The Spanish Rafael Nadalwinner of 21 titles in Grand Slam tournaments, assured this Tuesday that returning to number one in the ATP ranking is not interesting and he doesn’t even think about it. “That time has definitely passed. Physical problems prevented me from finishing a few years at number one; I’m not going to pursue that goal, it would be a mistake”; he said at a press conference after making his debut in the Mexican Tennis Open with a victory in one hour and 16 minutes over the American Denis Kudla.
Nadal won 6-3, 6-2 with 96% of points won with the first service and took advantage of Kudla’s unforced errors to access the round of 16, a phase in which he will face American Stefan Kozlov on Wednesday , who eliminated the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. “I have never considered myself a favourite; in my career I always respected each rival; he will play tomorrow against Kozlov and my goal is that, from then on, I will go day by day,” he said.
Kudla entered the tournament to replace Reilly Opelka, who is going through a great moment of form, Kozlov came in for the American Maxime Cressy, who performed well at the Australian Open, and the Italian Matteo Berrettini, Nadal’s possible opponent in the quarterfinals, retired this Tuesday before the American Tommy Paul. On that subject, Nadal denied being a favored of good luck because you never know which rival will be more difficult to beat and hinted that he is focused on his tennis, more than on the opponents.
The ATP 500 in Acapulco has been won by Nadal in 2005, 2013 and 2020; If he conquers it this year, he will reach his compatriot David Ferrer and the Austrian Thomas Muster as the top winners of titles, with four each. Before the media, Nadal was unconcerned about the numbers and took it for granted that at this point in his career, there is no pressure for the future. “At that point there is no pressure. I am almost 36 years old. There is nothing external that causes me more pressure than my self-demand,” he concluded.