Rafael Nadal: All attention on ‘King of Clay’ at Argentina Open

Rafael Nadal is expected to be showered with attention by the tennis world as he defends his title at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

All eyes are on Nadal as he tries to bounce back from an ugly start to the 2016 season after his early exit at the recent Australian Open in Melbourne, where he lost in the first round against compatriot Fernando Verdasco.

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The 29-year-old had shown his sharp form when he breezed into the final round of the Qatar Open to face eventual winner Novak Djokovic, but failed to do so in one of the most important tournaments this year. Now, the Spaniard looks to bury the past behind him and hopes to restart his 2016 season on a winning note when he plays at the Argentina Open this week.

“I asked for this wild card after the bad result in Melbourne, and I hope Buenos Aires will once again be the beginning of a good season,” Nadal said in a statement posted on the tournament’s official website.

Nadal will join a strong field of players in Buenos Aires, with three-time champ David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and John Isner also competing. The “King of Clay” enters the tournament as the top seed and receives a bye into the round of 16, but could immediately face a tough matchup against Argentina’s own Juan Monaco, whom Nadal defeated last year to claim his 46^th career clay-court title.

Nadal leads Monaco in their FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup by 6-1 and has won their last four meetings. The last time Monaco defeated the Spaniard was in 2007 at the Cincinnati Masters, where Nadal retired hurt in the second set of the match.

Monaco, who will be playing at his first tournament since suffering a wrist injury in Kitzbuhel 2015, was happy about his full recovery and revealed he has been practicing hard ahead of the Argentina Open.

“These are new feelings after seven months away from the circuit, but I feel good after having a long time to recover,” Monaco said, reports the ATP’s official website. “I'm thankful I can return here in Buenos Aires because it's one of the tournaments I like the most.”