Rafael Nadal returns to practice in Mallorca

Rafael Nadal is back on the courts for the first time since suffering an abdominal injury at the Wimbledon Championships, which cost him a potential final.

Nadal's 2022 season has been very fascinating so far, with the first half of it utterly spectacular. He won the Australian Open with a magnificent comeback that almost nobody saw coming.

Daniil Medvedev basically had the final match under wraps, but the Spaniard was able to fight back and win it in five sets. He then continued playing superbly well, losing his first match only in March against Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells Open final.

The clay season was another solid sequence for the 22-time major winner, as he won the Roland Garros for the 14th time in his career, getting his Grand Slam tally to 22.

That run wasn’t that shocking in light of how he played until then. Since then, things haven’t looked as good. His Wimbledon run was inspired for most of it, as he made the semi-final but suffered an injury in the quarter-final against Taylor Fritz.

It proved to be an abdominal injury, which was severe enough to prevent him from playing in the next match. Fans missed out on a semi-final clash between him and Nick Kyrgios and possibly a final with Novak Djokovic.

Soon after that withdrawal, Nadal traveled back home to Spain, where he started rehabilitation, which he hoped would conclude rather quickly, giving him a chance to play in the US Open lead-up tournaments in Cincinnati and Montreal.

Toward that goal, Nadal was recently spotted on the courts in Mallorca getting some playing time in. It’s not yet confirmed that he will play at the events in North America, but having him on the courts is surely a positive sign, which his fans will be glad about.

The US Open ultimately is the goal, and there is enough time for him to recover until then, even if he’s not fully ready yet.

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