Nadal already has his first rival at the 1,000th Masters in Rome, where he has won 10 times

Rafael Nadal37 years old and world No. 305 after a previous year marked by injuries, continues his training to get into the best possible shape in Roland Garros (May 26-June 9), the grand slam on clay where he achieved one of the great victories not only in tennis but in the history of the sport: 14 of his 22 ‘great’ titles came from Paris.

After three long months of not competing due to injury, the Spaniard reappeared in Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell-Conde de Godó Trophy: It’s a first contact to know that he still has a lot of work ahead of him to get closer to the level he wants and needs in the world. ATP circuit.

In Barcelona he won Flavio Cobolli (6-2, 6-3), but clearly lost the match Alex De Minaur (7-5, 6-1) feeling that there is still a lack of training and preparation. He Madrid Masters 1,000 That was his next test and there he made a clear leap, especially by hitting back De Minaur, also in the second round (7-6, 6-3).

Nadal finally left Madrid with three wins and one loss in the round of 16 matches Jiri Lehecka (7-5, 6-4) from which he came out equally stronger because the Czech offered one of the best versions of his career and it became a still insurmountable wall.

In his last participation in Madrid, Rafa, who is about to retire, received an emotional tribute to Magic Box and he immediately prepared for the tournament in Rome, where the draw paired him with a tennis player from the qualifying round.

After the last qualifying match played this Monday, the organization has completed the draw for the main draw with the qualifiers and the Belgians. Zizou Bergs24 and world no. 108, will be Nadal’s first rival at Rome Masters 1,000another one of his favorite tournaments on earth, with a total of 10 titles and 69 victories in 77 games played (8 losses).

Although still outside the world top-100, Bergs is currently the highest ranked Belgian tennis player (108th), thanks mainly to a happy April in USAwhere he chained the final of Sarasota (he lost to Thanasi Kokkinakis) and the title at Tallahasseeboth clay tournaments on the ATP challenger circuit.

After those results, Bergs moved on to David Goffin (114th), the player who carried the banner of Belgian tennis for the last decade: he reached world No. 7 and won six titles. In ATP tournaments, Zizou has a negative balance this year (3 wins-4 losses) and throughout his career (9-23), although he has put his team in trouble. Ben Shelton in the eighth of Houstonalso on clay: 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3.

Bergs entered the main draw in Rome after defeating the American in the qualifying round Patrick Kypson (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) and the young man Juncheng Shang (6-4, 7-6), the main hope of Chinese tennis.

If he beats the Belgian, Nadal will have a litmus test in the 2nd round match Hubert Hurkacz. Thomas Etcheverry (3rd round), Holger Rune (round of 16), Daniel Medvedev (quarters) and Andrey Rublev either Stefanos Tsitsipas (semifinals) could be Rafa’s other opponent later. Novak Djokovicthe no. 1 and favourite, is on the other side of the draw and could only meet Nadal in a hypothetical final.