Rafael Nadal Withdraws From Mubadala-WTC

Rafael Nadal, after losing his first match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, against Kevin Anderson, has announced his withdrawal from his second match. Nadal was supposed to play his second match of the week for the third spot. However, he has opted to rest his body as a precautionary measure, going into the next week.

Despite the loss, Nadal feels quite happy with the first match after his ankle surgery, and is positive that he can play in Brisbane in January. “When you are out since long time ago, I had the surgery a little over a month ago, it’s normal that I have some pains”, said Rafael Nadal, indicating that he was still not a 100%.

“Being honest, I’m satisfied the way I was playing tennis”, said Rafa. “I am more or less satisfied with how the body held,” he added.

Nadal felt that the intensity of the match was good and that it was a tough match that could have gone either way. “Tough match, three-set match, I didn’t play sets before here”, said Nadal. “And at the same time, I have normal pains after a long time without playing, so probably tomorrow I will not play”, he said.

“I will take a couple of days off”, he added. “The season just started for me, it was a goal to be here, I tried hard to be here after surgery not too long ago, I was not sure if I will have the chance to start the season, and I did”, continued the Spaniard.

Despite the surgery, Rafa had made up his mind to come here and bond with the people.
“Last year I missed this event, last moment, I didn’t want to miss it again. But, at some point I need to take a decision and I spent more time on court than what I thought. It’s not the moment for me to make a step back, it’s the moment to make a step forward, the match of today is a step forward for me, that’s the main thing”, said Nadal.

Now he wants to be careful with his scheduling and avoid injury as much as possible. “I suffered a lot in terms of injury”, said the French open champion. “I don’t want to suffer more, I want to make the things the right way, step by step and that’s it”, he added.

“My goal is try to be ready for the Australian Open and I think I’m on the way to make that happen but of course I can’t take a lot of risk being the first match after a lot of months and especially after the surgery”, said Nadal.

Rafael Nadal has however said that he is sure to play at the Brisbane International later. “I’m booked Brisbane, my goal is to be there and play there. Being honest, that’s my plan.”