The 12th edition of this traditional exhibition will take place at the Zayed International Tennis Center, which rewards the winner, in addition to a formidable check, with an avant-garde trophy designed by Ashwaq Abdulla, which pays tribute to the ‘Fountain of the Volcano’, one of the most important landmarks of the city, built in the eighties and which became a symbol of coexistence, unity and tolerance.
Nadal and Djokovic make their debut directly in the semifinals. The Spanish does it against the winner of the duel between the South Korean Hyeong Chung and the Russian Karen Khachanov, while the Serbian will do it against the one who wins between the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, recent champion of the ATP Finals, and the Russian Andrei Rublev.
Khachanov and Rublev fill in for Russian Daniil Medvedev and Frenchman Gael Monfills, who have dropped out, the former with hip problems and the latter with a muscular ailment.
Nadal will therefore debut this Friday, not before 8:00 p.m. (CET) and it will be his first match since his intervention in the Davis Cup Finals at the Caja Mágica in Madrid, where the team that Sergi Bruguera now directs won for the sixth time the Salad bowl. He will do so as number one in the world, as this 2019 will end, a position he regained on November 4, and which he secured to end the season during the ATP Finals in London.
After Abu Dhabi, the Spanish player plans to return to Manacor to spend Christmas with his family and then head to Australia to participate in the ATP Cup (January 3-12), the prelude to the first Grand Slam of the season, where He will team up with Roberto Bautista, Pablo Carreño, Feliciano López and Albert Ramos, and captained by Francis Roig.
This first edition of the ATP Cup will be held from January 3 to 12 in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Perth and Sydney, which will distribute 15 million dollars in prizes and a maximum of 750 points for the ATP classification for the individual champion and 250 points for doubles players. Spain is in Group B and will play in Perth, along with teams from Japan, Georgia and Uruguay. EFE.