Everybody was hoping to see Rafael Nadal return to the tennis courts in Indian Wells, but it won't happen as he withdrew from the event.
The first time Nadal came back to tennis this year was early in Brisbane. He played a couple of matches, winning two of them, but lost in the quarter-final match, during which he sustained an injury as well.
It's kept him away from the courts ever since then. A brief return happened at the Netflix Slam recently, where he played against Carlos Alcaraz and lost in three sets.
He played really well, so everybody got excited about him playing in Indan Wells, but he won't be playing. He withdrew from the event, admitting that he's not quite ready yet and will try again on clay.
It's a huge shame for his rival, Novak Djokovic, as well because he wanted to see Nadal compete. He wanted the event to be this amazing one with all the top players attending, but it wasn't meant to be.
The funny thing is that Djokovic and Nadal shared the plane to the United States, where they caught up a bit, and the Serbian reacted to his withdrawal during his pre-tournament press conference.
"It's sad for the tournament that Rafa had to withdraw and also for him. I actually traveled with him to America, that was no planned. It was nice to see him and his family, and I know he came in early because he really wanted to adjust to the time zone, get as much practice as possible, get himself ready to play, that's why he came in early. He gave his best but it wasn't to be."
We'll have to wait a bit more for Nadal to come back, likely in Monte-Carlo or maybe in Barcelona or at a later date. It would be nice to get one more Djokovic—Nadal battle, but we'll see what the future brings. It's all a bit uncertain now.
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