2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season
File:Nadal RG21 (22) (51377101885).jpg | |
Full name | Rafael Nadal Parera |
---|---|
Country | File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain |
Calendar prize money | $1,478,832 |
Singles | |
Season record | 24–5 |
Calendar titles | 2 |
Current ranking | No. 6 |
Ranking change from previous year | Decrease 4 |
Grand Slam & significant results | |
Australian Open | QF |
French Open | SF |
Wimbledon | A |
US Open | A |
Doubles | |
Season record | 0–0 |
Current ranking | No. 511 |
Ranking change from previous year | Decrease 36 |
← 2020 2022 → |
The 2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 9 February 2021, with the start of the Australian Open.
Yearly summary
Early hard court season
ATP Cup
Rafael Nadal was scheduled to begin his season at the ATP Cup. However, despite being on the Spanish team, he did not play any matches due to minor back issues.[1][2]
Australian Open
At the 2021 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite being two sets to love up. This marked only the second time Nadal has lost a grand slam match after being two sets up.[3] It was overall the third time he lost from 2 sets up, the others happened at the US Open 2015 to Fabio Fognini, and Miami 2005 to Roger Federer in the final when Masters finals were best of 5.
Indian Wells Masters
Indian Wells Masters was scheduled to take place in March 2021 but was postponed due to coronavirus concerns.[4]
Miami Open
Nadal withdrew from the Miami Open.[5]
Spring clay court season
Monte-Carlo Masters
Nadal won his first two matches losing a total of just 5 games in both combined, but then lost to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals in three sets.
Barcelona Open
Nadal saved a match point to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas, in 3 hours and 38 minutes, the longest final since 1991 (when records began). This was his record-extending 12th title at the event. [6][7]
Madrid Open
Nadal lost to Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.
Italian Open
Nadal saved two match points to defeat Denis Shapovalov. He then beat Alexander Zverev and Reilly Opelka to reach the final, where he defeated longtime rival Novak Djokovic in three sets.
French Open
At the French Open, Nadal entered as the heavy favorite seeking to become the first man to win 21 majors. He reached the semifinals after wins over Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman, where he encountered Novak Djokovic in a rematch of the previous year's final. There, Nadal was upset by eventual champion Djokovic in four sets, in only his third-ever loss at the French Open.
Grass court season
Wimbledon
Nadal withdrew from both Wimbledon and the Olympics, citing schedule reasons.
North American hard court season
Washington (Citi Open)
Nadal made his Washington debut in 2021. He faced Jack Sock in his opener, his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic at the French Open. Nadal recovered from a break down in the third set, prevailing in a final set tiebreak. He lost in the round of 16 to Lloyd Harris (tennis) in three sets. Following more injury problems, Nadal withdrew from Toronto and Cincinnati, and, on August 20, ended his season, citing his ongoing foot injury as the main issue.
All matches
This table chronicles all the matches of Rafael Nadal in 2021.
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Singles matches
Tournament | Match | Round | Opponent (seed or key) | Rank | Result | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ATP Cup Melbourne, Australia ATP Cup Hard, outdoor 2 – 7 February 2021 | ||||||
Withdrew | ||||||
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam tournament Hard, outdoor 8 – 21 February 2021 | ||||||
1 / 1209 | 1R | Serbia Laslo Đere | 56 | Win | 6–3, 6–4, 6–1 | |
