Nadal trains at his academy ahead of tennis season restart
RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT
VIDEO SHOWS: RAFA NADAL TRAINING WITH 17-YEAR-OLD DANI RINCON AT THE RAFA NADAL ACADEMY IN MALLORCA
SHOWS: MANACOR, MALLORCA, SPAIN (JULY 20, 2020) (RAFA NADAL ACADEMY BY MOVISTAR - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY "RAFAEL NADAL ACADEMY BY MOVISTAR")
1. WORLD NUMBER TWO AND 19-TIMES GRAND SLAM CHAMPION, RAFA NADAL HITTING BALL DURING PRACTICE SESSION WITH DANI RINCON
2. DANI RINCON HITTING BALL DURING PRACTICE SESSION
3. NADAL ON COURT WITH HIS COACH, CARLOS MOYA
4. NADAL PRACTISING
5. RINCON AND NADAL HITTING BALL DURING PRACTICE SESSION
6. VARIOUS OF RINCON HITTING BALL
7. NADAL HITTING TWO BACKHANDS
8. RINCON AND NADAL HITTING BALL DURING PRACTICE SESSION
9. NADAL HITTING VOLLEYS AT THE NET
10. RINCON SITTING DOWN
11. RINCON COLLECTING BALL AT THE NET
12. NADAL AND RINCON SHAKING HANDS AT THE NET
13. NADAL APPLYING TAPE TO HIS RACKET HANDLE
14. RINCON WALKING ALONG COURTSIDE
STORY: Rafa Nadal trained with one of his academy players, Dani Rincon on Monday (July 20) at the world number two's tennis campus on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
Nadal is preparing for the tennis season which restarts next month following a five-month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rincon, 17, joined the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2019 and became the sixth Spanish player to win the Orange Bowl in the under-16 boys category and he also won the doubles tournament with fellow Rafa Nadal Academy player, Abedallah Shelbayh from Jordan.
For Nadal, it's unclear which tournament will be the Spaniard's first back on tour.
The rejigged men's calendar begins with the Citi Open - an ATP 500 event in Washington DC - before the Cincinnati Open and the U.S. Open which will both take place at Flushing Meadows.
Nadal so far has only committed to playing in the Madrid Masters which begins on September 13 - the same day as the U.S. Open men's singles final.
Because of the frenetic pace of the calendar men's governing body ATP has introduced a revised system for calculating world rankings.
Traditionally the ATP rankings operates on a formula of 18 best results over 52 weeks but will now cover a 22-month period from March 2019 through December 2020.
While the new model provides impetus for players to improve results from their 2019 performance, it will also provide stability to those who choose not to play due to the pandemic as they would not need to defend points.
Previously, Nadal would have had to defend more than 5,000 points over six weeks, having won the Grand Slams in New York and Paris in 2019 and also the Rome Masters. But he will now get to keep all those points even if he does not hit a ball.
If Nadal decides to travel to the United States for the hardcourt season, he would have a chance to pick up points from the Cincinnati Masters after he skipped the event in 2019.
(Production: Tim Hart)
