Rafael Nadal ‘must fix things’ before certainty on competitive return
Rafael Nadal is in need of a reset after his US Open exit as he admitted he is unsure when he will next compete on court.
The 22-time Major champion suffered a first Slam loss of 2022 by going out in the fourth round to an inspired Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
While Nadal was still managing his abdominal injury throughout the match, affecting his service motion in particular, he made no excuses for the loss.
“At the end the only thing that happened is we went to the fourth round of the US Open and I faced a player that was better than me,” he said in his post-match press conference. “And that’s why I am having a plane back home.”
Heading home, the Spaniard will be reunited with his pregnant wife Xisca Perello, whose admission to hospital on the eve of the US Open no doubt made things even tougher for Nadal in New York.
“I need to go back. I need to fix things, life, then I don’t know when I’m going to come back,” he revealed. “I’m going to try to be ready mentally. When I feel that I will be ready to compete again, I will be there.”
Though not a tour event, Nadal is scheduled to play the Laver Cup in London from 23-25th September. There he would complete a dream Team Europe line-up alongside fellow ‘Big Four’ members Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, plus Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
However, the closing remarks of the world number three casts doubt on his participation at the fifth edition of the event.
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