SUMMARY
- Rafael Nadal showed his talent in the swimming pool by posting a video of his training on social media.
- Rafael Nadal's swimming was encouraged by Michael Phelps.
Rafael Nadal has been making use of his time off court to prepare for his return on the tour. It has been more than a month since he played a match. Nadal had suffered an injury after his quarterfinal loss to Jordan Thompson in Brisbane. Since then, his priority has been recovery training. As part of Nadal’s routine, he was seen swimming, which impressed Michael Phelps.
Nadal posted a video of himself on Instagram, showcasing his lung capacity. The Spaniard performed underwater swimming and went from one end to another without coming out for a single breath. He even received words of encouragement from the GOAT of swimming, Phelps. The American commented,” Hell yeah!” with a swimming emoji. He was impressed with Nadal’s lung capacity.
Nadal had suffered a micro tear on his hip muscle, which forced him to skip the 2024 Australian Open. But he is working hard to complete his comeback to the tour. Nadal will be seen in Doha next at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The event will begin on 19th February and will go on till 24th. It will be Nadal’s second event of the season and is expected to delight his fans in the Middle East.
Rafael Nadal is looking to leave a mark in Doha
It will be the ninth time Nadal will feature in the singles draw at Doha. The former world No. 1 made his debut at the ATP 250 event in 2005. He reached the quarterfinals that season while losing to Ivan Ljubicic in three sets. Since then, Nadal has reached the finals in Doha three times and has won once. In 2013, he beat Gael Monfils in three sets to lift the trophy.
The 14-time French Open champion was the runner-up in 2010 to Niklay Daydenko. It was the Russian’s final hardcourt title of his career. In Nadal’s previous appearance at Doha in 2016, he lost in the finals to Novak Djokovic while winning only three games in the match. It has been Djokovic’s most dominant victory over Nadal in their 59 career meetings.
Novak Djokovic – Rafael Nadal – Doha 2016 – Final pic.twitter.com/krMrorpe4M
— Djokovic best shots (@nolebestshots) December 5, 2023
Nadal had won the doubles event at Doha while making his debut 19 years ago. He went on to win the doubles title in 2009, 2011, and 2015. This year, the veteran will only focus on playing singles and will be cautious not to injure himself further. The fans are waiting for him to play on the clay courts, as the golden swing will begin soon.