Rafael Nadal Pulls Out of Australian Open Citing Micro Muscle Tear

Tennis icon Rafael Nadal decided to withdraw from the upcoming Australian Open due to a micro tear on a muscle on Sunday.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of the opening major of the year barely a week after making his comeback from a prolonged injury.

The Spaniard was seen back in competitive action at the Brisbane International as he made his return to the court following nearly a year on the sidelines due to injury.

“Hi all, during my last match in Brisbane I had a small problem on a muscle that as you know made me worried,” his post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, began.

Once I got to Melbourne I have had the chance to make an MRI and I have micro tear on a muscle, not in the same part where I had the injury and that’s good news,” the 14-time French Open winner confirmed.

“Right now I am not ready to compete at the maximum level of exigence in 5 sets matches. I’m flying back to Spain to see my doctor, get some treatment and rest,” the Spaniard’s post read.

Nadal made a much-awaited return to action at the Brisbane event, a lead-up tournament to the Australian Open, before he suffered a quarterfinal exit at the hands of Australian player Jordan Thompson.

The Spaniard opened the tournament with a dominant 7-5, 6-1 straight sets win over Dominic Thiem in the Round of 32, before blitzing past Jason Kubler 6-1, 6-2 in the Round of 16.

However, Nadal went down to Thompson 7-5, 6-7, 3-6 in the quarters of the tune-up event, and was worried about a pull he sustained during the game.