Rafael Nadal is set for his return to tennis in Barcelona as he has been drawn against Flavio Cobolli in the opening round.
Nadal has been struggling with injury after being injured again in Brisbane this year.
The tournament in Brisbane was his first tournament back for a year as he suffered a hip injury at the Australian Open last year.
Now Nadal aims to return to competitive action in Barcelona as he has been drawn against Flavio Cobolli in the opening round.
Speaking earlier in the week Nadal was hopeful of a return to the tour in Barcelona, “Excited to be here for a few days before the start of the tournament,” Nadal told the ATP website.
“I’m here to see how it goes… can’t wait to try and play. I’ll let you know. Important to say that I don’t want to confirm I’ll be playing, but I hope so. We’ll see.”
Should Nadal play and win his opening round match then the Spaniard will play fourth seed Alex De Minaur in the second round.
The former world number one has won the title on 12 different occasions but hasn’t won the title since 2021.
Elsewhere in the draw defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will begin against Luca Van Assche or Zhizhen Zhang with the Spaniard projected to meet Borna Coric in the third round.
Alcaraz suffered an injury in Monte-Carlo and will be beginning his clay court campaign in Barcelona.
Also in action in Barcelona are Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud.
Main draw action will begin on Monday.
