Nadal confirms he will play Madrid Masters

The Spaniard will make his 2022 clay court debut at the Madrid Open, which kicks off on Sunday

Rafael Nadal, Spain, during Mutua Madrid Open in May 2021 Image Credit: Alterphotos / Panoramic

April 27, 2022

Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will return to competition at the Mutua Madrid Open, which kicks off in the Spanish capital on Sunday, May 1.

The Spaniard, a five-time champion in Madrid, has not played losing to Taylor Fritz in the final of the Indian Wells Masters, having injured his rib in the closing stages of that tournament.

After taking a month off from the game to heal the injury, Nadal has been practicing over the past couple of weeks and confirmed his return in Madrid in a post on social media.

“Despite arriving just before preparation and being tough, I really want to play and play at home since the opportunities are few. To try to do it in the best possible way. See you in Madrid 😉,” Nadal said in the post as translated by Google.

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Will Nadal carry over his 2022 hardcourt success over to clay?

Nadal has gotten off to the best start of his career in 2022, winning the first three tournaments he played in, including a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, and won 20 matches in a row before the loss to Fritz.

The Spaniard, who recently completed an incredible 17 consecutive years inside the world’s top 10, will be seeded third in Madrid, behind world No 1 Novak Djokovic and world No 3 Alexander Zverev, the defending champion who beat Nadal in the quarter-final stage last year.

World No 2 Daniil Medvedev has pulled out of the tournament as he continues to recover form a hernia surgery.

18 of the world’s top 20 ranked men have entered to play in Madrid, a combined ATP-WTA event, with the only men missing out being Medvedev and world No 6 Matteo Berrettini, who is also recovering from a surgery on his right hand.