Rafael Nadal is getting closer to making his latest comeback plan, and he should be feeling more optimistic after a practice session before his return to Barcelona next week.
Since making his ATP Tour comeback in Brisbane last January and suffering another injury that required him to withdraw from the Australian Open, Nadal has not participated in any matches.
Nadal recently wrote on Instagram: “First training session. Excited to be here these days leading up to the tournament. I’m here to see how you doing. Looking forward to trying to play. Important to say that I don’t want to confirm that I will play, hopefully, I will. We shall see.”
After training with 2023 Monte Carlo winner Andrey Rublev, Nadal has stepped up his preparations, and the results seem promising.
Reporters present during the practice said that Nadal defeated Rublev 6-1, as worries about his back issue and how it affected his serving motion looked to be decreasing.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
Currently the world no.646, Nadal played his last match on the 5th
of January when he capitulated to world no.32 Jordan Thompson 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3 in the quarter in Brisbane (draw).At present, during this year Rafael has managed to achieve a composed 2-1 match record.
Andrey Rublev in 2024
Ranked world no.6, Andrey played his last match on the 10th of April when he lost to world no.46 Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-4 in the 2nd round in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (draw).
This year the Russian owns a compiled 15-7 match record. The Russian clinched 1 title in Hong Kong.
Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev clashed against each other 3 times. Their current head to head is 2-1 for Nadal. The last time they fought against each other, Andrey Rublev won 6-2 4-6 6-2 in the quarter in Monte-Carlo (Monte) in April 2021.
Here the video highlights.