Rafael Nadal confirmed his candidacy to seek a record 21 Grand Slam titles posting a photo of himself in Melbourne Park on social media and dispelling fears that he might miss next month’s Australian Open. The 35-year-old Spaniard hung a photo of his image on a track at the Australian Open, accompanied by a text in English: “Don’t tell anyone … here I am.”
Winner of twenty Grand Slam tournaments (he is tied with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic), Nadal had contracted the coronavirus while playing in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi this month and said he would make a decision about his future tournaments depending on his “evolution. ” In the next weeks. His performance in the emirate occurred after having spent four months off due to a foot problem.
From there he had ensured that his left foot was better, that he hoped to be able to manage the pain and be able to compete again; also considered that He still had “inner fire” to fight for his goals, as long as he was “healthy.” “If I am healthy, I still have the inner fire to continue and fight for my goals,” he said at a press conference of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, in the Capital of the United Arab Emirates.
“The expectation is to play again in front of a large crowd, feel competing against great players again and then enjoy. It has been a very difficult period for me, honestly, so just being here is great news for me, “he said at the same press conference. “I really hope the foot gets better and better to be back at the level I want to be. If I can play without limitations, I want to fight again for everything, so that’s the goal. My experience says that things change very fast. What today seems impossible or almost impossible, nobody knows what could happen in a month.
Earlier in the year, he had been eliminated in the semi-finals of the French Open and had been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open. The positive result of the COVID-19 test put on hold his participation in the 2022 Australian Open, a tournament in which he has won once and has been runner-up four times, but this afternoon’s message chased away the bad omens.
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Nadal is expected to begin his preparation for the first Grand Slam of the season by returning to the tour for the first time since August at Melbourne’s ATP 250 event starting Tuesday. His arrival will be a boost to the injury-plagued Australian Open organizers with the absence of Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu. It is not yet known if the world’s number one Serbian Novak Djokovic will play at the Australian Open, where the 34-year-old has won a record nine titles, including the last three.. Speculation about Djokovic’s involvement (that has the asterisk of not being vaccinated) increased after he retired from the Serbian team for the ATP Cup in Sydney, which begins on Saturday.
