Rafa Nadal will not play the Australian Open due to a new injury. The tennis player from Manacor suffered from his physical problems in the defeat against Thompson in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane tournament and today he confirmed that he suffers from “a microtear” that will force him to return to Spain and miss the first major tournament of the year.
“During my last game in Brisbane I had a small problem with a muscle that, as you know, had me worried. Once I arrived in Melbourne I had the opportunity to have an MRI and I have a micro tear in a muscle,” explained the Spanish tennis player.
Fortunately, Nadal confirms that it is not the same injury that has kept him off the courts for almost a year: “It is not in the same part where I had the injury and that is good news.” “Within the sad news for me of not being able to play in front of the incredible Melbourne crowd, this is not bad news and we all remain positive with the evolution of the season. “I really wanted to play here in Australia and I have had the opportunity to play some games that have made me very happy and positive,” adds the Spaniard in a post on his social networks.
Nadal returned to the courts this week at the ATP 250 in Brisbane. After two good matches against Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler, the Spaniard fell to Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals. A tough match that demanded a lot from the Mallorcan tennis player, who was seen with physical problems to finish the match. For almost three and a half hours he fought to advance to the round, but he wasted three match points and ended up losing to the Australian.
After undergoing medical tests in Melbourne, Nadal confirmed this small muscle tear, which is why he preferred to return home and recover: “Right now I am not prepared to compete at the highest level of demand in 5-set matches. I return to Spain to see my doctor, receive treatment and rest. I have worked very hard during the year for this return and as I always mentioned, my goal is to be at my best level in 3 months.”
The Spaniard thus misses the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open, which started on January 14 and which should have been his great return to the top. Before the second Grand Slam of the year, Roland Garros, at the end of May, Nadal has also confirmed his presence at an exhibition in Las Vegas with Carlos Alcaraz (March 3).
The winner of 22 Grand Slams had also confirmed his presence at the Open Banc Sabadell Trofeo Conde de Godó next April. Without losing sight of the Paris Olympic Games this summer.
