Leading Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal has made a difficult decision to postpone his return to the professional tour. The 22-time Grand Slam winner had initially planned to compete in the prestigious Qatar Open, scheduled to start next week in the capital of Qatar, Doha. However, Nadal admitted that he does not feel fully prepared for serious competition following a forced break due to injury.
The Spanish athlete released a statement expressing his disappointment: “Unfortunately, I am still not ready to return to the court and participate in the competition. I really wanted to play in Doha again, where I always felt amazing support from the fans, but this time I will have to miss the tournament.” Nadal expressed hope that he would be able to fully recover his form and competitive spirit in the near future. Despite the lack of a reaction from bukmeker sayti to this announcement, as Nadal was not the main favorite of the tournament, it is a significant loss for tennis fans.
When will Rafael Nadal return to the court?
37-year-old Rafael Nadal continues to recover from a hip injury sustained at the Australian Open last year. This injury forced the Spanish tennis player to miss a significant part of the 2023 season. Only in January did Nadal return to the court and play in the Brisbane tournament. However, his comeback was interrupted due to a new minor muscle injury, preventing the 22-time Grand Slam winner from participating in the first major tournament of the season, the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Nadal’s focus is now on the prestigious Indian Wells Masters tournament in California, scheduled for March 6-17. The Spanish tennis player hopes to regain proper form for this competition and finally return to intense competitive activity at the highest level. By skipping the Qatar Open in Doha, Nadal regretfully noted that the tournament in the capital of Qatar has always been special for him: “Unfortunately, at the moment, I am simply not ready to return to full competitive tennis and will not be able to compete in Qatar as much as I would have liked. I will concentrate on continuing to work to be ready for the amazing tournament in Indian Wells.”
Indian Wells – a special tournament for Nadal
Rafael Nadal was supposed to return to competition at the prestigious Qatar Open tournament in Doha, where he was included in the participant list last month. The competitions in the capital of Qatar will take place from February 19 to 24. In 2014, the Spanish tennis player became the champion of this tournament. However, on Wednesday, the former world number one, whose ranking has now dropped to 646th place, openly admitted that in recent weeks, he has experienced serious discomfort and has been at the limit of his capabilities. “Recently, every hit, every new injury for me is not only physical and tennis failures but also a serious blow to my mental state,” Nadal said in an interview with La Sexta.
Despite this, the 37-year-old athlete remains hopeful for a soon-to-come full return. He confidently stated, “I will 100% participate in the Indian Wells Masters tournament in California. It is a completely special tournament for me. I don’t even know if it will be my last participation in it, so being present at the Indian Wells competition is extremely important for me.”
Future priorities – clay season
Rafael Nadal has clearly outlined his priorities for the near future. Despite the enforced pause, the Spanish player’s main goal is to approach the clay season as healthy as possible, traditionally the strongest phase of his career. Over his outstanding tennis career, Nadal has won a record 14 titles at the French Open, the main clay court tournament of the season. His win-loss record on the Roland Garros courts is truly remarkable – 112 wins with only 3 losses.
In January of this year, Nadal returned to competitive tennis at the Brisbane tournament, where he won two games after a year-long hiatus. However, in the quarterfinals, the Spaniard felt pain in the upper part of his left hip and lost to Jordan Thompson. This recurrence forced Nadal to halt his comeback once again. Regarding questions about cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Nadal vehemently defends his right to be an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation. According to him, the kingdom in the Persian Gulf is a “country with enormous potential that has opened up to the world.” The Spaniard rejected assumptions that Saudis use sports to improve the country’s human rights reputation, known as “sports washing.”
BNP Paribas Open · Jordan Thompson · Qatar Open · Rafael Nadal
