Tennis closes the year with the return of Nadal in Abu Dhabi

The tennis calendar in 2021 comes to an end with the Mubadala Tennis World Championship, exhibition tournament in Abu Dabi (from today to December 18) which for years has been the starting point of the players in their preparation for the next season. Before much of the male circuit activates the competition mode in the ATP Cup from January 1, a good roster of stars will warm up engines at the Emirates event: Andrey Rublev, Andy Murray o Dennis Shapovalov, among others. At the last minute, the significant losses of Raducanu (women’s team), Ruud and Thiem were replaced with the additions of Jabeur (he will face Bencic in the only women’s game), Fritz Y Evans, respectively.

But without a doubt, the greatest attraction of the tournament will be the back to the slopes of a Reef Nadal (He has not competed since last August in the ATP 500 in Washington) that he hopes to leave behind once and for all the foot injury that forced him to miss such important events as Wimbledon, the Olympic Games or the US Open. The manacorense, who will debut tomorrow against him winner of the British duel between Murray and Evans, he exercised at a good pace on the training courts of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Kuwait during this week and arrives with the motivation to defend his title of current champion (With five trophies, no one has won more than him in this tournament).

Undoubtedly, many ingredients that make up the dessert, and in turn opening, of a most attractive 2021 calendar, after the maximum tennis competition stopped its activity on December 5 with the Davis Cup Finals held in Madrid. With almost no breath or time to digest the recent eNextGen, WTA and ATP Finals motions, it’s Abu Dhabi’s turn. Tennis doesn’t stop …

Matches and schedules

First round (Thursday, December 16)

Taylor Fritz (EE UU) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN): at 13:00 hours

Daniel Evans (GBr) vs Andy Murray (GBr): not before 3:00 p.m.

Belinda Bencic (SUI) vs Ons Jabeur (TÚN): not before 5:00 p.m.

Second round (Friday, December 17)

Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Fritz-Shapovalov winner: at 2:00 p.m.

Reef Nadal vs Evans-Murray winner: not before 4:00 p.m.

Last day (Saturday, December 18)

Third and fourth place: at 2:00 p.m.

Male final: not before 4:00 p.m.