2020 Rafael Nadal tennis season

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]

Main article: Rafael Nadal
2020 Rafael Nadal tennis season
Full nameRafael Nadal Parera
Country Spain
Calendar prize money$3,881,202 (singles & doubles)
Singles
Season record27–7 (79.4%)
Calendar titles2
Current rankingNo. 2
Ranking change from previous yearDecrease 1
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian OpenQF
French OpenW
WimbledonNot held due to COVID-19 pandemic
US OpenA
Doubles
Season record2–0 (100%)
Current rankingNo. 475
← 2019
2021 →

Yearly summary

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.

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
See also: 2020 Australian Open – Men's Singles

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
See also: 2020 French Open – Men's Singles

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]

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  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(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
Tournament Match Round Opponent (seed or key) Rank Result Score
ATP Cup
Perth, Group B
Sydney, Knockout stage
Australia
Laver Cup
Hard, outdoor
3–12 January 2020
1 / 1175RR Georgia (country) Nikoloz Basilashvili26Win6–3, 7–5
2 / 1176RR Uruguay Pablo Cuevas45Win6–2, 6–1
3 / 1177RR Japan Yoshihito Nishioka72Win7–6(7–4), 6–4
4 / 1178QF Belgium David Goffin11Loss4–6, 6–7(3–7)
5 / 1179SF Australia Alex de Minaur18Win4–6, 7–5, 6–1
6 / 1180F Serbia Novak Djokovic2Loss2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia
Grand Slam tournament
Hard, outdoor
20 January – 2 February 2020
7 / 11811R Bolivia Hugo Dellien73Win6–2, 6–3, 6–0
8 / 11822R Argentina Federico Delbonis76Win6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–1
9 / 11833R Spain Pablo Carreño Busta (27)30Win6–1, 6–2, 6–4
10 / 11844R Australia Nick Kyrgios (23)26Win6–3, 3–6, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4)
11 / 1185QF Austria 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 Spain Pablo Andújar54Win6–3, 6–2
13 / 11872R Serbia Miomir Kecmanović50Win6–2, 7–5
14 / 1188QF South Korea Kwon Soon-woo76Win6–2, 6–1
15 / 1189SF Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov (7)22Win6–3, 6–2
16 / 1190W United States Taylor Fritz35Win (1)6–3, 6–2
Italian Open
Rome, Italy
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Clay, outdoor
14 – 21 September 2020
–1R Bye
17 / 11912R Spain Pablo Carreño Busta18Win6–1, 6–1
18 / 11923R Serbia Dušan Lajović25Win6–1, 6–3
19 / 1193QF Argentina Diego Schwartzman (8)15Loss2–6, 5–7
French Open
Paris, France
Grand Slam tournament
Clay, outdoor
27 September – 11 October 2020
20 / 11941R Belarus Egor Gerasimov83Win6–4, 6–4, 6–2
21 / 11952R United States Mackenzie McDonald (PR)236Win6–1, 6–0, 6–3
22 / 11963R Italy Stefano Travaglia74Win6–1, 6–4, 6–0
23 / 11974R United States Sebastian Korda (Q)213Win6–1, 6–1, 6–2
24 / 1198QF Italy Jannik Sinner75Win7–6(7–4), 6–4, 6–1
25 / 1199SF Argentina Diego Schwartzman (12)14Win6–3, 6–3, 7–6(7–0)
26 / 1200W Serbia 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
–1R Bye
27 / 12012R Spain Feliciano López64Win4–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4
28 / 12023R Australia Jordan Thompson61Win6–1, 7–6(7–3)
29 / 1203QF Spain Pablo Carreño Busta (9)15Win4–6, 7–5, 6–1
30 / 1204SF Germany Alexander Zverev (4)7Loss4–6, 5–7
ATP Finals
London, United Kingdom
ATP Finals
Hard, indoor
16 – 23 November 2020
31 / 1205RR Russia Andrey Rublev (7)8Win6–3, 6–4
32 / 1206RR Austria Dominic Thiem (3)3Loss6–7(7–9),6–7(4–7)
33 / 1207RR Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas (6)6Win6–4, 4–6, 6–2
34 / 1208SF Russia Daniil Medvedev (4)4Loss6–3, 6–7(4–7), 3–6