2 / 1210 | 2R | United States Michael Mmoh (Q) | 177 | Win | 6–1, 6–4, 6–2 | |
3 / 1211 | 3R | United Kingdom Cameron Norrie | 69 | Win | 7–5, 6–2, 7–5 | |
4 / 1212 | 4R | Italy Fabio Fognini (16) | 17 | Win | 6–3, 6–4, 6–2 | |
5 / 1213 | QF | Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) | 6 | Loss | 6–3, 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 4–6, 5–7 | |
Monte-Carlo Masters Monte Carlo, Monaco ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 12 – 18 April 2021 | ||||||
– | 1R | Bye | ||||
6 / 1214 | 2R | Argentina Federico Delbonis (Q) | 87 | Win | 6–1, 6–2 | |
7 / 1215 | 3R | Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov (14) | 17 | Win | 6–1, 6–1 | |
8 / 1216 | QF | Russia Andrey Rublev (6) | 8 | Loss | 2–6, 6–4, 2–6 | |
Barcelona Open Barcelona, Spain ATP Tour 500 Clay, outdoor 19 – 25 April 2021 | ||||||
– | 1R | Bye | ||||
9 / 1217 | 2R | Belarus Ilya Ivashka (Q) | 111 | Win | 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 | |
10 / 1218 | 3R | Japan Kei Nishikori | 39 | Win | 6–0, 2–6, 6–2 | |
11 / 1219 | QF | United Kingdom Cameron Norrie | 58 | Win | 6–1, 6–4 | |
12 / 1220 | SF | Spain Pablo Carreño Busta (6) | 13 | Win | 6–3, 6–2 | |
13 / 1221 | W | Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas (2) | 5 | Win (1) | 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5 | |
Madrid Open Madrid, Spain ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 2 – 9 May 2021 | ||||||
– | 1R | Bye | ||||
14 / 1222 | 2R | Spain Carlos Alcaraz (WC) | 120 | Win | 6–1, 6–2 | |
15 / 1223 | 3R | Australia Alexei Popyrin (Q) | 76 | Win | 6–3, 6–3 | |
16 / 1224 | QF | Germany Alexander Zverev (5) | 6 | Loss | 4–6, 4–6 | |
Italian Open Rome, Italy ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 9 – 16 May 2021 | ||||||
– | 1R | Bye | ||||
17 / 1225 | 2R | Italy Jannik Sinner | 18 | Win | 7–5, 6–4 | |
18 / 1226 | 3R | Canada Denis Shapovalov (13) | 14 | Win | 3–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–3) | |
19 / 1227 | QF | Germany Alexander Zverev (6) | 6 | Win | 6–3, 6–4 | |
20 / 1228 | SF | United States Reilly Opelka | 47 | Win | 6–4, 6–4 | |
21 / 1229 | W | Serbia Novak Djokovic (1) | 1 | Win (2) | 7–5, 1–6, 6–3 | |
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam tournament Clay, outdoor 30 May – 13 June 2021 | ||||||
22 / 1230 | 1R | Australia Alexei Popyrin | 63 | Win | 6–3, 6–2, 7–6(7–3) | |
23 / 1231 | 2R | France Richard Gasquet | 53 | Win | 6–0, 7–5, 6–2 | |
24 / 1232 | 3R | United Kingdom Cameron Norrie | 45 | Win | 6–3, 6–3, 6–3 | |
25 / 1233 | 4R | Italy Jannik Sinner (18) | 19 | Win | 7–5, 6–3, 6–0 | |
26 / 1234 | QF | Argentina Diego Schwartzman (10) | 10 | Win | 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–0 | |
27 / 1235 | SF | Serbia Novak Djokovic (1) | 1 | Loss | 6–3, 3–6, 6–7(4–7), 2–6 | |
Citi Open Washington, United States ATP Tour 500 Hard, outdoor 31 July – 8 August 2021 | ||||||
– | 1R | Bye | ||||
28 / 1236 | 2R | United States Jack Sock (WC) | 192 | Win | 6–2, 4–6, 7–6(7–1) | |
29 / 1237 | 3R | South Africa Lloyd Harris (14) | 50 | Loss | 4–6, 6–1, 4–6 | |
Canadian Open Toronto, Canada ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 6 – 15 August 2021 | ||||||
Withdrew | ||||||
Exhibition matches
Singles
Tournament | Match | Round | Opponent (seed or key) | Rank | Result | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A Day at the Drive Adelaide, Australia Hard, outdoor 29 January 2021 | ||||||
1 | – | Austria Dominic Thiem | 3 | Win | 7–5, 6–4 | |
Schedule
Per Rafael Nadal, this is his current 2021 schedule (subject to change).[9] The ATP rankings are currently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; they are on a Best of 24-month basis through the week of 15 March 2021. Until then, all the events are non-mandatory and players can use the best result from the same event in that 24-month span.[10]
