WATCH: Rafael Nadal’s comeback gathers pace with training video as his second clay event is revealed
Rafael Nadal is set to play in back-to-back clay-court tournaments in April after it was confirmed that he is on the entry list for the Barcelona Open.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner is set to make his long-awaited return to competitive action at the Monte Carlo Masters with the tournament running from April 8-14 and he will then immediately head to Spain for the Barcelona Open.
The ATP 500 event gets underway on April 15 and the Spaniard – who has slipped to No 647 in the ATP Rankings following his continued inactivity – has once again used his protected ranking to get into the main draw.
Nadal has won the Barcelona Open a record 12 times, but he hasn’t played at the tournament since he lifted the trophy in 2021 as he missed the 2022 edition due to a rib problem while last year he didn’t play on clay at all due to a hip flexor injury.
But everything indicates to him competing in the Spanish city this time around.
The former world No 1 has played only three matches this year following his injury-enforced layoff in 2023 with the last of those encounters coming on January 5 at the Brisbane International.
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After sustaining a muscle injury at the tournament, Nadal withdrew from the Qatar Open and last week’s Indian Wells Open as he admitted he was not physically ready to compete at the highest level again despite coming through an exhibition match with Carlos Alcaraz in Las Vegas.
“I have been working hard and practicing and you all know I took a test this weekend but I don’t find myself ready to play at the highest level at such an important event,” he said.
“It is not an easy decision, it’s a tough one as a matter of fact but I can’t lie to myself and lie to the thousands of fans.”
However, he appears to be edging closer to full fitness as he has posted regular training videos on Instagram about his progress.
Nadal will be one of several big-name players competing again this year as Carlos Alcaraz will be back to defend his title with the Spaniard aiming to make it a hat-trick of trophies.
Two-time runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas will also feature while fellow top-20 players Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Alex de Minaur have also signed up for the tournament.
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