Rafael Nadal is hours away from making his long-awaited tennis return at the Barcelona Open, but he refrained from giving an injury update.
Nadal has suffered two hip injuries in the last 15 months. He required arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn flexor muscle he sustained at the 2023 Australian Open, which forced him to spend the entire last season on the treatment table.
He recovered to play at the Brisbane International earlier this year, where he was knocked out in the quarterfinal by Jordan Thompson but succumbed to another hip injury unrelated to his initial psoas injury.
Nadal was forced to miss the Australian Open, Qatar Open, Indian Wells, and most recently, the Monte-Carlo Masters. These were four tournaments in which the Spaniard committed to play only to make a last-minute change of heart and withdraw.
There were fears that Nadal would miss this week's Barcelona Open when he was scheduled for a press conference on Monday, a day before his opening match against Flavio Cobolli. But as it turned out, Nadal confirmed his willingness to play despite not feeling 100%.
When asked to clarify the nature of his current physical struggles, the 37-year-old told reporters that he "can't give an update" and added that the "list is long" regarding ailments.
It has been reported that an abdominal issue has hampered his serve during practice, but the 12-time Barcelona Open has not confirmed this and was only ecstatic to be back on court.
"No, no, I can't give you an injury update because the list is long. I just want to think about what can happen. I only can tell you that today I feel myself, good enough to be on court tomorrow and for me is so important."
"It means a lot to me to be able to play one more time in Barcelona, a place where I had amazing success and lots of unprofitable memories. So trying to enjoy every moment, and I'm excited being on the court in a professional tournament again tomorrow, and especially here at home."