rafa nadal

Roger Federer said he hopes Rafa Nadal will recover in time for the French Open and that it would be a "brutal" blow for tennis if the 14-time Roland Garros champion is absent this year. Nadal has been dealing with a hip injury he suffered at the Australian Open in January, and fears that the Spaniard may miss the Paris Grand Slam grew after he pulled out of this week's Italian Open. Nadal skipped last week's Madrid Open and also missed tournaments at

Spain's Rafa Nadal was named the 2021 Laureus Sportsman of the year on Thursday, while fellow tennis player Naomi Osaka won the top women's honour. Japan's Osaka won her second U.S. Open title last year, while Nadal equalled Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam titles by claiming his 13th French Open crown. Nadal picked up his fourth Laureus honour, having previously scooped the Breakthrough, Comeback and men's individual awards. "The rest of the sportsmen probably deserve the trophy the same as me,

Rafa Nadal suffered a shock quarter-final defeat by Russian Andrey Rublev at the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday as he was overpowered 6-2 4-6 6-2, only his sixth ever loss at the tournament he has won 11 times. The Spaniard was in danger of being thrashed when Rublev led by a break in the second set, having dominated the opener, but showed his trademark grit to battle back. Rublev was unrelenting, however, and bludgeoned his way into a 5-1 lead in the second

Rafa Nadal said he was not worried about contracting COVID-19 despite having trained with Daniil Medvedev, who was forced to withdraw from this week’s Monte Carlo Masters after a positive test. Russian Medvedev, who was seeded second at the ATP Masters 1000 event, was put in isolation on Tuesday, a day after he practised with world number three Nadal. “I was not worried because I practised with him, but I was never close to him,” Nadal said after his second-round victory over Federico

Rafa Nadal brushed aside questions about the Australian Open quarantine on Sunday and said it was time to get down to the business of playing tennis and entertaining fans around the world. The 34-year-old, who secured his 20th Grand Slam title at last year’s delayed French Open, completed his two weeks of isolation in Adelaide on Friday before playing an exhibition match and then heading to Melbourne. “When we arrived here, we have this quarantine. But I think that’s over. It’s the moment