Grand Slam legend Rafael Nadal has been pictured spending quality time with his father and baby son in a Brisbane park before flying back to Spain to get medical attention for the injury that ruined his comeback at the Australian Open.
Nadal, a 22-time grand slam winner, injured his hip during his loss to Aussie Jordan Thompson at the Brisbane International last week, forcing him to return home to Spain instead of attempting to win his third title at Melbourne Park.
The 37-year-old initially said he would fly to Melbourne and rest ahead of the Australian Open, but a scan revealed he had suffered a micro tear in the same hip that ruled him out of action for nearly a year.
The former world No.1 was spotted in heartwarming scenes with his father Sebastian and one-year-old son Rafael Junior just before the injury surfaced.
The trio soaked up the sun while Rafael Junior played with a tiny white tennis racquet.
Rafael Junior was born in October 2022 his father recently spoke about the impact his first child has had on his life and game after arriving in Sydney for the United Cup tournament.
‘The first event I play like a father without the baby with me, I lost first round. Second event, traveling with the baby, I was out of the group stage. At the end I won my last match, but I need to keep improving, no?’ he said.
‘We have some help. No problem at all. Just I need to organise little bit my life, as everybody needs to do when you have a child in your life.’
The latest injury setback to the tennis superstar has many fans fearing he won’t appear again at the Australian Open and Mats Wilander believes his latesy injury may even lead to the legend’s retirement.
‘It’s extremely sad news,’ Wilander said on Eurosport.
‘Obviously it’s the most sad news for himself, because I saw the first three matches that he played in Brisbane. He looked extremely good in the first match against Dominic Thiem.
‘He looked even better in the second round against Jason Kubler.
‘And then, having three match points in the third round against Jordan Thompson. He looked great.
He can miss those match points. We all have done that in our careers.
‘The older you get, maybe the more pressure you put on yourself but I think it’s a little bit of a wake-up call in one way.
‘We’ve been woken up all the time by rough injuries on others, but the injury that he has now, when you hear the description of it – micro, I mean the injuries he gets and has gotten are so different from other players.
‘You just realise that it’s not just his ankle and his knee and the big part of his muscle, it’s also the smaller muscles in his body.
‘Either he’s trained so hard over the years, or he tries so hard over the years that he breaks. And it’s so unusual.’
