Rafa Nadal, no Australian Open: new knockout and recovery time
Rafa Nadal, no Australian Open: new knockout and recovery time
No dice for Rafael Nadal: the Spanish tennis player, who returned to play in Brisbane after a one-year layoff, has announced his forfeit for the Australian Open, which kicks off in Melbourne in a week. The Manacor star suffered a muscle injury during the quarterfinals against Jordan Thompson, and will not beà starting in the first Slam of the season.
"During my last match in Brisbane I had a small problem with a muscle which as you know had me worried. Once I got to Melbourne I had a chance to have an MRI and I have a micro tear, not in the same part where I had the injury and that è good news. Right now I am not ready to sustain 5-set matches. I am going back to Spain to see my doctor, get treatment and rest".
"I have worked very hard during the year for this return and, as I have always said, my goal è to reach my best level in 3 months. Aside from the sadness for me not to be able to play in front of the fantastic Melbourne crowd, it ès not bad news and we all remain optimistic about how the season will evolve. I really wanted to play here in Australia and I had the opportunity to play some matches that made me very happy and positive. Thank you all for the support and see you soon".
Nadal’s stop will be about three months, the return will come to coincide with the start of the clay court season, his real goal in 2024: Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and then Roland Garros.
