Rafael Nadal all set to stage a comeback at Washington, will play the Citi Open for the first time

After an action packed European summer, the ATP tour will move to the States for a 6-week US summer stinct. As many as 5 events will be played starting August, the last one being the US Open. The first event of the US summer will be the Citi Open at Washington and it will be headlined by Rafael Nadal.

Nadal, who skipped Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics to give his body some rest was expected to make a comeback at either Toronto or Cincinnati. But instead, Nadal has decided to play the Citi Open, an event which he hasn’t played in his entire career. Nadal has taken a wildcard into the tournament and will be the top seed.

“I am looking forward to playing again and Washington shall be the best start for the U.S. Summer Swing for me,” Nadal said.

The other notable names competing at the coveted ATP 500 event are Nick Kyrgios, Felix Auger Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Alex de Minaur, Hubert Hurkacz, Alan Karatsev, Jannik Sinner, Karen Khachanov, John Isner, Reilly Opelka and Milos Raonic.

Nadal last played the French Open and withdrew from Wimbledon, Tokyo 2020

Earlier, after bowing out of the French Open semifinal to Novak Djokovic, Nadal announced that he will be skipping Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics to give his body some rest inorder to prolong his career and get ready for a long US summer.

“It’s never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discuss it with my team I understand that it is the right decision,” Nadal wrote on Twitter.

“The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy, that is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.”

Nadal is currently tied at 20 grand slams with Roger Federer and leads Djokovic by just one slam.

Also read: ‘He is the Robin Hood of tennis,’ Goran Ivanisevic on Novak Djokovic