Rafael Nadal on Next-Gen: “They are the Present”

World No.1 Rafael Nadal acknowledges the rising bunch of next-generation players, suggesting that the future of tennis is in good hands ahead of the start of ATP World Tour Finals 2019.

Rafael Nadal, who is drawn with young tennis sensations, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev in the Andre Agassi group at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals, explained that these next-generation players are the present of tennis.

“I think it is an exciting moment for our tennis,” he said at the tournament press conference in London on Friday. “We can see here, there’s a lot of very young players. They are improving, ones that are here and ones that are not here, are improving quick too. So that’s the normal cycle of life.”

The Mallorcan further added: “That’s the normal cycle of life. It’s healthy for the sport and I think they are super good. They say they are the future but they are the present and of course the future of our sport.”

The 19-time further explained that the young generation promises good rivalry in tennis and he aims to compete with them before watching them on TV.

“They have good competition with each other in front of the next years to come. They have to fight for the same things, they have more or less the same age, so it’s going to be a good rivalry in our sport and I will be happy. Hopeful, to keep competing with them for a while but then I will be happy to watch it on TV,” Nadal concluded.

Rafael Nadal, who made a debut at the ATP Finals in 2006, will open his campaign for the maiden ATP World Tour Finals title against the defending champion Alexander Zverev at The O2 Arena in London on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old is also battling for the year-end No.1 position in the ATP rankings against Novak Djokovic. If Nadal wins two round-robin matches then Djokovic will have to win the title to confirm his berth at the top. While if the Spaniard reaches the finals, he will remain at the No.1 rank disregarding Novak’s result at the ATP Finals 2019.