2020 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Last updated
2020 Rafael Nadal tennis season
Australian Open 2020 (49837298746).jpg
Full nameRafael Nadal Parera
CountryFlag of Spain.svg  Spain
Calendar prize money$3,881,202 (singles & doubles)
Singles
Season record27–7 (79.4%)
Calendar titles2
Current rankingNo. 2
Ranking change from previous yearDecrease2.svg 1
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open QF
French Open W
Wimbledon Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
US Open A
Doubles
Season record2–0 (100%)
Current rankingNo. 475
2019
2021

The 2020 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 3 January 2020, in the first round at the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup Group B venues in Perth. [1] [2]

Contents

Yearly summary

Early hard court season

ATP Cup

Nadal started his season at the inaugural ATP Cup as part of the Spanish squad. Nadal will be playing in singles along with compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut, while the doubles team will consist of Feliciano López and Pablo Carreño Busta. Spain was placed in Group B and will play their round-robin matches against Japan, Uruguay, and Georgia in Perth.[ citation needed ]

In Nadal's round-robin singles matches, he defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili, Pablo Cuevas and Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets. Nadal also played in the doubles match against Japan, along with Carreño Busta, and won the match in three sets. The Spanish team then moved on to Sydney to play in the QF. In the singles in QF, Nadal faced David Goffin, to whom he lost the match in straight sets. However, because compatriot Bautista Agut won his singles match, and Nadal and Carreño Busta won in the doubles, Spain moved on to the SF against Australia. There, Nadal defeated Alex de Minaur in the singles in 3 sets, and combined with Bautista Agut's defeat of Nick Kyrgios in straight sets earlier, moved Spain to the ATP Cup Final. In the final, they played against Serbia, with Nadal's singles match against World No. 2 Novak Djokovic. Nadal lost the match in straight sets to Djokovic, and with Spain's loss in doubles, Team Serbia won the ATP Cup. [3]

Australian Open

Nadal's second tournament of the season will be the 2020 Australian Open. He won his first two matches against Hugo Dellien and Federico Delbonis in straight sets. He defeated compatriot and the 27th seed Pablo Carreño Busta in the 3rd round, again in straight sets. He defeated Nick Kyrgios in 4 sets the 4th round. However, he lost to World No. 5 Dominic Thiem in 4 sets at the QF. [4]

Mexican Open

Nadal's first tournament following the Australian Open was the Mexican Open. He defeated Pablo Andujar, Miomir Kecmanović, and Kwon Soon-woo, all in straight sets to set up a semi-final encounter with Grigor Dimitrov. He was able to defeat Dimitrov easily in straight sets to reach his first final in Acapulco since 2017, and his first final for the 2020 season. He defeated Taylor Fritz in the final in straight sets, to win his third title in Acapulco and his first title in 2020. [5]

Season hiatus

On March 8, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season went on indefinite hiatus. [6] The following measures were taken:

Clay Court Season

Nadal opted to skip the Western and Southern Open and the US Open to prepare for the clay court season. [16]

Italian Open

Nadal's first match back was against fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, which he won 6–1, 6–1. In the next round, he played Serb Dušan Lajović, whom he defeated 6–1, 6–3. In the QF, he lost to Diego Schwartzman 2–6, 5–7. [17]

French Open

Nadal won his 13th Roland Garros title, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the tournament's final, only losing seven games. [18] In doing so, he won his 20th Grand Slam title, equalling Roger Federer's record as the man with the most number of Grand Slam titles. [19] [20] It also marked his 100th win at the tournament, losing only twice in 16 years. His straight-sets victory over Djokovic marked also the 4th time that he won a Grand Slam without losing a set, all at the French Open doing it also in 2008, 2010 and 2017. [21] Nadal also became the first player to defeat Djokovic in a completed match all year, Djokovic being 37-1 on the season prior to the loss to Nadal, with his only loss being the us open default. [22]

European indoor hard court season

Paris Masters

Nadal lost to Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. [23]

Nitto ATP Finals

Nadal defeated Andrey Rublev in his first round robin match. Two days later he lost to Dominic Thiem in two incredibly tight sets. He qualified for the semifinals with a three set win over Stefanos Tsitsipas. In the semis he faced Daniil Medvedev, and despite serving for a straight sets win, he lost in three sets, ending his bid to win his first ever title at the season ending event. [24]

All matches

This table chronicles all the matches of Rafael Nadal in 2020.

