Rafael Nadal’s plans of playing both singles and doubles at the Paris Olympics are in doubt after the Spaniard opted to miss a practice session due to ‘discomfort.’
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has used his protected ranking to enter the singles tournament where he is scheduledto play Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics in his opening match. If he wins that, he could then take on long-time nemesis Novak Djokovic in what would be their 60th meeting at the Tour-level. Nadal will also play in the doubles tournament alongside reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz.
However, there is fresh uncertainty over Nadal’s participation in the singles draw due to concerns about ‘physical problems,’ according to Spanish media outlets. The issue has since been confirmed by his coach Carlos Moya who shed some light on the situation while speaking to Spanish radio.
“He had some discomfort yesterday (July 24) morning,” The AFP news agency quoted Moya telling Spanish radio. “In the afternoon he was more limited and before it got worse he decided to stop.”
The 38-year-old didn’t conduct any training on Thursday in Paris to rest his body. A decision is expected to be made based on how he recovers today and tomorrow, which will be the same day the tennis tournament starts.
“I can’t guarantee anything, neither that he won’t play or he will play,” said Moya. “At the moment he needs to rest,undergo treatment.
“He is obviously very excited to play these Olympics. It has been something marked on his calendar for years.
“He is a born competitor and wants to play singles and doubles. He’s very excited about the doubles with Alcaraz. It will be the first time they have played together and it will be something historic for Spanish tennis.”
The setback comes less than a week after Nadal reached his first ATP final in two years at the Swedish Open. He missed out on the title after falling in straight sets to Portugal’s Nuno Borges and later said he was frustrated with the level of his performance.
Paris will almost certainly be the last Olympic Games Nadal plays in before retiring from the sport. However, he has not yet stated when he plans to step away from the sport. He is a two-time gold medal winner, claiming the men’s singles title in 2008 and then the doubles crown in 2016 with Marc Lopez.