Singles schedule
Date | Tournament | Location | Tier | Surface | Prev. result |
Prev. points |
New points |
Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 February 2021– 7 February 2021 |
ATP Cup | Melbourne (AUS) | ATP Cup | Hard | F | 250 | 0 (250[lower-alpha 1]) | Withdrew due to minor back issues |
8 February 2021– 21 February 2021 |
Australian Open | Melbourne (AUS) | Grand Slam | Hard | QF | 360 | 360 | Quarterfinals (lost to Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6–3, 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 4–6, 5–7) |
15 March 2021– 20 March 2021 |
Mexican Open | Acapulco (MEX) | 500 Series | Hard | W | 500 | 0 (500[lower-alpha 1]) | Withdrew |
22 March 2021– 4 April 2021 |
Miami Open | Miami (USA) | Masters 1000 | Hard | NH | N/A | N/A | Withdrew |
12 April 2021– 18 April 2021 |
Monte Carlo Masters | Monte Carlo (MON) | Masters 1000 | Clay | SF | 360 | 180 | Quarterfinals (lost to Russia Andrey Rublev, 2–6, 6–4, 2–6) |
19 April 2021– 25 April 2021 |
Barcelona Open | Barcelona (ESP) | 500 Series | Clay | SF | 180 | 500 | Champion (defeated Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5) |
3 May 2021– 9 May 2021 |
Madrid Open | Madrid (ESP) | Masters 1000 | Clay | SF | 360 | 180 | Quarterfinals (lost to Germany Alexander Zverev, 4–6, 4–6) |
9 May 2021– 16 May 2021 |
Italian Open | Rome (ITA) | Masters 1000 | Clay | QF | 180 (1000[lower-alpha 1]) | 1000 | Champion (defeated Serbia Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 1–6, 6–3) |
31 May 2021– 13 June 2021 |
French Open | Paris (FRA) | Grand Slam | Clay | W | 2000 | 720 (1000[lower-alpha 2]) | Semifinals (lost to Serbia Novak Djokovic, 6–3, 3–6, 6–7(4–7), 2–6) |
28 June 2021– 11 July 2021 |
Wimbledon | London (GBR) | Grand Slam | Grass | SF | 720 | 0 (360[lower-alpha 2]) | Withdrew |
31 July 2021– 8 August 2021 |
Citi Open | Washington (USA) | 500 Series | Hard | A | N/A | 45 | Third round (lost to L Harris, 4–6, 6–1,4-6) |
6 August 2021– 15 August 2021 |
Canadian Open | Toronto (CAN) | Masters 1000 | Hard | NH | 1000[lower-alpha 1] | 0 (500[lower-alpha 2]) | Withdrew |
15 August 2021– 22 August 2021 |
Cincinnati Masters | Mason (USA) | Masters 1000 | Hard | A | 0 | 0 | |
6 August 2021– 15 August 2021 |
US Open | New York (USA) | Grand Slam | Hard | A | 0 (2000[lower-alpha 1]) | 0 | |
4 October 2021– 11 October 2021 |
Indian Wells Masters | Indian Wells (USA) | Masters 1000 | Hard | NH | 360[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | |
1 November 2021– 7 November 2021 |
Paris Masters | Paris (FRA) | Masters 1000 | Hard | SF | 360 | 0 | |
Total year-end points | 9850 | 4875 | Decrease 4975 difference |
Yearly records
Head-to-head matchups
Rafael Nadal has a 24–5 ATP match win–loss record in the 2021 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings is 4–4. Bold indicates player was ranked top 10 at the time of at least one meeting. The following list is ordered by number of wins:
- United Kingdom Cameron Norrie 3–0
- Australia Alexei Popyrin 2–0
- Italy Jannik Sinner 2–0
- Spain Carlos Alcaraz 1–0
- Spain Pablo Carreño Busta 1–0
- Argentina Federico Delbonis 1–0
- Serbia Laslo Đere 1–0
- Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov 1–0
- Italy Fabio Fognini 1–0
- France Richard Gasquet 1–0
- Belarus Ilya Ivashka 1–0
- United States Michael Mmoh 1–0
- Japan Kei Nishikori 1–0
- United States Reilly Opelka 1–0
- Argentina Diego Schwartzman 1–0
- Canada Denis Shapovalov 1–0
- United States Jack Sock 1–0
- Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas 1–1
- Germany Alexander Zverev 1–1
- Serbia Novak Djokovic 1–1
- South Africa Lloyd Harris 0–1
- Russia Andrey Rublev 0–1
- * Statistics correct as of 5 August 2021[update].
