being dearly missed. Interestingly, the last time the 22-time Grand Slam champion won the tournament was in 2021, which also happens to be his last appearance in the competition.
In 2022, Rafael Nadal opted out of the event to recover from his rib injury. It proved to be a wise choice as it gave Nadal some vital time to recover, which helped in his French Open win that year. While in 2023, Nadal was out for the entire season after getting knocked out of the second round of the Australian Open.
Carlos Alcaraz made the most of Rafael Nadal being absent in the premier ATP 500 tournament of Spain, establishing himself as the new ‘King of Barcelona’. Alcaraz won in 2022 and 2023, making him a huge favorite to complete a trio of back-to-back titles, something which Nadal did multiple times in his career in Barcelona. Regardless, with Nadal’s return and Alcaraz becoming a much better player each year, it is set to give some much-needed sheen to the Barcelona Open.
A potential Rafael Nadal vs Carlos Alcaraz matchup would be a delight for the home crowd. It is also a possibility that this happens as early as the second or third round due to Nadal being ranked outside the top 600 of the ATP rankings. It remains to be seen whether Nadal is given an easier draw in order to give him a chance to advance past the quarterfinals atleast.
Rafael Nadal would surely want to win the title for one final time at least, which would be his 13th Barcelona Open win. The King of Clay will definitely not go down without a tough fight, especially on a clay court he has virtually owned over the years. It would also deny Alcaraz from being the second player after Nadal to complete the coveted achievement of winning the title 3 times in a row atleast once in the last 25-30 years.
With nothing to lose, Rafael Nadal could play with greater freedom. Nadal has only gone twice without winning a Barcelona Open title for 3 years. It was in 2014 and 2015 when Kei Nishikori stunned the world by winning on Nadal’s home turf twice. And the Spaniard denied Nishikori the triple win by defeating him in the 2016 final.
Dominic Thiem won in 2019 and the tournament was called off in 2020 due to Covid-19. So technically, this cannot be held so much against Rafael Nadal. The form Nadal showed in 2020 whenever tennis was on, was top-notch, making it unfortunate that he could not add to his ATP titles tally.
Rafael Nadal vs Carlos Alcaraz Las Vegas match and head-to-head so far
The Rafael Nadal Barcelona Open participation news has come days after the Spanish legend confirmed that he will take on Carlos Alcaraz in a men’s singles exhibition match in Las Vegas on March 3, 2024 named the ‘Netflix Slam’. Many are awaiting a new chapter of this rivalry of two generations in 2024. Nadal and Alcaraz have played each other on the ATP Tour thrice so far.
Rafael Nadal won their first encounter back in 2021 at the Madrid Masters Round of 32. However, Nadal had to work much harder to beat Alcaraz in arguably their most entertaining clash so far, in 2022 in the Indian Wells Masters semifinals. The 22-time Grand Slam champion won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 despite carrying an injury while battling a resurgent Alcaraz.
However, Carlos Alcaraz clinched his first career win over Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Madrid Masters quarterfinals. Nadal wasn’t at his best but Alcaraz was amongst the two players alongside Denis Shapovalov to beat the King of Clay on his favorite surface in 2022. Alcaraz won 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 and that powered him eventually to the title win.
