2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Main article: Rafael Nadal

2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Full name	Rafael Nadal Parera
Country	Spain
Calendar prize money	$699,195
Singles
Season record	14–3
Current ranking	No. 3
Ranking change from previous year	1
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	QF
Doubles
Season record	0–0
Current ranking	No. 510
Ranking change from previous year	35
Last updated on: 12 May 2021.

The 2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 9 February 2021, with the start of the Australian Open.

Yearly summary

Early hard court season

ATP Cup

Rafael Nadal was scheduled to begin his season at the ATP Cup. However, despite being on Spain's team, he wasn't able to play any matches due to minor back issues.

Australian Open

See also: 2021 Australian Open – Men's Singles

At the 2021 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite being two sets to love up. This marked only the second time Nadal has lost a grand slam match after being two sets up.

Indian Wells Masters

Indian Wells Masters was scheduled to take place in March 2021 but has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns.

Miami Open

Nadal withdraws from this year’s Miami Open.

Spring clay court season

Barcelona Open

Rafael Nadal saved a match point to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas, in 3 hours and 38 minutes, the longest final since 1991 (when records began). This was his record-extending 12th title at the event.

All matches

This table chronicles all the matches of Rafael Nadal in 2021.

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent (seed or key)	Rank	Result	Score
ATP Cup Melbourne, Australia ATP Cup Hard, outdoor 2 – 7 February 2021
	Withdrew
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam tournament Hard, outdoor 8 – 21 February 2021
	1 / 1209	1R	Laslo Đere	56	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–1
	2 / 1210	2R	Michael Mmoh (Q)	177	Win	6–1, 6–4, 6–2
	3 / 1211	3R	Cameron Norrie	69	Win	7–5, 6–2, 7–5
	4 / 1212	4R	Fabio Fognini (16)	17	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
	5 / 1213	QF	Stefanos Tsitsipas (5)	6	Loss	6–3, 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 4–6, 5–7
Monte-Carlo Masters Monte Carlo, Monaco ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 12 – 18 April 2021
	–	1R	Bye
	6 / 1214	2R	Federico Delbonis (Q)	87	Win	6–1, 6–2
	7 / 1215	3R	Grigor Dimitrov (14)	17	Win	6–1, 6–1
	8 / 1216	QF	Andrey Rublev (6)	8	Loss	2–6, 6–4, 2–6
Barcelona Open Barcelona, Spain ATP Tour 500 Clay, outdoor 19 – 25 April 2021
	–	1R	Bye
	9 / 1217	2R	Ilya Ivashka (Q)	111	Win	3–6, 6–2, 6–4
	10 / 1218	3R	Kei Nishikori	39	Win	6–0, 2–6, 6–2
	11 / 1219	QF	Cameron Norrie	58	Win	6–1, 6–4
	12 / 1220	SF	Pablo Carreño Busta (6)	13	Win	6–3, 6–2
	13 / 1221	W	Stefanos Tsitsipas (2)	5	Win (1)	6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5
Madrid Open Madrid, Spain ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 2 – 9 May 2021
	–	1R	Bye
	14 / 1222	2R	Carlos Alcaraz (WC)	120	Win	6–1, 6–2
	15 / 1223	3R	Alexei Popyrin (Q)	76	Win	6–3, 6–3
	16 / 1224	QF	Alexander Zverev (5)	6	Loss	4–6, 4–6
Italian Open Rome, Italy ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 9 – 16 May 2021
	–	1R	Bye
	17 / 1225	2R	Jannik Sinner	18	Win	7–5, 6–4
	18 / 1226	3R	Denis Shapovalov (13)	14	Win	3–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
	19 / 1227	QF	Alexander Zverev (6)	6	Win	6–3, 6-4

Exhibition matches

Singles

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent (seed or key)	Rank	Result	Score
A Day at the Drive Adelaide, Australia Hard, outdoor 29 January 2021
	1	–	Dominic Thiem	3	Win	7–5, 6–4

Schedule

Per Rafael Nadal, this is his current 2021 schedule (subject to change). The ATP Rankings are currently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; they are on a Best of 24-month basis through the week of 15 March 2021. Until then, all the events are non-mandatory and players can use the best result from the same event in that 24-month span.

