Rafael Nadal has enjoyed his best career achievements in the city of Paris.
However, none of them have occurred in the Bercy neighborhood of the city.
Bercy, in the 12th arrondissement, is the site of the “other” pro tennis tournament in Paris, the Rolex Paris Masters.
Nadal will make his celebrated return to the ATP World Tour there, not playing any events since he withdrew with his pesky knee injury against Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals of the U.S. Open six weeks ago.
While Nadal has seen the zenith of his career in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on the clay at Roland Garros where he has won 11 French Open singles titles, he has never won the major indoor event at Bercy. In fact, Nadal has only played in the event six times in his 16-year career.
Nadal didn’t play in the event until 2007 and it was in this debut year where he posted his best finish – losing in the final to David Nalbandian of Argentina. After losing in the quarterfinals the next year to Nikolay Davydenko and the next year in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, Nadal did not play in the tournament for the next three years. In 2013, he lost in the semifinals to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, then did not play in 2014, before losing in the quarterfinals to Stan Wawrinka. Nadal again skipped the event in 2016 before winning two matches in 2017 before withdrawing mid-event with a knee injury. His career record at Bercy is 16-5, compared to his amazing 86-2 record at Roland Garros.
Nadal, still ranked No. 1 in the world, will look to work his amazing forehand and hold off the fast-rising Phoenix, world No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who is attempting to become the first player to start a year ranked outside of the top 20 to reach the No. 1 ranking. Despite being the top seed, his dubious track record at the event, and the fact that he is playing in his first event since the summer, will not make Nadal one of the tennis betting favorites this week.
Djokivic has won the event four times previously – in 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2015 – and is trending upwards in his quest to return to the No. 1 ranking. However, Bercy also is the site of some unpredictable results, most notably Jack Sock capturing the title last year beating Filip Krajinovic in the final.
