WATCH: Rafael Nadal ‘very happy’ to return to court after recovering from injury
Former world No 1 Rafael Nadal has confirmed when he’ll be returning to the court after dealing with a foot injury since August.
The 35-year-old will be appearing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship with the tournament set to get underway on December 16 after a year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mallorca-born Nadal last played a professional match at the Washington Open at the ATP 500 event, making it to the round of 16 before having to cut his season short after picking up his injury.
Guys! Rafa just sent us this… 😬#MWTC @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/qdGIcQy4i9
— Mubadala World Tennis Championship (@MubadalaWTC) November 29, 2021
He announced his good news on a video on his Twitter, he said: “Hello everyone, Rafa here.
“I am very happy to be back at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.
“I hope to see you soon there.”
The 20-time Grand Slam winner is aiming to use this competition to warm up for the Australian Open in January and hopefully defend his Mubadala title from 2019 when he beat Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to win.
Other high profile stars who will be joining him in Abu Dhabi in a few weeks’ time include Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem, one of which he will have to play to earn a place in the tournament.
Nadal will face either Murray or Thiem in the semi-final on December 1.
Youngsters Casper Ruud, Dennis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev will also be flying out to the UAE for the competition.
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