Singles schedule

Date	Tournament	Location	Tier	Surface	Prev. result	Prev. points	New points	Result
2 February 2021– 7 February 2021	ATP Cup	Melbourne (AUS)	ATP Cup	Hard	F	250	N/A (250)	Withdrew due to minor back issues
8 February 2021– 21 February 2021	Australian Open	Melbourne (AUS)	Grand Slam	Hard	QF	360	360	Quarterfinals (lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6–3, 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 4–6, 5–7)
22 March 2021– 4 April 2021	Miami Open	Miami (USA)	Masters 1000	Hard	NH	N/A	N/A	Withdrew
12 April 2021– 18 April 2021	Monte Carlo Masters	Monte Carlo (MON)	Masters 1000	Clay	SF	360	180	Quarterfinals (lost to Andrey Rublev, 2–6, 6–4, 2–6)
19 April 2021– 25 April 2021	Barcelona Open	Barcelona (ESP)	500 Series	Clay	SF	180	500	Champion (defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5)
3 May 2021– 9 May 2021	Madrid Open	Madrid (ESP)	Masters 1000	Clay	SF	360	180	Quarterfinals (lost to Alexander Zverev, 4–6, 4–6)
9 May 2021– 16 May 2021	Italian Open	Rome (ITA)	Masters 1000	Clay	QF	180
31 May 2021– 13 June 2021	French Open	Paris (FRA)	Grand Slam	Clay	W	2000
Race to Turin points as of Madrid Open						1510	1470	40 difference
Total year-end points						9810

Doubles schedule

Date	Tournament	Location	Tier	Surface	Prev. result	Prev. points	New points	Result
2 February 2021– 7 February 2021	ATP Cup	Melbourne (AUS)	ATP Cup	Hard	F	95	N/A (95)	Withdrew due to minor back issues
Total year-end points						95

Yearly records

Head-to-head matchups

Rafael Nadal has a 15–3 ATP match win-loss record in the 2021 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP Rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings is 1–3. Bold indicates player was ranked top 10 at the time of at least one meeting. The following list is ordered by number of wins:

• Cameron Norrie 2–0
• Carlos Alcaraz 1–0
• Pablo Carreño Busta 1–0
• Federico Delbonis 1–0
• Laslo Đere 1–0
• Grigor Dimitrov 1–0
• Fabio Fognini 1–0
• Ilya Ivashka 1–0
• Michael Mmoh 1–0
• Kei Nishikori 1–0
• Alexei Popyrin 1–0
• Denis Shapovalov 1–0
• Jannik Sinner 1–0
• Stefanos Tsitsipas 1–1
• Andrey Rublev 0–1
• Alexander Zverev 0–1

* Statistics correct as of 13 May 2021.

Finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Category Grand Slam (0–0) ATP Finals (0–0) Masters 1000 (0–0) 500 Series (1–0) 250 Series (0–0)

Titles by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (1–0) Grass (0–0)

Titles by setting Outdoor (1–0) Indoor (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 2021	Barcelona Open, Spain (12)	500 Series	Clay	Stefanos Tsitsipas	6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5

Earnings

• Bold font denotes tournament win

Singles
Event	Prize money	Year-to-date
Australian Open	A$525,000	$360,832
Monte-Carlo Masters	€46,500	$416,144
Barcelona Open	€178,985	$629,046
Madrid Open	€58,370	$699,195
Italian Open	€	$
		$699,195
Total
		$699,195

Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.

• source：2021 Singles Activity
• source：2021 Doubles Activity

See also

• 2021 ATP Tour
• 2021 Novak Djokovic tennis season

External links

• Official website (in Spanish)
• ATP tour profile