Tennis Today: Rafael Nadal tipped to be even more dangerous in Barcelona than ever before in 2020

Michael Graham
December 5, 2019

In Tennis Today, players hoping to get an easier ride from Rafael Nadal in Barcelona next year have been left disappointed, and which young-gun has been tipped to break the top ten in 2020?

What’s on the site
So… this whole GOAT thing… there has been a bit said about it of late so let’s do our best to sift through it a bit.

If you want to believe David Ferrer, then Rafael Nadal is unquestionably better than Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic…

On the other hand, if Patrick Mouratoglou is your man, then he reckons that, when they all they their best, Djokovic is the one who comes out on top.

Tennis365’s Michael Graham is non-committal, but he does have some thoughts on why Djokovic struggles to win over the London crowd, and he also has some pretty harsh words about fans’ behaviour at the O2 towards the Serb at this year’s ATP Finals.

No advocates of Federer this week, but 2.5million coin-loving Swiss people can’t be wrong, can they?

What’s in the news
It’s never much of a surprise when Rafael Nadal confirms he will play one of the major clay court tournaments in the season, and even less so when it’s one of the ones in Spain, but he appears to have been locked in for the 2020 Barcelona Open.

Nadal has won the competition 11 times, with only Kei Nishkori (2014, 2015) and Dominic Thiem (2019) able to deny him since 2005.

He lost out to Thiem in the semi-finals last year, and tournament chief David Ferrer says that will make Nadal all the more dangerous next season.

“Rafa’s participation is very important for the tournament – he says – and this time it will be even more so because he will play to recover the title he gave in 2019.

“I personally am proud to announce this news not only from the sporting point of view, but for many other reasons that make Rafa an exceptional athlete with a series of values of all kinds that make him a role model.

“Having Rafa is a luxury that we have to know how to value.”

Meanwhile, rising Australian star Alex De Minaur has been tipped to break the top ten for the first time in 2020.

What’s on social media

Robin Soderling is enjoying some business success…

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Really proud of @rs_tennis. I could never imagine that my development of tennis balls and strings would become a global premium tennis brand, challenging the big guys. We are now present in more than 50 countries…and counting. Thank you so much for your support!

A post shared by Robin Soderling (@rsoderling) on Dec 4, 2019 at 11:07pm PST

Simona Halep is already hard at work for 2020…

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This picture says it all 😠 😜 #theteam #offseason #Dubai❤️ @ritzcarltondubai

A post shared by Simona Halep (@simonahalep) on Dec 4, 2019 at 1:13am PST

Venus Williams enjoys some casual throne time…

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Queen Vee, at Sea, Compton Royalty 👑

A post shared by Venus Williams (@venuswilliams) on Dec 4, 2019 at 10:19am PST

And Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to be able to look cool anywhere…

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🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇴🇲 Oman… Where do you think Stefanos is headed next? 😆 (📸: @stefanostsitsipas98)

A post shared by ATP Tour (@atptour) on Dec 4, 2019 at 12:25pm PST