Doubles matches
Tournament Match Round Opponents (seed or key) Ranks Result Score
ATP Cup
Perth, Group B
Sydney, Knockout stage
Australia
Laver Cup
Hard, outdoor
3–12 January 2020
Partner: Spain Pablo Carreño Busta
1 / 210RR Japan Ben McLachlan / Japan Go Soeda43 / NRWin7–6(7–5), 4–6, [10–6]
2 / 211QF Belgium Sander Gillé / Belgium Joran Vliegen47 / 39Win6–7(7–9), 7–5, [10–7]


Exhibition matches

Singles
Tournament Match Round Opponent (seed or key) Rank Result Score
2019 World Tennis Championship
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Exhibition
Hard, outdoor
19 – 21 December 2019
–QF Bye
1SF Russia Karen Khachanov (4)17Win6–1, 6–3
2W Greece 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– Switzerland Roger Federer3Loss4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Atlanta Challenge
Atlanta, United States
Exhibition
Hard, indoor
2 March 2020
1– Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov19Win7–5, 6–3

Doubles
Tournament Match Round Opponents (seed or key) Ranks Result Score
The Match in Africa 6
Cape Town, South Africa
Exhibition
Hard, outdoor
7 February 2020
Partner: South Africa Trevor Noah
1– Switzerland Roger Federer / United States Bill Gates– / –Loss3–6

Schedule

Per Rafael Nadal, the below was his 2020 schedule.

Singles schedule
Date Tournament Location Tier Surface Prev.
result		 Prev.
points		 New
points		 Result
3 January 2020–
12 January 2020		ATP CupPerth & Sydney (AUS)ATP CupHardN/AN/A250Final (lost to Serbia Serbia, 1–2)
20 January 2020–
2 February 2020		Australian OpenMelbourne (AUS)Grand SlamHardF1200360Quarterfinals (lost to Austria Dominic Thiem, 6–7(3–7), 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–7(6–8))
24 February 2020–
29 February 2020		Mexican OpenAcapulco (MEX)500 SeriesHardR1645500Champion (defeated United States Taylor Fritz, 6–3, 6–2)
9 March 2020–
22 March 2020		Indian Wells MastersIndian Wells (USA)Masters 1000HardSF360360 [lower-alpha 1]Tournament cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[26]
13 April 2020–

19 April 2020

 Monte-Carlo Masters Monte Carlo (MON) Masters 1000 Clay SF 360 360 [lower-alpha 1]
22 April 2020-

28 April 2020

 Barcelona Open Barcelona (ESP) 500 Series Clay SF 180 180 [lower-alpha 1]
4 May 2020–

10 May 2020

 Madrid Open Madrid (ESP) Masters 1000 Clay SF 360 360 [lower-alpha 1]
29 June 2020–

12 July 2020

 Wimbledon London (GBR) Grand Slam Grass SF 720 720 [lower-alpha 1]
27 July 2020–

2 August 2020

 Summer Olympics Tokyo (JPN) Olympic Games Hard N/A N/A 0 Tournament postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.[27]
10 August 2020–

16 August 2020

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

6 September 2020

 US Open New York (USA) Grand Slam Hard W 2000 2000 [lower-alpha 1] Chose not to participate amid COVID-19 concerns.[28][29]
14 September 2020–

20 September 2020

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

8 November 2020

 Paris Masters Paris (FRA) Masters 1000 Hard (i) SF 360 360[lower-alpha 1] Semifinals (lost to Germany Alexander Zverev, 4–6, 5–7)
15 November 2020–

22 November 2020

 ATP Finals London (GBR) Tour Finals Hard (i) RR 400 400[lower-alpha 1] Semifinals (lost to Russia Daniil Medvedev, 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 3–6)
Total year-end points 9985 9450 Decrease -495 difference

Doubles schedule
Date Tournament Location Tier Surface Prev.
result		 Prev.
points		 New
points		 Result
3 January 2020–
12 January 2020		ATP CupPerth & Sydney (AUS)ATP CupHardN/AN/A95Final (lost to Serbia Serbia, 1–2)
9 March 2020–
22 March 2020		Indian Wells MastersIndian Wells (USA)Masters 1000HardSF360N/ATournament cancelled due to the Coronavirus
Total year-end points 0 95 Increase 95 difference

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.

