“What an illusion” Rafael Nadal ecstatic after having his first practice session on Clay
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Rafael Nadal in training
World No. 4 Rafael Nadal made his best start to a season this year when he went on to win 20 consecutive matches before suffering his first loss of the season in the finals of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters. Nadal lost the finals to Taylor Fritz ending his winning streak and it was an unfortunate end as he was diagnosed with a stress rib fracture and was sidelined for 4-6 weeks forcing him for a delayed start on Clay.
Post the Indian Wells, Nadal was to skip the 2022 Miami Masters and make his Clay debut at the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters but the fracture forced him to skip the event in Monaco where he is a record 11-time champion. With a massive doubt over his participation in Clay events this season, it looked unlikely that Nadal will be fully ready before the 2022 French Open where he is chasing his 14th French Open title and 22nd major.
However, good news has certainly presented itself. Nadal hit the clay courts recently for his first practice session as he eyes an return to the Tour quickly. While he will miss this week’s events as well, the Serbian Open in Belgrade and the Barcelona Open where he is the defending champion, Nadal can look at it as another 2 weeks of practice before he can return to action in May as he had initially planned to play only in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona before the injury ruined his plans.
While the location was not confirmed, it is safe to believe that Nadal trained at his Academy in Mallorca and the player latest posted the images on his Twitter handle while videos of his training has now gone viral as well. “Today after 4 weeks without stepping on a tennis court, first light training. What an illusion to step on the Clay again,” tweeted Nadal.
Rafael Nadal’s comeback at the Madrid Masters looks hopeful
With a return to training as per the first timeline of recovery by the doctors, Nadal looks likely to play in the upcoming 2022 Madrid Masters that begin on 1st May. Nadal is an 8-time finalist in Madrid and a 5-time champion with the 2017 Madrid Masters being his last victory at the tournament. Since then, he has reached the quarter-finals on all occasions in 2018, 2019 (semi-finals) and 2021.
While the player or his team have made no comments on whether he will play or not, as per the first reports of his injury’s assessment, the Madrid Masters was the tournament Nadal was looking to return at and with a fortnight still in his hand, he can actually make it to the tournament challenging for his 4th title of the season.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)