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#P#DNQAZ#POGSBNMSNTIPNH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles matches

TournamentMatchRoundOpponent (seed or key)RankResultScore
ATP Cup
Perth, Group B
Sydney, Knockout stage
Australia
Laver Cup
Hard, outdoor
3–12 January 2020
1 / 1175RR Flag of Georgia.svg Nikoloz Basilashvili 26Win6–3, 7–5
2 / 1176RR Flag of Uruguay.svg Pablo Cuevas 45Win6–2, 6–1
3 / 1177RR Flag of Japan.svg Yoshihito Nishioka 72Win7–6(7–4), 6–4
4 / 1178QF Flag of Belgium (civil).svg David Goffin 11Loss4–6, 6–7(3–7)
5 / 1179SF Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex de Minaur 18Win4–6, 7–5, 6–1
6 / 1180F Flag of Serbia.svg Novak Djokovic 2Loss2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia
Grand Slam tournament
Hard, outdoor
20 January – 2 February 2020
7 / 11811R Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg Hugo Dellien 73Win6–2, 6–3, 6–0
8 / 11822R Flag of Argentina.svg Federico Delbonis 76Win6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–1
9 / 11833R Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Carreño Busta (27)30Win6–1, 6–2, 6–4
10 / 11844R Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nick Kyrgios (23)26Win6–3, 3–6, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4)
11 / 1185QF Flag of Austria.svg Dominic Thiem (5)5Loss6–7(3–7), 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–7(6–8)
Mexican Open
Acapulco, Mexico
ATP Tour 500
Hard, outdoor
24–29 February 2020
12 / 11861R Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Andújar 54Win6–3, 6–2
13 / 11872R Flag of Serbia.svg Miomir Kecmanović 50Win6–2, 7–5
14 / 1188QF Flag of South Korea.svg Kwon Soon-woo 76Win6–2, 6–1
15 / 1189SF Flag of Bulgaria.svg Grigor Dimitrov (7)22Win6–3, 6–2
16 / 1190W Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Fritz 35Win (1)6–3, 6–2
Italian Open
Rome, Italy
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Clay, outdoor
14 – 21 September 2020
1RBye
17 / 11912R Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Carreño Busta 18Win6–1, 6–1
18 / 11923R Flag of Serbia.svg Dušan Lajović 25Win6–1, 6–3
19 / 1193QF Flag of Argentina.svg Diego Schwartzman (8)15Loss2–6, 5–7
French Open
Paris, France
Grand Slam tournament
Clay, outdoor
27 September – 11 October 2020
20 / 11941R Flag of Belarus.svg Egor Gerasimov 83Win6–4, 6–4, 6–2
21 / 11952R Flag of the United States.svg Mackenzie McDonald (PR)236Win6–1, 6–0, 6–3
22 / 11963R Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Travaglia 74Win6–1, 6–4, 6–0
23 / 11974R Flag of the United States.svg Sebastian Korda (Q)213Win6–1, 6–1, 6–2
24 / 1198QF Flag of Italy.svg Jannik Sinner 75Win7–6(7–4), 6–4, 6–1
25 / 1199SF Flag of Argentina.svg Diego Schwartzman (12)14Win6–3, 6–3, 7–6(7–0)
26 / 1200W Flag of Serbia.svg Novak Djokovic (1)1Win (2) 6–0, 6–2, 7–5
Paris Masters
Paris, France
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Hard, indoor
2 – 8 November 2020
1RBye
27 / 12012R Flag of Spain.svg Feliciano López 64Win4–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4
28 / 12023R Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jordan Thompson 61Win6–1, 7–6(7–3)
29 / 1203QF Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Carreño Busta (9)15Win4–6, 7–5, 6–1
30 / 1204SF Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Zverev (4)7Loss4–6, 5–7
ATP Finals
London, United Kingdom
ATP Finals
Hard, indoor
16 – 23 November 2020
31 / 1205RR Flag of Russia.svg Andrey Rublev (7)8Win6–3, 6–4
32 / 1206RR Flag of Austria.svg Dominic Thiem (3)3Loss6–7(7–9),6–7(4–7)
33 / 1207RR Flag of Greece.svg Stefanos Tsitsipas (6)6Win6–4, 4–6, 6–2
34 / 1208SF Flag of Russia.svg Daniil Medvedev (4)4Loss6–3, 6–7(4–7), 3–6

