Rafael Nadal’s hard court successes in 2013 have defied belief after at the beginning of the year he maintained the surface was dangerous to players’ health. But the two big gaps in his list of dominance have been the Australian Open and Miami’s Sony Open. He intends to put that right in 2014 and will play both events.
The world no.1 was still sidelined in January and so didn’t play the Australian Open but opted to miss Miami in March because it came so soon after his title winning triumph at Indian Wells’ BNP Paribas Open.
Nadal was last week presented with the title Spain’s greatest ever athlete by the sporting newspaper Marca and in an interview he intimated a return to Miami in 2014 was imminent.
Then he released a statement that gave confirmation. “I was very disappointed that I was not able to attend last year’s tournament and am looking forward to returning in 2014,” he said.
“I love to play in Miami because of its beautiful location and tremendous fans support. Miami is an international city, and the diverse crowds that attend the tournament create an unbelievable atmosphere. I am excited to see all my fans in Miami this year.”
Nadal started his momentous comeback earlier this year with a series of four tournaments in six weeks, culminating in Indian Wells where he beat Juan Martin del Potro in the final. He will gauge this schedule back in 2014 and confirmed he will not play the Chilean event in Viña del Mar.
He will definitely play the new tournament in Rio de Janeiro, but at this time has not decided whether he will accept invitations to compete in Buenos Aires, where he didn’t play this year, and Acapulco. Negotiations for him to defend his title in the Mexican event are ongoing.
Topics: 10sballs.com, Australian Open, BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, Rafael Nadal, Sony Open, Tennis, Tennis News