Top 10 wins
# | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | RNR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1/175. | Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas | 5 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | F | 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5 | 3 |
2/176. | Germany Alexander Zverev | 6 | Rome, Italy | Clay | QF | 6–3, 6–4 | 3 |
3/177. | Serbia Novak Djokovic | 1 | Rome, Italy | Clay | F | 7–5, 1–6, 6–3 | 3 |
4/178. | Argentina Diego Schwartzman | 10 | French Open, Paris, France | Clay | QF | 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–0 | 3 |
Finals
Singles: 2 (2 titles)
|
|
|
Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1–0 | Apr 2021 | Barcelona Open, Spain** (12) | 500 Series | Clay | Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas | 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5 |
Win | 2–0 | May 2021 | Italian Open, Italy** (10) | Masters 1000 | Clay | Serbia Novak Djokovic | 7–5, 1–6, 6–3 |
(**) signifies tournaments where Nadal won the title after saving at least one match point.
Earnings
- Bold font denotes tournament win
Singles | ||
Event | Prize money | Year-to-date |
---|---|---|
Australian Open | A$525,000 | $360,832 |
Monte-Carlo Masters | €46,500 | $416,144 |
Barcelona Open | €178,985 | $629,046 |
Madrid Open | €58,370 | $699,195 |
Italian Open | €245,085 | $997,268 |
French Open | €375,000 | $1,454,432 |
Washington Open | $24,400 | $1,478,832 |
$1,478,832 | ||
Total | ||
$1,478,832 |
Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.
- source:2021 Singles Activity
- source:2021 Doubles Activity
Television
At the Barcelona Open, Nadal's semifinals match versus Pablo Carreño Busta averaged 773,000 viewers on RTVE's La 1 and 115,000 on #Vamos. The final match versus Stefanos Tsitsipas averaged 1.5 million viewers on La 1 (equivalent to a 11.3% share), 87,000 on #Vamos and 68,000 on Movistar Deportes.[11][12][13][14] At the Madrid Open, his quarter-finals match versus Alexander Zverev averaged 447,000 viewers on Teledeporte.[15] At the Italian Open, his final match versus Novak Djokovic averaged 363,00 viewers on #Vamos.[16]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Points carried over due to the Best of 24-month ranking being extended through and including the week of 1 March 2021.[10]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Points carried over due to the Best of 24-month ranking being used for events between 4 March – 5 August 2019, that were not played in 2020, but weighted at 50%.[10]
References
- ↑ "Nadal Will Not Compete Against Australia Tuesday". atptour.com. 2 February 2021.
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal: 'I'm not in a terrible shape, but I'm not well enough to play'". tennisworldusa.org. 5 February 2021.
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal Is Out of the Australian Open". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ↑ "Indian Wells: 2021 BNP Paribas Open postponed due to COVID-19 concerns". skysports.com. 29 December 2020.
- ↑ "Nadal Announces Miami Withdrawal". ATP Tour. 16 March 2021.
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal Saves M.P., Beats Stefanos Tsitsipas For 12th Barcelona Title | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ Yahoo!news:Tennis-Nadal outlasts Tsitsipas to claim 12th Barcelona Open title
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal beats Dominic Thiem at A Day at the Drive in Adelaide". tennisworldusa.org. 29 January 2021.
- ↑ "Rafael Nadal's Schedule for the 2021 Season". essentiallysports.com. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "FedEx ATP Rankings COVID-19 Adjustments FAQ". ATP. 13 January 2021.
- ↑ 'Sábado deluxe' lidera con un gran 16,9% y 'laSexta noche' crece a un 8,5% en la semana política más tensa - Fórmula TV, 25 April 2021
- ↑ El Real Madrid - Betis marca un 5,7% llevando al liderazgo a este partido en Movistar LaLiga - Fórmula TV, 25 April 2021
- ↑ 'Conexión Honduras' (18,7%) gana en cuota, pero 'Mi hija' (17,3%) se corona como lo más visto en espectadores - Fórmula TV, 26 April 2021
- ↑ El fútbol arrasa en Movistar con el partido entre el Athletic de Bilbao y el Atlético de Madrid (5%) a la cabeza - Fórmula TV, 26 April 2021
- ↑ El final de 'Ciudad Cruel' (4,2%) arrasa y se impone en espectadores al ATP Masters 1000 de tenis en TDP (4%) - Fórmula TV, 8 May 2021
- ↑ 'La casa del fútbol' (4%) y el Mundial de MotoGP (4,3%) enganchan a los espectadores del pago - Fórmula TV, 17 May 2021
External links
- Official website (in Spanish)
- ATP tour profile