Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal is aiming to make his comeback from a hip injury at the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters next month, organizers said Wednesday. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has been sidelined with a left hip flexor injury since the Australian Open, and pulled out of hard-court tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami. The Monte Carlo Masters begins on April 8 and tournament director David Massey is optimistic Nadal will play. Rafa was the first (player) to be registered," Massey said in statement. He really wants to play at the Monte Carlo Masters and is giving himself every chance to take part in the tournament he's so fond of. Nadal has won the tournament a record 11 times, including an Open Era record streak of eight consecutive titles from 2005 to 2012. The 36-year-old Spaniard uses the event as a key part of his preparations for the French Open, which takes place May 28-June 11. Nadal has won 14 of his major titles on clay at Roland Garros, including last year while dealing with

Rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on opposite halves of the Australian Open bracket in the draw Thursday, meaning the owners of a combined 43 Grand Slam singles titles could only meet in the final at Melbourne Park. Djokovic, a nine-time champion in Australia, returns to the hard-court tournament after missing it last year when his visa was revoked and he was deported from the country because he isn't vaccinated against COVID-19. He also couldn't compete at the 2022 U.S. Open. Fourth-seeded Djokovic will open his bid for a 10th Australian Open title against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the tournament which begins Monday. Iga Swiatek, the women's No. 1-ranked player, takes on German Jule Niemeier, who is ranked No.68, in the opening round. The Polish player was a semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2022, a year in which she won the French and U.S. Open titles. But the main first-round focus will be on Nadal, who faces a potentially challenging match against ...

Rafael Nadal has ended an up-and-down 2022 with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 loss to Britain's Cameron Norrie at the United Cup mixed teams tournament on Saturday. Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to take his career Grand Slam si ngles total to a leading 22. But foot, rib and abdomen injuries meant he played only four events after Wimbledon in July. Norrie's win gave Britain a 1-0 lead over Spain. Norrie failed to win a set in his four previous matches against Nadal. "It was pretty crazy. I was thinking I'd never won a set before, so I wanted to come out and firstly do that," Norrie said. "It was a super physical match and I enjoyed it. It's a great way to end 2022 for me." In other matches, Top-ranked Iga Swiatek gave Poland an early lead over Kazakhstan when she beat Yulia Putintseva 6-1 6-3 at Brisbane. "First matches of the season are always kind of rusty, so I'm happy that in the important moments I was really composed," Swiatek said. At Perth, Bulgaria and Belgium were leve

2022 was about one sporting great finally realising his dream and another bowing out after having done it all

Rafael Nadal is a different man. He's losing sleep over his newborn baby and not so much the No. 1 ranking. Even with all of his absences, Nadal has a shot at finishing the season as the world No. 1. He has racked up 5,820 points, trailing only the top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who has 6,650. But Nadal made clear on Tuesday what his priorities were when he was peppered with questions about fighting for the year-end No. 1 spot. There will be no fight. Nadal has achieved the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking five times, tied with Roger Federer, and trailing only Novak Djokovic (7) and Pete Sampras (6). I don't fight to be No. 1, Nadal said at a Paris Masters news conference. Something that I said since long time ago: I will not fight anymore to be No. 1. I did in the past. I achieved that goal a couple of times in my career that I have been very, very happy and proud about. But I am in a moment of my tennis career that I don't fight to be No. 1. For now, he wants to be a No. 1 dad. He's

Here is one way to look at what Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the now-retired Roger Federer accomplished: The group known as the Big Three of men's tennis accumulated so many Grand Slam titles 63 in all that it seems unlikely anyone will reach the standards they set. Not anytime soon, certainly. Here was another way to think about things as the professional level of the sport began its post-Federer life on Saturday, following the last match of his career: What he and the other two members of that distinguished trio, along with Serena Williams, managed to do was demonstrate that it is possible to dominate for decades, not merely years, at a time. And the 41-year-old Federer, for one, thinks up-and-coming players can learn from the way he and the others of his era went about it, from their self-belief and attitudes about setting goals to their training, nutrition and other methods of ensuring longevity. He laughed when relaying a conversation with Bjorn Borg, who is the captain

It was surely unthinkable that Roger Federer's trophy-laden career would end with a defeat but that is what transpired as the 41-year-old Swiss maestro lost alongside Rafa Nadal on an emotional night

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will team up in doubles at the Laver Cup on Friday in what Federer has announced will the final match of his long and illustrious career. Federer, owner of 20 Grand Slam titles, and his longtime rival Nadal, owner of a men's-record 22 major championships. will pair up for Team Europe against the Team World duo of U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock. The lineup for Day 1 at the competition founded by Federer's management company was announced Thursday. The singles matches will be two-time Grand Slam runner-up Casper Ruud against Sock, and 2021 French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas against Diego Schwartzman during the day session, and three-time major champion Andy Murray against Alex de Minaur at night, before the Federer-Nadal doubles match.

Federer said he is now at peace with the decision to walk away, and he wants this farewell to be a celebration.

After Roger Federer's announcement that next week's Laver Cup will be his final ATP event, his friend and rival Rafael Nadal said that it's a sad day for him personally and for sports around the world

The 21-year-old will then face Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the semifinals after the sixth seed's 6-1, 7-6(4) dismissal of 2016 US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova earlier on Wednesday

Serena Williams, you might have heard, played what's expected to be her last match at the U.S. Open. Rafael Nadal lost in the fourth round. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (more on them later) weren't even in the tournament. Those four players dominated, and were the main draws, in tennis for decades, collecting a total of 86 Grand Slam singles titles, each with at least 20. And so, as the quarterfinals began at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday without any member of that quartet present, it made sense to ask: Is this the end of an era? The 36-year-old Nadal sounded a philosophical note about the topic after he was bounced by 24-year-old American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Monday. "Some depart, others come and the world keeps going. It's a natural cycle," said Nadal, who noted that his wife is pregnant with their first child and so he isn't sure when he will play next. "It's always the same. The same one have been up there several years; others are coming and we will be leavin

Frances Tiafoe of America stunned four-time champion Rafael Nadal on Monday at the US Open to reach his second Grand Slam quarterfinals

Rafael Nadal crashed out of Western & Southern Open after losing the match 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3 against Borna Coric of Croatia here on Thursday.

Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon because of a torn abdominal muscle on Thursday, a day before he was supposed to play Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals

Rafael Nadal has reportedly decided to play his Wimbledon 2022 semifinal against Nick Kyrgios, despite suffered a 'seven-millimeter tear in the abdomen' during the four-hour, 20-minute quarterfinal encounter on Wednesday.

The second seed showcased trademark strength, increasing his aggression to keep points short and delivering a high-class deciding-set tie-break to seal a 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(10-4) victory

Rafael Nadal closed Monday's play on Centre Court with a victory against 21st seed Botic van de Zandschulp, securing his spot in the quarter-finals for his third consecutive appearance at Wimbledon

'It was probably my best match without a doubt here at The Championships against the most difficult player I have faced yet'

The second seed will next play 27th seed Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who reached the fourth round at SW19 last year