Rafael Nadal made his comeback in professional tennis on Sunday, December 31 after a gap of nearly 12 months. Even as he entertained the crowd with his aggressive and fearless tennis, the 37-year-old also showed his skills at football.
In the first set of his men’s doubles match with countryman Marc Lopez, Nadal showed his dribbling skills by returning the ball to the ball-girl. The crowd cheered for the 22-time Grand Slam winner when he showed that he wouldn’t have the worst footballer had he not chosen tennis as a profession.
As far as the match was concerned, Nadal and his partner lost 4-6, 4-6 to the Australian duo of Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell.
Nadal is next set to take part in the men’s singles where he will lock horns with former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, who came in through the qualifiers.
The 37-year-old Nadal hasn’t played a singles match since losing to Mackenzie MacDonald in the second round of the Australian Open last year. Nadal will also be making his Grand Slam return in the upcoming edition of the hard-court tournament at the Rod Laver Arena.
Earlier, in a press conference, Nadal said that 2024 could possibly be the last time that he plays tennis on Australian soil.
“The problem about saying that it’s going to be my last season is I can’t predict what’s going on 100 per cent in the future. That’s why I say probably. It’s obvious that it’s a high percentage that this is going to be my last time playing here in Australia,” Nadal was quoted as saying.
Nadal said that he is in good shape after having to struggle with his body due to injuries over the last 12 months or so.
“In a realistic world, I’m happy the way that I am practicing. Of course, I don’t have the expectations that I used to have in the past, especially for the beginning,” Nadal added.