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)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2020 Mexican Open, Mexico (3) 500 Series Hard United States Taylor Fritz 6–3, 6–2
Win 2–0 Oct 2020 French Open, France Grand Slam Clay Serbia Novak Djokovic 6–0, 6–2, 7–5

Team competitions: (1 final)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner(s) Opponents Score
Final 0–1 Jan 2020 ATP Cup, Australia ATP Cup Hard (i) Spain Roberto Bautista Agut
Spain Pablo Carreño Busta
Spain Feliciano López
Spain Albert Ramos Viñolas		 Serbia Nikola Čačić
Serbia Novak Djokovic
Serbia Dušan Lajović
Serbia Nikola Milojević
Serbia Viktor Troicki		 1–2

Earnings
  • Bold font denotes tournament win
Singles
EventPrize moneyYear-to-date
ATP Cup$595,650$595,650
Australian OpenA$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. 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]

References
  1. "24 countries field set for atp cup 2020". atptour.com. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  2. "ATP Cup Groups & Schedule Announced". ATP Tour. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  3. "Novak Djokovic leads Serbia to glory against Spain in inaugural ATP Cup". theguardian.com. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  4. Clarey, Christopher (29 January 2020). "Dominic Thiem Beats Rafael Nadal in Australian Open Quarterfinal". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  5. "Mexican Open: Rafael Nadal to face Taylor Fritz in men's final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  6. "BNP Paribas Open Will Not Be Held As Scheduled Due To Coronavirus Concerns". Association of Tennis Professionals. March 8, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  7. "ATP Suspends Tour For Six Weeks Due To Public Health & Safety Issues Over COVID-19". Association of Tennis Professionals. March 12, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  8. "ATP & WTA Extend Suspension Of Tours". Association of Tennis Professionals. March 18, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  9. "ATP & WTA Announce Further Suspension Of Tours". Association of Tennis Professionals. April 1, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  10. "ATP, WTA suspend tennis tours through June 7, freeze player rankings". USA Today. Associated Press. March 18, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  11. "Roland-Garros 2020: from 20th Sep to 4th Oct". French Open. March 17, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  12. Clarey, Christopher (March 17, 2020). "The French Open Is Postponed, to the Surprise of the Tours". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  13. McCurry, Justin; Ingle, Sean (March 24, 2020). "Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic". The Guardian. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  14. "IOC, IPC, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and Tokyo Metropolitan Government announce new dates for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020". International Olympic Committee. March 30, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  15. Fuller, Russell (April 1, 2020). "Wimbledon cancelled due to coronavirus - where does that leave tennis in 2020?". BBC. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  16. Clarey, Christopher (2020-08-04). "Rafael Nadal Won't Chase a Repeat of His U.S. Open Title". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  17. "Nadal: 'Now Is Not The Moment To Find Excuses'". atptour.com. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  18. "Rafael Nadal wins 13th French Open with decisive victory over Novak Djokovic". www.yahoo.com. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  19. "King Nadal continues Paris reign with record-equalling 20th Slam".
  20. Robinson, Joshua (11 October 2020). "Rafael Nadal Wins His 20th Grand Slam Title with French Open Victory". Wall Street Journal.
  21. "Rafael Nadal wins 13th French Open, claims 20th Grand Slam title". The Washington Post. 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  22. "Rafael Nadal demolishes Novak Djokovic to win 13th French Open title". TheGuardian.com. 11 October 2020.
  23. "Alexander Zverev overpowers Rafa Nadal at Paris Masters". CNN. 7 November 2020.
  24. "Daniil Medvedev Stuns Rafael Nadal, to Play for Nitto ATP Finals Title | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  25. "ATP Announces Adjustments To FedEx ATP Rankings Due To COVID-19". ATP. 6 July 2020.
  26. "ATP Announces Adjustments To FedEx ATP Rankings Due To COVID-19". ATP. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  27. "IOC, IPC, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and Tokyo Metropolitan Government announce new dates for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020". olympic.org. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  28. "ATP Issues Revised Calendar For Tour Resumption". ATP. 17 June 2020.
  29. "Rafael Nadal won't play in US Open, cites coronavirus concerns". ESPN. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  30. "Roland Garros 2020 Autumnal Dates". Rolandgarros. 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  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
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