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As is becoming tradition, Rafael Nadal was the first tennis player to confirm his participation for the the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, which in 2020 will celebrate its 68th edition. The Majorcan tennis player, who now enjoys a few days of vacation after ending the season , for the fifth time in his career, as the best tennis player in the world rankings, will compete at the Real Club Tenis Barcelona-1899 (RCTB) tournament for the sixteenth time.
Nadal will be leading the tournament poster, which in the coming weeks will define the presence of other great tennis stars. Champion in 11 editions, the world number 1 will try to regain the title that in 2019 was won by the Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Nadal's presence in the tournament once again demonstrates his firm commitment not only to the RCTB, his lifelong club, but to the city of Barcelona itself. The world number 1 has returned to the forefront in 2019 with four ATP titles, two of them Grand Slams (Roland Garros and the US Open), and with his crushing performance at the Caja Mágica to achieve his fifth victory in the Davis Cup.
David Ferrer, sports director of the tournament, cannot hide his satisfaction at the confirmation of his former rival. “Rafa's participation is very important for the tournament - he says - and this time it will be even more important because he will play to regain the title he did not win in 2019. I am personally 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.”
The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell has once again been listed in 2019 as the best tournament in the ATP 500 category by the entry list and the final edition of last April. Those who participated, in addition to Nadal, who was then No.2 in the world, include Alexander Zverev (3), Thiem (5), Kei Nishikori (6) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (8), as well as most of the young talents of the Next Gen.
The tournament served to discover a player like the Russian Daniil Medvedev, who has later become one of the sensations of the season, and to confirm that the heir to occupy Nadal’s throne on clay tournaments is none other than Thiem, who defeated the tennis player from Manacor in the semifinals and went on lifting the trophy, becoming the second player of Austria, after Thomas Muster, who inscribed his name in the list of winners of the competition.
The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell will be held from April 18 to 26 next year. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased through the tournament´s official website: http://www.barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com
Source: Barcelona Open
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