Nadal avoids Djokovic in the Masters Cup and works against the clock

Three days before the kick-off at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Rafael Nadal already knows who his rivals will be in the tournament that will put the finishing touch to a volcanic season.

The 35-year-old Spaniard was placed in the Green Group along with the Norwegian Casper Ruud, the Canadian Felix-Augger Aliassime and the American Taylor Fritz.

That is to say, based on the fact that in an event of these dimensions there is no accessible opponent, much less an easy one, the Majorcan avoided at least one crossover at the first opportunity with Novak Djokovic or Daniil Medvedev himself, who despite the grayish tone of his season does not stop being a rival of maximum pedigree.

The Serbian and the Russian were paired, according to the draw held at noon this Thursday, in the Red Group of the competition, facing the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and the Russian Andrei Rublev.

The action will begin on Sunday and for the second consecutive year it will take place in Turin, which picked up the baton from London after the English capital hosted the tournament for 12 years, from 2009 to 2020. Last year the German Alexander Zverev was crowned, outside of combat since June due to the injury that occurred precisely against Nadal, who beyond hype and greater or lesser fortunes, does not lose a single second to generate options.

On Sunday at 9:00 p.m. he has an appointment with Fritz.

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Since an abdominal injury occurred in July, on the eve of the Wimbledon semifinals against Nick Kyrgios, the Spaniard has only been able to play six matches: one at the Cincinnati Masters (inclined by Borna Coric) four at the US Open ( Frances Tiafoe) and another in Paris-Bercy, where he was seen to lack rhythm in the duel with the North American Tommy Paul.

Therefore, he warned: “It is difficult for me to get there [to Turin] in good shape, in good enough shape to win a tournament that I have never won.

The only thing I can do is get there earlier than usual and train.”

This is how Nadal did it, that on Wednesday afternoon he was already rallying to try to gain sensations as quickly as possible and that yesterday he played in a double session, according to the newspaper

: two hours in the morning, with Tsitsipas, and another in the afternoon under the supervision of Carlos Moyà and Francis Roig, with Marc López in the return.

the canadian menace

It won't be easy, but at least he has the consolation of having fallen into a group,

, less hostile.

In any case, he will have on the other side of the net one of the most fit tennis players of the moment, Aliassime, who until his fall in the Paris-Bercy semifinals linked 17 wins and three titles;

there will also be Ruud, who is not going through his best moment, but who has shown a qualitative leap on cement with the US Open final on the record and good performances in other tournaments;

Fritz seems to be in the slipstream, recurring this season since they already met in Indian Wells and Wimbledon.

On both occasions, the man from Manacor competed injured, rib and abdomen;

he saved the latter, but gave in on the former.

For Nadal, the option is piecework, gaining some time in the opening phase and trying to land in the semi-finals with a bit more verve.

It is difficult, it is complicated;

even more so in the Masters, the only tournament of real prestige that he resists.

However, Nadal is there, pick and shovel.

For his part it will not be, you know.

He puts it all.

"In sports, things change very quickly," he says from time to time.

And so it is.

The figures say that even he and Tsitsipas could take number one from Carlos Alcaraz, but the Majorcan, father since October 8, is another story right now.

To do so, he would have to land in the finals and undefeated;

in the case of the Greek, he will succeed with a full.

Compete, that is now the real goal.

And if he opens the door... there he wants to be.

RECORD IN PRIZES: 14.6 MILLION

This year, the ATP Finals will distribute the largest prize pool in the history of tennis.

Specifically, the organization of the tournament will distribute 14.6 million euros, an unprecedented amount.

In the event that the champion is crowned without losing a match, his loot would amount to 4.2 million, which would mean a record record.

Until today, the Australian Ashigh Barty, retired in March, has the highest economic distinction: 3.9 million for the conquest of the Women's Masters in 2019, in Shenzhen (China).

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