Rafael Nadal before the Australian Open: Between modesty and confidence
Rafael Nadal will go into the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, as one of the big unknowns. The Spaniard, who only made his comeback on the ATP tour a few days ago after an injury break of several months, deliberately stacks low in advance.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Jan 16, 2022, 11:00 am
At first glance, Rafael Nadal can look back on an outstanding comeback. At his first appearance after an injury break of several months, the former world number one was able to succeed right away - and not only win the title at the ATP 250 event in Melbourne, but also gain competition practice at the place where the Australian Open will be played from Monday first major trophy of the year. But it's not all bliss: Nadal only had to play three matches on the way to the title, and no opponent in the metropolis was in the top 90 of the ATP world rankings at the time.
Accordingly, it is also uncertain what the Mallorcan can be expected to do Down Under. At that Grand Slam that Nadal was only able to win once in his brilliant career. Alexander Zverev recently provided some classification , who explained during the Media Day that Nadal had made a good impression during a joint training session. The Spaniard himself, on the other hand, is more reserved: "The main goal is to come back. I'm enjoying it. I'm looking forward to playing the Australian Open again," said the 35-year-old in the run-up to the tournament.
Nadal with strong COVID symptoms
One of the reasons for the muted expectations is the COVID infection that Nadal had to go through a few days before leaving for Down Under. "I was very ill during COVID," explained the 20-time Grand Slam champion. "The sensations were not good in those seven days, especially the first four days, which were quite hard. Then little by little I got better," recalls the Mallorcan. For him it is already "great" to enjoy training again and "feel like a professional tennis player again. I play good tennis," said Nadal.
To what extent the Spaniard will be able to use this regained strength in an exhausting five-set match is still uncertain, as the former world number one explained: "I can't give a precise answer because I haven't played a five-set match since the French Open. I've only played three matches since coming back. It's obvious that nothing is clear." He wants to see from day to day and gain confidence with every win.
Because then, and that sounds a bit like a declaration of war against the competition, a lot would be possible: "I trained a lot with different tennis players on the tour and the impressions were very good. Let's see how things go at the Australian Open . Any game I can win is very important for my confidence. Then you never know what can happen."