Doubles matches

TournamentMatchRoundOpponents (seed or key)RanksResultScore
ATP Cup
Perth, Group B
Sydney, Knockout stage
Australia
Laver Cup
Hard, outdoor
3–12 January 2020
Partner: Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Carreño Busta
1 / 210RR Flag of Japan.svg Ben McLachlan / Flag of Japan.svg Go Soeda 43 / NRWin7–6(7–5), 4–6, [10–6]
2 / 211QF Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Sander Gillé / Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Joran Vliegen 47 / 39Win6–7(7–9), 7–5, [10–7]


Exhibition matches

Singles

TournamentMatchRoundOpponent (seed or key)RankResultScore
2019 World Tennis Championship
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Exhibition
Hard, outdoor
19 – 21 December 2019
QFBye
1SF Flag of Russia.svg Karen Khachanov (4)17Win6–1, 6–3
2W Flag of Greece.svg Stefanos Tsitsipas (3)6Win6–7(3–7), 7–5, 7–6(7–3)
The Match in Africa 6
Cape Town, South Africa
Exhibition
Hard, outdoor
7 February 2020
2 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Roger Federer 3Loss4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Atlanta Challenge
Atlanta, United States
Exhibition
Hard, indoor
2 March 2020
1 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Grigor Dimitrov 19Win7–5, 6–3

Doubles

TournamentMatchRoundOpponents (seed or key)RanksResultScore
The Match in Africa 6
Cape Town, South Africa
Exhibition
Hard, outdoor
7 February 2020
Partner: Flag of South Africa.svg Trevor Noah
1 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Roger Federer / Flag of the United States.svg Bill Gates – / –Loss3–6

Schedule

Per Rafael Nadal, the below was his 2020 schedule.

Singles schedule

DateTournamentLocationTierSurfacePrev.
result
Prev.
points
New
points
Result
3 January 2020–
12 January 2020
ATP Cup Perth & Sydney (AUS) ATP Cup HardN/AN/A250Final (lost to Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia, 1–2)
20 January 2020–
2 February 2020
Australian Open Melbourne (AUS) Grand Slam HardF1200360Quarterfinals (lost to Flag of Austria.svg Dominic Thiem, 6–7(3–7), 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–7(6–8))
24 February 2020–
29 February 2020
Mexican Open Acapulco (MEX) 500 Series HardR1645500Champion (defeated Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Fritz, 6–3, 6–2)
9 March 2020–
22 March 2020
Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells (USA) Masters 1000 HardSF360360 [lower-alpha 1] Tournament cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. [26]
13 April 2020–

19 April 2020

Monte-Carlo Masters Monte Carlo (MON)Masters 1000ClaySF360360 [lower-alpha 1]
22 April 2020-

28 April 2020

Barcelona Open Barcelona (ESP)500 SeriesClaySF180180 [lower-alpha 1]
4 May 2020–

10 May 2020

Madrid Open Madrid (ESP)Masters 1000ClaySF360360 [lower-alpha 1]
29 June 2020–

12 July 2020

Wimbledon London (GBR)Grand SlamGrassSF720720 [lower-alpha 1]
27 July 2020–

2 August 2020

Summer Olympics Tokyo (JPN) Olympic Games HardN/AN/A0Tournament postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. [27]
10 August 2020–

16 August 2020

Canadian Open Montreal (CAN)Masters 1000HardW10001000 [lower-alpha 1] Tournament cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. [28]
31 August 2020–

6 September 2020

US Open New York (USA)Grand SlamHardW20002000 [lower-alpha 1] Chose not to participate amid COVID-19 concerns. [28] [29]
14 September 2020–

