The tennis tour is still revolving around hard courts for now, but Rafael Nadal is emotionally and mentally invested in playing on clay.
The ATP's traditional clay swing will officially begin on April 1st, with a trio of ATP 250 claycourt tournaments held in three continents. Houston preserves its reputation as the only ATP claycourt tournament in America. At the same time, Marrakech and Estoril will also run concurrently in the first week of April.
For the best part of two decades, this stage of the season has been synonymous with one man: Rafael Nadal, who has terrorized his opponents and beaten them to a pulp. At his pomp, there has not been a more intimidating opponent on clay than the man nicknamed El Matador.
The legendary Spaniard has won 92 career titles, of which 63 have been accumulated while playing on clay courts. He recorded 81 match wins on the trot between April 2005 and May 2007 on the dirt - the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.
But 2024 is unlike any other for Nadal. Having been a claycourt machine for nearly 20 years, he has been reduced to his human form by injuries. Until last year, Nadal had not missed an edition of the French Open since his debut back in 2005.
And this season, it is unclear how much he will play before and after Roland Garros. But the positive news is that he is not hindered by any ailments going to the clay swing.
Having withdrawn from Indian Wells and skipping the Miami Open, Nadal gave his fans a glimpse of what they should expect from him from next month, sharing a photo of himself kicking the dust off his shoes in a manner symbolic of playing claycourt tennis.
He's made it his intention to enjoy the claycourt season at least one final time, with the Monte Carlo Masters, which begins on April 7th, next on his priority list.
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