Rafael Nadal reveals ‘desire to try to play’ in Barcelona next week
Rafael Nadal has provided another update on his comeback status, revealing the intention to compete at the Barcelona Open next week.
Nadal has only played three matches since the 2023 Australian Open, after suffering a serious psoas tear.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion returned at the start of this year at the Brisbane International, reaching the quarter-finals before facing another injury setback in his defeat to Jordan Thompson.
Following obtaining a ‘micro tear’ on a muscle in Brisbane, Nadal elected to withdraw from the first major of the year, but reassured fans that it was not too severe and subsequently entered the Qatar Open and Indian Wells.
However, those fears were raised once again when Nadal pulled out of both events and continued his absence after withdrawing from the Monte Carlo Masters this week.
There have been suggestions that Nadal is struggling to serve to his full ability, with the 37-year-old often posting videos on social media only hitting groundstrokes.
Nadal is still entered into upcoming Roland Garros lead-up events in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome, and last night provided an update on social media from Barcelona.
“Hello from Barcelona. First training session… with the hope of being here these days before the start of the tournament,” revealed Nadal. “I’m here to see how it goes… with the desire to try to play. I’ll tell you about it. It’s important to say that I don’t want to confirm that I will play, I hope so. We’ll see.”
Hola desde Barcelona ????????
Primer entreno… con la ilusión de estar aquí estos días previos al inicio del torneo.
Estoy aquí para ver qué tal… con las ganas de intentar jugar. Ya os iré contando.
Importante decir que no quiero confirmar que jugaré, ojalá que sí.
Ya veremos ???????? pic.twitter.com/N9cVDbO3N1— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 10, 2024
The Barcelona Open begins next week, with Nadal having a lot of history at the ATP 500 tournament having won the event a record 12-times and actually has centre court named after himself.
Inside the baseline…
It all seems very up in the air at the moment, and it still probably would not be a huge surprise if Nadal delays his comeback further. However, with it likely being Nadal’s final season as a professional tennis player, the former No.1 will want to play tournaments that have meant a lot to him over his incredible career. That being said, Nadal will only return to action if he feels 100% ready to do so.
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