Rafael Nadal
MADRID – Rafael Nadal was forced to shelve his plans to return to action at next week’s Qatar Open, admitting on Wednesday that he is “not ready to compete.”
The 37-year-old missed most of last year with a hip injury that he sustained at the Australian Open before making his comeback at last month’s Brisbane International.
Nadal, however, was then forced to pull out of this year’s Australian Open.
The 22-time Grand Slam title winner now hopes to return to the tour at the Indian Wells Masters, which is scheduled to run from March 6 to 17 in California.
“I would have loved to play in Doha, where the tournament team, as well as the amazing Qatar fans have always supported me greatly,” Nadal said in a statement on X.
“Unfortunately I am not ready to compete and I won’t be able to come to Doha where I really wanted to be and play again.
“I will focus on keep working to be ready for the amazing Indian Wells tournament.”
Last month, Nadal was named on the entry list for the Qatar Open, to be held February 19 to 24, where he was champion in 2014.
Earlier Wednesday, the former world No. 1, whose ranking has plummeted to No. 646, admitted he had been suffering “some discomfort these past few weeks and I’m a bit on the limit.”
“At this point every blow I take, every injury, is a setback not only in tennis and physically, but also mentally,” he told La Sexta television.
“I am 100% confident of being in Indian Wells, it’s a very special tournament for me. I don’t know if it’s going to be the last time I play in it, so I would like to be in Indian Wells, for sure.”
Rafael Nadal reiterated that his “main goal is to try to get to the clay season as healthy as possible, to at least give me the chance to enjoy this part of the season,” which the Spaniard has dominated throughout his career.
He has won a record 14 French Open titles and is an astonishing 112-3 at Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal won two matches in Brisbane in January after a year on the sidelines but felt pain in his upper left thigh during a quarterfinal loss to Jordan Thompson.
