Current World No. 1 Rafael Nadal goes into his Cincinnati Open 2017 tennis match against compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas with nothing but concern and sadness. To engage in a match just 24 hours after a deadly attack back home in Barcelona is very difficult for the Spaniards.
One thing is for certain, both Nadal and Vinolas will muster the courage and try to play their best possible game to pay tribute to the 14 killed in the Barcelona attack on Thursday. The van attack was carried out by ISIS.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza as well is scheduled to take on Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday in her Cincinnati Open quarter-finals match. The Wimbledon 2017 winner definitely wants to pay a tribute to the lives lost and the more-than-100 people injured, by making it to the semi-finals of the competition.
All three of them already took to Twitter on Thursday to share their sorrow.
Destrozado por lo que ha ocurrido en Barcelona! Todo mi apoyo a las familias afectadas y a la ciudad.
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) August 17, 2017
Gran dolor al veure el que esta passant a #Barcelona. Una part de mi esta avui amb vosaltres. Una abraçada a totes les familes afectades
— Albert Ramos Viñolas (@albertramos88) August 17, 2017
Hoy más que nunca Barcelona está en mi corazón. Todo mi apoyo a las victimas y sus familias.
— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) August 17, 2017
Barcelona. ? #StopTerrorism
Nadal is the favourite to win the Cincinnati Open, with the likes of Roger Federer (back injury), Andy Murray (hip injury), Stan Wawrinka (knee injury), Novak Djokovic (elbow injury) and Kei Nishikori (wrist injury), not participating this time around.
The 31-year-old won the Barcelona Open, the Madrid Open, the Monte Carlo Open as well as the record tenth French Open title earlier this year.
The 'King of Clay' defeated France's Richard Gasquet in the first round of the Cincinnati Open 2017 with a 6-3 6-4 score.
His opponent, Ramos-Vinolas, enters the match at the back of a 5-7 6-4 6-4 victory against Luxembourg's Gilles Muller.
Head to head record: Nadal vs Ramos-Vinolas
- Total meetings: 3
- Nadal won all of them
Cincinnati Open: Match schedule
- Date: August 18
- Time: 1 pm local time (10:30 pm IST, 5 pm GMT)
- Venue: Center Court, Cincinnati
Where to watch live
INDIA: TV - Sony ESPN/HD. Live stream - Sony Liv
USA - TV - ESPN 2. Live stream: Tennis Channel
Live scores: Twitter
