The ATP circuit has its own medicine in terms of regaining parts of its former glory. Now, that Federer and Rafael Nadal are back on the tennis court, it seems to guarantee that those from the standings should have no reason to concern regarding the dose of entertainment they'll get in the end.
Besides, with such opposition, every professional male player must want to play as good as he possibly can.
There is a win situation for all of those involved in the ATP World Tour. For Nadal, who will turn 31 in a couple of months, some great perspectives await.
No strings attached
Currently ranked as the world no. 6, the Spaniard is still recovering from the huge run he had at the Australian Open. But he is expected to bounce back at the Indian Wells and then Miami. These 2 ATP events of March will end the first hardcourt swing of the season.
Last year, Nadal did not so well as he suffered an early exit from these Masters 1000 events. From what we saw at Melbourne Park, Nadal seems motivated to built his way up to the top.
Nadal might benefit from the poor form other top players have had recently.
Among all great perspectives, there is the issue of what he still has to defend from last year. Mostly gained during the clay court swing, Nadal's ranking points could be a reason for concerns.
The clay swing went great last year
Back in 2016, after a slow start of the season, Rafael Nadal found some solid foundation in Europe playing on his beloved clay. He won in Monte Carlo and then Barcelona. These two titles mean 1500 points to defend.
The other two events he chose to play, Madrid and Rome, ended up not so great as he was defeated in the semis of Madrid by Andy Murray.
In Rome, he faced Djokovic in the quarterfinals losing the encounter despite displaying a consistent tennis.
At the French Open, being qualified for the 3rd round, Nadal was forced to quit as his arm wrist started bothering him. From that point on, his season was mostly terminated as he failed to deliver high- standards tennis.
If he'll dominate the clay swing of 2017, his ranking is likely to suffer major improvements. For the following months, all that he can hope for is to enter the top 3. The first two seats seem quite far as Murray and Djokovic built up a huge gap between them and rest of the platoon.
