I was quite skeptical when Rafa’s name popped up on the Thailand Open entry list. Seemed like a random and pointless detour for the World Number One en-route to the European Indoor Season. But he touched down in Bangkok today so he clearly has every intention of playing there next week. But he, more than anyone else, is well aware of his priorities and I’m sure he won’t exhaust himself at a 250 event weeks before it all kicks off again. Knowing Rafa, he probably felt he needed to make it up to the tournament after he was forced to withdraw from Bangkok last year.

On a side note, he really doesn’t have a hell of a lot to defend between now and the end of the year. He is already over 4,000 points ahead of Novak and he is set to end the year light years away from his nearest rivals. Hell, do they even count as rivals anymore?

Bangkok also marks the much-anticipated return of Juan Martin Del Potro. Not particularly a fan of his, but it will be great to see him back in the mix. It remains to be seen whether he will come thundering back immediately after such a long layoff, but returning at the beginning of the indoor season will put him in a good position to be back playing great tennis by the Australian Open next year, where he will have to join Novak, Roger, Andy and Robin in the fight against what will have to be renamed the “RafaRena Slam”. His forehand and the grip he used inevitably put a lot of strain on his wrist so I’m also interested to see whether he will have tweaked anything in his game upon returning to the courts.