Rafael Nadal becomes first player to qualify for 2022 ATP Finals
ATP
After a few months of the 2022 season, it was obvious that Rafael Nadal would not be missing out on the 2022 ATP Finals, and now he has officially secured his spot.
The 36-year-old Spaniard became the first player to qualify for the ATP Finals in the 2022 season as he leads the ATP Race to Turin. His season dominance started already at the Melbourne Summer Set 1 tournament, which he won without losing a set.
The Spaniard then went on to win the Australian Open as well, which guaranteed him an important 2,000 points. After that, he steamrolled past everyone at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, accumulating another 500 points.
That means that after just two months of play, Nadal had a total of 2,750 points to his name. That would have been enough to qualify for the ATP Finals in 2019 when the eighth-qualified Matteo Berrettini had a total of 2,670 points.
Nadal then reached the Indian Wells Open final, before winning also the Roland Garros title, which sealed his qualification, even though not mathematically. He then also reached the Wimbledon semi-final.
Now, he has finally qualified also mathematically. The Spaniard has accumulated a total of 5,630 points this season. That is more than the 5,475 points currently needed to qualify for the 2022 ATP Finals.
Therefore, he became the first player to do so despite losing in his first match at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters to Borna Coric.
His closest rivals in the ATP Race and for the year-end No. 1 spot in the ATP Rankings are Carlos Alcaraz, who is currently second, and the third player in the ATP Race, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is also a candidate to soon qualify for the year-end event that will be held in Torino from November 13th until 20th.
