Rafa Nadal bolsters tennis return hopes after making South American wish on Casper Ruud

Rafael Nadal has revealed he plans to face Casper Ruud when he returns to action in November in a repeat of their French Open final encounter earlier this year. Nadal played in the Laver Cup at the end of September after being knocked out of the US Open by Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round and is set to take part in an exhibition tour across South America before the end of this year.

The tour is set to kick off in Buenos Aires on November 21 and it looks like Ruud, who lost to Nadal in the final at Roland Garros in June, will have the opportunity to get revenge on Nadal by playing not just one, but several matches against him in the not too distant future. Ruud announced he would be joining Nadal on the tour via Friday by posting a short music video in which the Spaniard promised to face him in no less than five South American cities during the event. p>

"Well, let me think," Nadal told Ruud after being asked if a potential rematch could be on the cards. "Well, here's what we're going to do. We're going to play a rematch in Buenos Aires. If you win, I owe you a barbecue.

"I tell you what, we'll do five rematches. One in Buenos Aires, Bogota, Quinto, Belo Horizonte, Mexico City. Is that enough or not?"

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Ruud was more than happy to accept Nadal's generous offer, and the Norwegian prospect replied, "Very well, thank you very much!"

Nadal dominated Ruud in their last competitive encounter at Roland Garros, in which he managed to clinch his 22nd career Grand Slam title shortly after celebrating his 36th birthday. He was able to finish the job in straight sets by putting his clay-court expertise to good use at the expense of Ruud, who tasted another US Open final loss to Carlos Alcaraz in early September.

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The news of Ruud joining Nadal's South American exhibition tour comes just weeks after the Manacor native hinted at a lengthy hiatus from competitive tennis following his fourth-round defeat at Flushing Meadows, Tiafoe upsetting the odds to condemn her legendary opponent to an early exit.

"For some reason, I don't know, mental issues in terms of a lot of things that have happened in the last few months, maybe," Nadal told reporters when asked about what happened. was no match for Tiafoe.

"I have to go back. I need to fix things, life, and then I don't know when I'll be back. I'll try to be mentally ready. When I feel like I will be ready to compete again, I'll be there.”

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