After the spring of the North American hard-court event, 21-time Grand Slam singles champion Nadal has been in off-season condition.
There are two reasons: one is because of the continuous participation at the beginning of the season, the body began to have injuries and need to recuperate; the second is that the clay season that has begun, especially the French Open, will be the Grand Slam tournament he focuses on preparing for throughout the year, and it is also a Grand Slam with his absolute dominance.
For Nadal, he had a very successful start to the 2022 season. He has won three titles before the Australian Open, the Australian Open and Acapulco, which is perfect.
Especially after winning his 21st professional Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, he overtook Federer and Djokovic to become the male player with the largest number of Grand Slams in history, breaking the long-standing jux situation of the Big Three.
April 25 is another day of great concern for Nadal. Because, on this day in 2005, at the age of 18, after winning his 12th career title in Barcelona, he was ranked in the world's top ten for the first time in singles world rankings, rising from 11th to 7th.
Although Nadal has been plagued by injuries over the years, even missing the Australian Open twice, Missing Wimbledon three times and missing the US Open four times, his singles ranking has always been in the top 10 in the world, which is incredible.
Today, Nadal, who is about to turn 36, is in fourth place. Since November 2020, he holds the record for the longest consecutive ranking in the top ten in the world, surpassing the previous record of 789 weeks held by star Jimmy Connors in this position.
Atp players rank in the world's top ten consecutive weeks and time span:
Number of weeks, players and time span
866 weeks: Nadal (2005–present)
789 weeks: Jimmy Connors (1973-1988)
741 weeks: Federer (2002-2016)
619 weeks: Ivan Lendl (1980-1992)
565 weeks: Sampras (1990-2001)
It should be noted that the number of weeks in the top ten of Nadal's time in the above data does not include the 22-week ranking time frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March to August 2020.
Next, as the French Open approaches in May, Nadal will most likely return at the Madrid Masters and then head to Roland Garros at full speed.
Judging from Nadal's past performances in Paris, even if he has not participated in any clay races this season, the probability of successful defending his title is still very high. (Source: Tennis House Author: Wu Li Fun)