20 September 2020

Italian Open Rome (ITA)Masters 1000ClayW10001000 [lower-alpha 1] Quarterfinals (lost to Flag of Argentina.svg Diego Schwartzman, 2–6, 5–7)
28 September 2020–
11 October 2020 [30]
French Open Paris (FRA)Grand SlamClayW20002000 [lower-alpha 1] Champion (defeated Flag of Serbia.svg Novak Djokovic, 6–0, 6–2, 7–5)
2 November 2020–

8 November 2020

Paris Masters Paris (FRA)Masters 1000Hard (i)SF360360 [lower-alpha 1] Semifinals (lost to Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Zverev, 4–6, 5–7)
15 November 2020–

22 November 2020

ATP Finals London (GBR) Tour Finals Hard (i)RR400400 [lower-alpha 1] Semifinals (lost to Flag of Russia.svg Daniil Medvedev, 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 3–6)
Total year-end points99859450Decrease2.svg -495 difference

Doubles schedule

DateTournamentLocationTierSurfacePrev.
result
Prev.
points
New
points
Result
3 January 2020–
12 January 2020
ATP Cup Perth & Sydney (AUS) ATP Cup HardN/AN/A95Final (lost to Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia, 1–2)
9 March 2020–
22 March 2020
Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells (USA) Masters 1000 HardSF360N/ATournament cancelled due to the Coronavirus
Total year-end points095Increase2.svg95difference

Yearly records

Head-to-head matchups

Rafael Nadal has a 27–6 (81.8%) ATP match win–loss record in the 2020 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings is 3–4 (42.9%). Bold indicates player was ranked top 10 at the time of at least one meeting. The following list is ordered by number of wins:

* Statistics correct as of 19 November 2020.

Finals

Singles: 2 (2 titles)

Category
Grand Slam (1–0)
ATP Finals (0–0)
ATP Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP Tour 500 (1–0)
ATP Tour 250 (0–0)
Titles by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (2–0)
Indoor (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0 Feb 2020 Mexican Open, Mexico (3)500 SeriesHard Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Fritz 6–3, 6–2
Win2–0 Oct 2020 French Open, FranceGrand SlamClay Flag of Serbia.svg Novak Djokovic 6–0, 6–2, 7–5

Team competitions: (1 final)

ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartner(s)OpponentsScore
Final0–1 Jan 2020 ATP Cup, AustraliaATP CupHard (i) Flag of Spain.svg Roberto Bautista Agut
Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Carreño Busta
Flag of Spain.svg Feliciano López
Flag of Spain.svg Albert Ramos Viñolas
Flag of Serbia.svg Nikola Čačić
Flag of Serbia.svg Novak Djokovic
Flag of Serbia.svg Dušan Lajović
Flag of Serbia.svg Nikola Milojević
Flag of Serbia.svg Viktor Troicki
1–2

Earnings

Singles
EventPrize moneyYear-to-date
ATP Cup $595,650$595,650
Australian Open A$525,000$956,483
Mexican Open $372,785$1,329,268
Italian Open €75,000$1,418,097
French Open €1,600,000$3,278,577
Paris Masters €100,000$3,397,127
ATP Finals $459,000$3,856,127
$3,856,127
Doubles
EventPrize moneyYear-to-date
ATP Cup $25,075$25,075
$25,075
Total
$3,881,202

Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.

Television

At the ATP Cup, Nadal's semifinals match versus Alex de Minaur averaged 320,000 viewers on Teledeporte, [31] and his final match versus Novak Djokovic averaged 953,000 viewers on RTVE's La 1. [32]

At the French Open, his semifinals match versus Diego Schwartzman averaged 403,000 viewers on DMAX and 232,000 viewers on Eurosport. [33] [34] His final match versus Djokovic averaged 1.5 million viewers on DMAX and 628,000 on Eurosport, combining for a 16.8% share. [35] [36]

At the ATP Finals, his semifinals match versus Daniil Medvedev averaged 274,000 vewiers on #Vamos. [37]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Tournaments that were postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic had their rankings adjusted - players can use the best result from 2019 or 2020 from the same Tour-level event. If a player’s 2019 result is better than his 2020 result, his 2020 result will not be included in his ranking breakdown. And for canceled tournaments player’s 2019 results will be included. [25]

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The 2018 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 15 January 2018, with the start of the Australian Open, and ended on 8 September 2018, with a loss at the semifinals of the US Open and subsequent injury.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem in the final, 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2018 French Open. It was his record-extending eleventh French Open title and 17th major title overall. Nadal equaled Margaret Court's all-time record of 11 singles titles won at one major and became the first player to achieve that feat in the Open Era. He lost only one set during the tournament, and retained the world No. 1 singles ranking. Nadal and Roger Federer were in contention for the top ranking.

