Rafael Nadal blindsides tennis fans by admitting he has NO IDEA when he’ll play again after shock US Open loss – as birth of his first child looms
- The Spanish champion was beaten by 24-year-old US hope Frances Tiafoe
- His wife Maria is back home in Spain and is heavily pregnant with their first child
- Nadal was non-committal when asked when – or if – he will return to the court
- The 22-time grand slam winner is likely to take the rest of 2022 off at least
World tennis might have seen the last of champion Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard admitted he doesn’t know when he will return to the court after his shock round four loss at the US Open.
Nadal was widely expected to reach the final at Flushing Meadows, but he was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 in an epic battle against local US hope Frances Tiafoe.
Speaking in the post-match media conference, the 22-time grand slam winner said he would now rest his body and spend time with his heavily pregnant wife.
Nadal’s head never seemed to be 100 per cent at the US Open with his wife heavily pregnant
Nadal was beaten by 24-year-old United States star Frances Tiafoe in four sets at the US Open
When asked for a timeline on when he would return, Nadal was non-committal.
‘I going to try to be ready mentally,’ he said.
‘When I feel that I will be ready to compete again, I will be there.’
Nadal courted retirement in 2021 after a degenerative bone disease in his left foot forced him to miss Wimbledon and the US Open.
He returned to the court to pull off one of the most miraculous victories in tennis history at the Australian Open when he came from two sets down to triumph over Daniil Medvedev.
After claiming the French Open, Nadal was forced to withdraw from the 2022 Wimbledon Championships because of an abdominal injury.
At the very least, Nadal is likely done for 2022.
‘Considering all the injuries he’s had this year, I don’t think we’ll see him until the Australian Open [in January],’ former Australian tennis star and current commentator Jelena Dokic said.
That means Nadal is unlikely to compete in the inaugural Rod Laver Cup teams event in September that would have seen him, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray play on the same team for the first time in history.
Nadal and his wife Maria. The tennis star is likely to take time away from the game to spend time with her and their first child that is due this year
If and when Nadal does retire, he is likely to take up a more involved role at the Rafa Nadal Academy he created with his uncle and first coach Toni on his home island of Mallorca off the coast of Spain.
The academy features a wide array of different courts and surfaces and trains hundreds of budding young stars each year. One of its most recent high-profile graduates was Norway’s Casper Ruud who lost to Nadal in the French Open final this year.
‘I will always be involved with the Academy, which is a project that we started a few years ago and that is gaining more and more strength,’ he said earlier this year.
‘I even hope to spend more time on it than I do now as I continue to compete and travel the world.
‘Surely one day I will be a former elite athlete, but I will always be an athlete because sport is my passion and I will practice it whenever my body allows it.’