The 2020 French Open will get underway in a few days, while the king of clay is currently looking to conquer the 2020 Italia Open. Rafael Nadal is competing in an ATP tournament for the first time in seven months, and is just raging to go out to the court and open his account on the clay surface. 

Rafa has won nine times in Rome, which is a tournament record. The Italian Open serves as perfect preparation for Roland Garros, which is the ideal playing ground for Nadal. He’s the #2 seed in Rome and received a bye in the first round. 

Moreover, Rafa expressed his eagerness to get out on the court in a recent Instagram post. Rafa posted a photo of himself wearing a mask, and caption the image, “Waiting to know the time of my match tomorrow.”

Apparently the organizers hadn’t released his game schedule and Rafa just couldn’t control himself from expressing it on social media. Moreover, he was quick to update on the same when he got to know about his second-round fixture’s time. 

This time, he posted the same photo, but on Twitter! Rafa was swift to inform his fans about the much-awaited starting time of his second round fixture vs Pablo Carreno Busta. Rafa is the clear favorite in the all Spanish affair, but his victory won’t be straight-forward.

Moreover, Rafael Nadal did admit that he’s not in the best shape ahead of his Italian Open participation. “I am similar to always, maybe a little bit worse. I didn’t compete for the last six months,” he said. 

Novak Djokovic lauds Rafael Nadal in his latest press conference 

The 2020 French Open hasn’t yet begun, but Djokovic already knows who the #1 favorite is. Is there any doubt as to who he picked? I don’t think one might even pick anyone besides 12x Roland Garros champ Rafael Nadal!

In his first media appearance since his 2020 US Open disqualification, the Serb highlighted how Nadal is the obvious favorite regardless of his recent playing form. 

“Let’s see how it turns out. Rafa obviously decided to stay on clay and practice. Surely that gives him more advantage, but even if he didn’t practice for that long on clay he would still be the number one favorite in Roland Garros or any other clay tournament because he’s just Rafa,” Djokovic said.

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Djokovic and Nadal are most likely to lock horns in the 2020 Italian Open final, but the Spaniard has a tough draw in his hands. Can Nadal put on a master class and clinch the La Decima?