© @Olly_Tennis_ X account
Despite his absence from the ATP Tour due to the serious injury that occurred at the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal was able to fully enjoy the first months of life of his son Rafael, born on 8 October 2022. Now that the legendary Spanish tennis player has time to return to the court, at the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane, Nadal is training hard on hard-courts to be ready for the Australian Swing.
And he is doing it under the eyes of his son. In a recent video recorded during the former world No.1’s training sessions in Kuwait and shared by X account @Olly_Tennis_ the Spanish champion indulged in some affectionate gestures towards the stands, where his son was waiting for him.
Rafa made faces and smiles at the little boy, who certainly enjoyed seeing his father play with him. The Spaniard is preparing to get back into shape for the Australian Open, a great objective of what should be the last season of his brilliant career.
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Rafael Nadal doing silly faces towards his baby, who is (out of screen) watching his Dad practice 😭
📸 Yousef_Alteemi IG pic.twitter.com/VViCXY0itE — Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) December 16, 2023
A super year for his family, a bad year for his career
2023 was one of the most negative seasons of Rafael Nadal’s career.
The long rehabilitation caused the 22-time Slam champion to miss the entire season, making it the first and only year in which Nadal did not win a single title. The absence also caused the Spanish tennis player to plummet in the rankings, sinking to 668th position and leaving the Top 10 after 912 consecutive weeks.
The Spanish champion has often suffered injuries in almost 20 years on the ATP Tour, which have forced him to take long periods of time out, but what happened in 2023 was perhaps unprecedented in his entire career. The injury to the iliopsoas muscle of the left leg completely affected the Spaniard’s year, and after the injury suffered at the Australian Open, he decided to have surgery.
