Toni Nadal reveals Rafael Nadal almost missed the Australian Open

Rafael Nadal will contest the first semifinal at the Australian Open but it almost never happened as revealed by his uncle Toni Nadal.

Having missed the bulk of the second half of the 2021 season due to a foot injury, Nadal made a tentative return at the exhibition Mubadala World Tennis Championship in December. However, he tested positive for coronavirus following the tournament and there were doubts over whether or not he would travel Down Under. On December 31 he surprised his fans by tweeting that he was already in Melbourne.

Speaking to Cadena SER, Toni Nadal revealed his surprise at Nadal's play in Melbourne:

“Yes, I’m surprised, because I remember when three days before the start, Rafa called my youngest son to hit a few balls after being quarantined due to coronavirus."

Toni further added:

"At nine o’clock, we went to train and during training, he said, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to go or not because at the moment I’m not in condition for an Australian Open’. They only had three days to get a flight. The following day, he perked up and said ‘Okay, come on, I’m going’. I think it was more the excitement of competing and returning to competition than believing in himself.”

So far it has been good for Nadal who has a chance to secure only his 2nd finals appereance in Melbourne. He won the only time he played in the final (2009).