Federer and Nadal Return to ATP Tour
The end of February and the beginning of March sees an exciting period on the ATP Tour. 2 ATP 500 events run simultaneously in the final week of February in Dubai and Acapulco, followed by back to back Masters 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami. There are 2000 points up for grabs over the course of those 3 weeks, so the stakes are very high indeed.
Roger Federer will play his first tournament since the Australian Open in Dubai this week, where he faces a tough opener against Philipp Köhlschreiber on Monday night. Federer is currently sitting on 99 ATP titles and will be determined to claim a historic 100th title this week. Federer will be joined by the likes of Cilic, Nishikori and Paris Masters champion Karen Khachanov in Dubai, so the 20 time Grand Slam will certainly have to work hard if he is to win title number 100 in a draw full of good players.
Meanwhile Rafael Nadal is returning to play in Acapulco this week, a tournament the Spaniard missed last year due to injury. Nadal faces veteran German Mischa Zverev in Round 1 but faces a potential second round encounter with Nick Kyrgios, whose poor form has seen him fall down the rankings this year. Kyrgios’ immense talent is common knowledge but his attitude on court recently leaves a lot to be desired. Alexander Zverev and Stan Wawrinka are also very much title contenders in Acapulco, with Zverev looking to build on his World Tour Finals victory last year and Wawrinka showing good form having reached the final in Rotterdam. Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro has unfortunately pulled out of the tournament as he believes he isn’t ready to play back to back tournaments. Del Potro had been out for 4 months with a fractured Patella, an injury which is obviously still bothering the Argentine.
Written by Emre Saridogan