Rafael Nadal

Nadal to miss Madrid Open

The 22-times major champion skipped tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo as well as the current Barcelona Open after suffering the injury that effectively ended his Melbourne Park title defence as he fell to a second-round defeat by Mackenzie McDonald.

"Initially it had to be a six to eight week recovery period and we are now on fourteen," Nadal said in a video published on his social media accounts.

Wimbledon: Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal set for Centre Court on day two

American Williams, 40, plays France's Harmony Tan on Centre Court, 12 months on from tearing her hamstring in her first-round match at SW19.

Women's world number one Iga Swiatek opens play on the main show court against Croat Jana Fett from 13:30 BST.

Men's second seed Nadal, a two-time winner, then meets Francisco Cerundolo.

A 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, Williams made her long-awaited return to action in the doubles at Eastbourne last week alongside Ons Jabeur, after ending speculation over her future in the sport by accepting a Wimbledon wildcard.

Rafael Nadal beats Casper Ruud for 14th Roland Garros title

Spain's Nadal, 36, won 6-3 6-3 6-0 against Norwegian eighth seed Ruud to also extend his record number of Grand Slam men's singles titles to 22.

He moves two ahead of his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals last year, has won 112 of his 115 matches on the Paris clay.

After also winning the Australian Open in January, Nadal has claimed back-to-back major titles for the first time since 2010 - when he won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in a row.

Nadal outlasts Djokovic in Paris

Nadal won 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 to advance to the final four.

The 13-time Roland Garros champion will meet Germany's Alexander Zverev for a place in Sunday's final.

Djokovic beat Nadal in the semi-finals last year which was just his third ever loss at the tournament.

Meanwhile German third seed Alexander Zverev capitalised on an error-filled performance from Carlos Alcaraz to tame the high-flying teenager.

Spain's Rafael Nadal

The 13-time champion in Paris was hampered by a chronic foot injury as he failed to reach the quarter finals of the Rome Masters.

Nadal, who only recently returned from a stress fracture in his ribs, said he would take a doctor with him to Roland Garros.

 

Photo: PHOTOSPORT  Caption: Nadal with the Australian Open silverware 

     

Tennis legend Rafa Nadal injured

Nadal, the winner of a record 21 Grand Slam singles titles, complained of a chest issue during his run to the final of the ATP 1000 event in Indian Wells, California last week.

Upon his arrival in Spain today, Nadal visited his medical team in Barcelona for tests which revealed "a stress fracture of the third left costal arch".

"This is not good news and I did not expect this," Nadal said in a statement sent by his team.

Nadal and Federer team up for Europe

Nadal created history by defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final to claim a men's record 21st major title and move one ahead of Federer and Novak Djokovic, who were both missing in Melbourne.

The Spaniard, who has twice played at the Laver Cup, paired up with Federer for their first and only doubles match together at the inaugural edition of the event in Prague in 2017.

"I suggested to Roger we should play doubles together in London and he seems keen, so now we just need to persuade our captain Bjorn (Borg)," said Nadal.

Rafael Nadal beats Daniil Medvedev from two sets down in Melbourne epic

Backed by a loud Melbourne crowd, sixth seed Nadal rallied to win 2-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-5 on Rod Laver Arena.

US Open champion Medvedev was going for his second successive major title.

Medvedev, 25, was in command before Nadal showed all of his renowned grit and fight to earn an extraordinary win.

The 35-year-old Spaniard has been at the centre of some of the sport's most incredible triumphs - but this surely goes down as the most amazing Grand Slam victory of his illustrious career.

Nadal surprised to make Australian Open final

However, endless hours of hard work and the strong-willed belief of a champion means the Spaniard will be contesting a sixth Australian Open final - 13 years after winning his first and only title at the Melbourne slam.

Nadal started the season after missing a chunk of the 2021 tour due to a lingering foot injury that forced him to skip Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open among other events and raised doubts if he would ever come back to the court.

Rafael Nadal reaches Australian Open quarterfinals for 14th time

And now, after a 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2 fourth-round victory over fellow left-hander Adrian Mannarino on Sunday, Nadal is potentially just three wins away from a men's record 21st Grand Slam singles title.

“First set (was) very, very emotional,” Nadal said. “Anything could happen there. I was a little bit lucky at the end. I had chances, he had a lot of chances too.”