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Tennis – ATP 500 – Barcelona Open – Real Club de Tennis Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain – April 25, 2021 Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates with the trophy after winning the Barcelona Open against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas REUTERS/Albert Gea
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Tennis – ATP 500 – Barcelona Open – Real Club de Tennis Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain – April 25, 2021 Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates with the trophy after winning the Barcelona Open against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas REUTERS/Albert Gea
Rafael Nadal recently won his 12th Barcelona Open title after battling past Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. In the three-set marathon that lasted for more than 210 minutes, Rafa was able to keep himself calm and even saved a match-point. The final scoreline of the match was 6-4, 6(6)-7, 7-5.
After this victory in Barcelona, Rafael Nadal secured 500 points in the ATP rankings. With this, he surpassed Daniil Medvedev and recaptured his No.2 spot. Apart from all this, there is some more positive news for the Spaniard.
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Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his semi-final match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta REUTERS/Albert Gea
With his recent title, he now is in the 8th position in the list of players that will be playing the ATP Finals in Turin this year. Before this, Rafa was on the 18th spot with only 540 points. However, after earning 500 more points, he now has 1,040 points in the year so far.
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With two Masters 1000 tournaments on clay and the French Open 2021 yet to come, Nadal can surely secure many more points. He is the ‘King of Clay’ and it won’t be a surprise if manages to secure 3000 points or even more. If he does so, he’ll be at the top of the list and will undoubtedly qualify for the ATP Finals 2021.
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Roger Federer of Switzerland looks on during his Men’s Singles Semifinal match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
On the other hand, Rafa’s arch-rival Roger Federer is nowhere close in the race so far. He is currently on the 234th spot on the list. Although he’ll be playing at the Geneva Open and French Open 2021, it’ll be really tough for him to enter the top 8 right now.
Who are the other players qualifying for the ATP Finals right now, apart from Rafael Nadal?
Currently, Stefanos Tsitsipas is on the top of the list as he has won 2,840 points in the year so far. He recently won the Monte Carlo Masters 2021 title and ended up as the runner-up of the Barcelona Open 2021 and the Mexican Open 2021.
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LONDON, ENGLAND -: Rafael Nadal of Spain and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece embrace at the net after their singles match. Day Six of the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 Arena on November 15, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Linnea Rheborg/Getty Images)
Andrey Rublev is right behind him with 2,490 points after playing exceptionally well in the season so far. Australian Open 2021 winner Novak Djokovic is third on the list with 2,320 points after an early exit from the Serbian Open and Monte Carlo Masters 2021. Open 13 winner Daniil Medvedev is fourth on the list with 2,130 points.
There are three new names on the list. ATP Dubai 2021 winner Aslan Karatsev is fifth on the list with 1,505 points. Similarly, Miami Open 2021 champion Hubert Hurkacz and runner-up Jannik Sinner are sixth and seventh on the list with 1,440 and 1,220 points respectively.
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Rafael Nadal has regained his momentum, and it’ll be tough for any player to beat him on clay now. After his recent form, he’ll definitely begin as the favorite at the French Open 2021. Will Rafa be able to get his name to the top of the list at the end of the clay-court season?
