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Rafael Nadal return tournament announced after Australian Open withdrawal

Originally posted on Tennisbuzz | By Matthew Johns | Last updated 1/23/24

Rafael Nadal has been announced to compete at the Qatar Open, in his first tournament since obtaining a 'micro tear'.

Nadal had been out for almost a year, before he returned at the Brisbane International earlier this month.

And despite reaching the quarter-finals, Nadal elected not to participate at the Australian Open after feeling pain in a similar area to the psoas injury that kept him out for almost a year.

The former No.1 suggested that he was 'not ready' to play best-of-five sets, but has now entered the ATP 250 event in Doha.

I have worked very hard during the year for this comeback and as I always mentioned my goal is to be at my best level in 3 months.
Within the sad news for me for not being able to play in front of the amazing Melbourne crowds, this is not very bad news and we all remain positive… pic.twitter.com/FoFrr5AgMZ
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) January 7, 2024

Nadal won the title at the event back in 2014, and was runner-up in 2016 to Novak Djokovic.

He will be joined alongside defending champion Daniil Medvedev, Andy Murray and Andrey Rublev, amongst others.

The tournament will take place between February 19-24, giving Nadal under four weeks to declare fit.

It is currently unclear as to whether Nadal will also participate at the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai that takes place the following week, with the entry list yet to be released.

This article first appeared on Tennisbuzz and was syndicated with permission.

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