Rafael Nadal's path to the trophy at the 2022 Madrid Open

Rafael Nadal will be looking to add his sixth Madrid Open title to his collection at the 2022 edition of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

On April 29th, 2022, the Spaniard celebrated 20 years on the ATP Tour, and on Monday, he will start his sixth title rush at the 2022 Madrid Open, as he started his title collection already in 2005.

Nadal is, without a doubt, the best clay-court player to ever step on the tennis court. The 35-year-old Spaniard triumphed 13 times at Roland Garros, and no player came anywhere close to him in this statistic.

He also has dozens of clay-court titles from around the world, and now he will try to add another one in the Spanish capital at the Madrid Open. However, he will face tough opposition if he wants to win the title at the 2022 Madrid Open.

Since he's the third seed, Nadal received a bye in the first round, but in the second round, he will meet the winner of the match between Miomir Kecmanovic and Alexander Bublik, and both players are certainly capable of surprising higher-ranked opponents.

In the third round, the 13-time Roland Garros winner can meet another very strong opponent as he is drawn to face Aslan Karatsev, Botic van de Zandschulp, or Pablo Carreno Busta.

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But Nadal's real challenge in Madrid could begin in the second part of the tournament. In the quarter-finals, he can face fellow countryman Carlos Alcaraz, one of the brightest young stars on the ATP Tour, Fabio Fognini, or Cameron Norrie.

In the semi-finals of the Spanish Masters tournament, he could possibly take on one of his greatest rivals, Novak Djokovic. Anyone might be Nadal's final opponent, including the recent Serbia Open champion Andrey Rublev.

Alexander Zverev won the Madrid Open previously, and he is also in the bottom half of the Madrid Open draw. Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters this year, and he could also make it into the final in the Spanish capital.

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Rafael Nadal's path to the trophy at the 2022 Madrid Open: