Rafa Nadal announced today through his social networks that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after undergoing a test after your arrival in Mallorca from Abu Dhabi, where he returned on Friday in an exhibition. The 20 Grand Slams champion reported his contagion to people who were in contact with him. Among them, the king emeritus, who reappeared publicly at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship and with whom he shared a table and was photographed without a mask on Saturday, according to published The world. The Royal House later reported that today Juan Carlos I underwent a PCR with a negative result.
“I am going through some unpleasant moments but I hope that I will improve little by little. Now I am confined to home”explained Nadal, 35, who went to Abu Dhabi to test the status of his left foot, in which he suffers a chronic injury (Müller-Weiss syndrome), and that forced him to be unemployed for more than four months this season, in which he only played seven tournaments. His participation resulted in two defeats, against Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov, and in the last section of the match against the Canadian he made gestures to protect his joint by not forcing a couple of actions.
Hi all. I wanted to announce that on my return home after playing the Abu Dhabi tournament, I have tested positive for COVID in the PCR test that was performed on me when I arrived in Spain.
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) December 20, 2021
ON-AIR CALENDAR
“As a consequence of the situation, I have to have total flexibility with my calendar and I will analyze my options depending on my evolution,” Nadal warned, who planned to discuss with his team the plan for 2022 depending on the condition of his foot. The idea was to travel to Australia on the 29th, compete in the Melbourne ATP 250 from January 4 and then the Australian Open from January 17. For the moment, he will have to stay isolated at home for a week until he tests negative in another PCR before resuming his training on the track. Days before, and regarding the transoceanic tour, he had warned: “I cannot assure my presence one hundred percent; at this point I must carefully weigh each movement.”
Nadal, who received the coronavirus vaccine in the summer, had spent several days in Kuwait, where there is a headquarters of his academy. And from there he traveled to Abu Dhabi with his coach Carlos Moyá, Marc López (who has joined his team), his physio Rafa Maymó, his wife Mery Perelló, his sister Maribel and his father Sebastiá. “Both in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi we passed controls every two days and all were negative. The last one, on Friday and having results on Saturday,” explained the tennis player.
The positive upsets his preparation for Australia, where he would have no problems entering after having passed the virus and having the vaccine. The organization will require all tennis players to be vaccinated, and the participation of Novak Djokovic, who has not confirmed whether he has received it, is on the air. With Roger Federer still in dry dock, the Serb and the Spaniard should battle for their 21st Grand Slam that would put one of them at the top of tennis.