WATCH: Rafael Nadal Begins His Preparations With Carlos Moya Ahead of Citi Open 2021

Fans became quite disappointed after World No.3 Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics 2021. The Spaniard hasn’t played a professional match since the French Open 2021 but is looking forward to making a comeback soon on the court.

Rafael Nadal will be playing at the Washington Open 2021, popularly known as the Citi Open. It’ll be like a warm-up tournament for Rafa ahead of the upcoming hard-court season.

Recently, Nadal began his preparations at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain for the Citi Open 2021. In a recent video, one can watch him hitting the net with his coach, Carlos Moya. Interestingly, he is spending a lot of time practicing his backhand- a shot that he hasn’t been able to hit effectively in this season.

After losing the French Open 2021, Rafa is eyeing the US Open 2021. The Grand Slam is still a month away but the Spaniard needs to regain his form and momentum after not playing tennis for quite some time. As a result, fans might see play in many lead-up tournaments before the US Open 2021.

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Rafael Nadal in the 2021 tennis season

Overall, it has been a decent season for Nadal. Although he hasn’t won a Grand Slam title this season yet, the 35-year-old has delivered some quite remarkable performances on the court.

Despite a rough start at the Australian Open 2021, Nadal once again impressed fans on clay. He won the Barcelona Open title for the 12th time this year and then achieved his ‘La Decima’ at the Italian Open 2021.

Even though he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semis of the French Open 2021 and failed to defend his title, he played really well at the major. After that, he took some time off and didn’t play at the Wimbledon Championships and the Tokyo Olympics 2021.

The hardcourts in the USA support Rafael Nadal’s gameplay as he is able to generate a lot of topspin in his shots. Thus, fans have high expectations from him and want him to succeed in New York this year. Will he be able to lift his 21st Grand Slam title at the US Open 2021?

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