Rafael Nadal is preparing for his comeback to tennis after almost a year away by working out at his academy in Kuwait.
Beginning in Queensland in 2024, the previous World No. 1 will compete in the Brisbane International as a wildcard. Following his participation in the ATP 250 tournament, he will head to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
He passed away from the hip injury that kept him from playing for the rest of the 2023 season in Melbourne.
In Kuwait, the Spaniard has been accompanied by his family as he stops in at his Middle Eastern academy base. His newborn baby recently witnessed the 22-time Grand Slam winner participate in a rigorous training session.
Throughout the session, Nadal tried his best to keep his firstborn engaged, making silly expressions at him while smiling. The sweet event was caught on-site at the Kuwait facility by a fan, who subsequently shared it on social media.
In his career, Nadal has competed in 30 Grand Slam finals; this places him third behind only 36 final appearances by Novak Djokovic and 31 final appearances by Roger Federer.
Nadal has appeared in at least five finals at each major, second to Djokovic’s seven, and is still the only man to win multiple majors in three decades. He won at least one Grand Slam for ten consecutive years between 2005 and 2014 and 15 years overall, both records in men’s tennis.
The Spaniard won all four majors in singles (Career Grand Slam) and the Olympic singles gold medal (Career Golden Slam) before the age of 25, becoming the youngest player in the Open Era to accomplish both achievements.
After winning the 2022 Australian Open, he became the fourth person in history (after Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, and Novak Djokovic) to win all four Majors at least twice in their careers. Nadal is the only person in history to win gold medals in both singles and doubles at the Olympics and complete the Career Grand Slam.
In his first ten attempts, Rafael Nadal, known as the “King of Clay,” won the French Open nine times. With a match record of 112-3 (97.4% victory rate), he has won the championship a total of 14 times, an accomplishment that many commentators rank among the best in tennis and international sports.
One further example of Nadal’s supremacy on the surface is his unprecedented feat of winning the three Masters 1000 titles on clay courts.
