It is without a doubt that Rafael Nadal will be the star attraction at this week’s inaugural Virtual Madrid Open but there are now questions about his physical fitness.
The 19-time grand slam champion kicked-off his campaign with a 4-3(3) win over Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on Monday. He was then meant to play Youtuber DjMario in a charity match but withdrew from it. Instead, he unexpectedly asked for it to be postponed until tomorrow.
Commenting on the reason, Madrid Open director Feliciano Lopez said it was due to a ‘back issue’ during a YouTube Livestream. Triggering the inevitable questions such as how did he suffer it and why would it affect him playing a video game? A total of 32 players are taking part in this week’s online competition, which aims to fill the void of the Madrid Open being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He had an issue on his back and was a bit injured so he requested to play DjMariio tomorrow,” Lopez said.
“I got a text from Rafa before he played Shapovalov saying he injured himself. I don’t know if he was working out or what it was. But he was worried about the injury.
“He said ‘let me play the match against Shapovalov and that’s it for today, then tomorrow I will try to play against DjMariio’.”
Nadal is no stranger to injury, but it is the first time it has forced him to delay playing one online. Although to add to the mystery surrounding the world No.2, Lopez later took to social media where he seemingly went back on his back issue comment. Instead saying that it was nothing but a joke.
“Guys, I was joking, of course… I said Rafa had a back injury from the pressure of playing on the PS4. We might need some sense of humour please!By the way he has shown great skills playing virtual tennis,” he wrote on Twitter.
With no comment from the 33-year-old as of yet, there remains confusion as to what actually happened and if there is a back issue or not. The only guarantee is that the king of clay will continue to play in the online event over the coming days. He is drawn in the same group as Andy Murray, who defeated Benoit Paire in his opening match.
The virtual tournament being played through the videogame Tennis World Tour (Nacon Gaming) on the PlayStation 4. A total of 300,000 euros will be up for grabs at the charity event which aims to help fellow tennis players during the Tour suspension. The men’s and women’s champions will decide how much to donate. Furthermore, the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro will donate a total of 50,000 euros to the Madrid Food Bank to help reduce the social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.