The 2019 Novak Djokovic tennis season officially began on 1 January 2019, in the first round of the Qatar Open, and ended 22 November 2019 after Serbia defeat by Russia in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup Finals.

Novak Djokovic began the 2020 tennis season on 3 January 2020, in the first round at the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup venues in Brisbane.

Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev in the final, 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(8–6) to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2020 US Open. It was his first major title, following three previous runner-up finishes. Thiem became the first man to come back from two sets down in a US Open final in the Open Era, the first to do so overall since 1949, and the first to do so in any major final since Gastón Gaudio at the 2004 French Open. Both players served for the championship in the final set, but both were broken at 30. This was the first time in history that the US Open title was decided by a fifth set tie-break, 50 years after the rule was introduced in 1970.

Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in the final, 6–0, 6–2, 7–5 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2020 French Open. It was his record-extending 13th French Open title and 20th major title overall, equaling Roger Federer's all-time record of men's singles titles. For the fourth time in his career, Nadal won the title without dropping a set during the tournament; for the first time in French Open history, neither the men's nor women's singles champions lost a set. Nadal also became the first player, male or female, to win 100 matches at the French Open and only the second man, after Federer at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, to win 100 matches at the same major. Djokovic was attempting to become the first man in the Open Era to achieve the double career Grand Slam.

The 2021 Novak Djokovic tennis season saw him become the second man in tennis history to achieve the Surface Slam following Rafael Nadal in 2010, and repeat his feat from 2015 of reaching all four major finals in a season. He won five tournaments, three of them majors: the Australian Open, the French Open, and the Wimbledon Championships. Djokovic reached the final of the US Open in an attempt to achieve the Grand Slam, but finished runner-up to Daniil Medvedev. He also won the Paris Masters and Belgrade Open, and reached his first final in a doubles tournament since 2010 at the Mallorca Open.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season</span>

The 2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 9 February 2021, with the start of the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, 6–7(6–8), 2–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2021 French Open. It was his second French Open title and 19th major title overall. With the win, he became the first man to achieve the double Career Grand Slam in the Open Era, and the first player in the Open Era to win a major after coming back from two sets to love down in two matches during the same major. Tsitsipas became the first Greek player to reach a major final. It also marked the second consecutive year a man trailed by two sets in a major final yet rallied to win, following Dominic Thiem's victory at the 2020 US Open.

Rafael Nadal defeated the defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final, 7–5, 1–6, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2021 Italian Open. It was his record-extending 10th Italian Open title and record-equaling 36th Masters 1000 title overall. Nadal saved two match points en route to the title, in his third round match against Denis Shapovalov. This was also the fourth time that Nadal had won a tournament on 10 or more occasions, making him the only tennis player with the feat.

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  31. El cine de Trece lidera con "El reino de los cielos" y "Robin Hood: El magnífico" - Fórmula TV, 13 January 2020
  32. TVE empieza con buen pie 2020 gracias a la ATP Cup - Diana E. Orozco, As, 16 January 2020
  33. Nova arrasa con las seis emisiones más vistas del día, encabezando el ranking 'Fugitiva' con un 4,2% - Fórmula TV, 10 October 2020
  34. Rafa Nadal puede contra Schwartzman en el Roland Garros que triunfa con un 2% en Eurosport - Fórmula TV, 10 October 2020
  35. La victoria de Rafa Nadal en la final de Roland Garros lidera en DMAX con un fantástico 14,5% - Fórmula TV, 13 October 2020
  36. Eurosport lidera ampliamente con la victoria de Nadal en el Roland Garros - Fórmula TV, 13 October 2020
  37. El partido Atlético de Madrid-Barcelona lidera en Movistar LaLiga con un 6,3% - Fórmula TV, 23 November 2020