Rafael Nadal will return to tennis much sooner than many expected, as he's set to compete at the 2024 Qatar Open, an ATP 250 tournament in Doha.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion returned to tennis at the start of the 2024 season, competing at the Brisbane International. His return was perfect, at least for the first two matches, as he seemed to be playing like he never left.
However, in his quarterfinal match at the event, the Spaniard lost to Jordan Thompson despite having three match points. What was more worrying to his fans was the fact that he requested a medical time out during the match.
Immediately after the match, Nadal said that the injury was a clear example of why he tried not to be too positive about his comeback, and soon after his loss in Brisbane, he also withdrew from the Australian Open.
The injury was in the same hip area as the injury that kept him away from the courts during the 2023 season, but luckily for the Spanish player, it was not the same injury.
Soon, reports stared coming in that Nadal may return to the courts earlier than expected, and now we know that it will indeed happen, as the 37-year-old appears on the entry list for the 2024 Qatar Open in Doha.
The tournament will be played from January 19th to 24th, and it's a tournament, which Nadal won back in 2014. Some of his possible opponents at the event may be the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Andy Murray and Karen Khachanov.
Considering the tournament is of an ATP 250 level, it has a very strong field, and with Nadal's participation, fans can expect a great week of action. For his entry, the 14-time French Open winner was not given a wild card, but instead, he used his protected ranking.
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