Rafael Nadal is currently in Abu Dhabi where he will face Andy Murray in the semifinals of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships. The former world number 1 did not play a competitive match since the 3rd of August when he lost to Harris Lloyd in the third round in Washington.
The Injury
The King of Clay has been dealing with a nasty food injury for a big part of his career. Unfortunately, that injury got worse in 2021 so as to force Rafael out from the competitions for 4 months.
Rafael Nadal is now focused on getting back to his best fitness. During a press conference in Abu Dhabi, he revealed:
“I’m feeling good, super happy to be back. As you know, [the Mubadala World Tennis Championship] is a tournament I’ve played plenty of times in my career, a lot of positive memories. For me, it’s a comeback to competition after a long period of time, so very happy for that.”
About his injury
Talking about his foot injury, it does not seem that Nadal is at his 100%. Nadal added:
“Pain I had a lot of times in my career, almost all the time. It’s more about having the chance to have a pain that I can manage to compete well. Let’s see, I need to try it in competition. Of course, I am feeling better, if not I will not be here.
I know the comeback will not be easy. I don’t have big expectations now, but the early expectation is to be here, to play in front of a great crowd again, to be competing again against great players, and then enjoy.
It has been a very tough period of time for me, so just to be here is great news. I really hope that the foot is going to get better and better, so I can get to the level I want to be.”
Rafael Nadal in 2021
Ranked world no.6, Nadal played his last match on the 5th of August when he was defeated by world no.31 Harris Lloyd 6-4 1-6 6-4 in the 3rd round in Washington (draw).
Currently, during this year the Spaniard has a 24-5 win-loss record. Nadal conquered 2 titles in 2021 in Barcelona and in Rome.
