Rafael Nadal said he was feeling “not great” during his Australian Open news conference Sunday due to a persistent back injury that prevented him from playing in last week’s ATP Cup.
“It’s true that for the last 15 days I have been suffering with the back,” he said. “So here we are. I tried little bit today to serve again. Well, I’m doing everything what’s possible to be ready for it. That’s the only thing that I can say. Today I am still hoping to keep improving and hope to be ready for it.”
Nadal, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, is scheduled to play his first-round match against Laslo Djere on Tuesday. He said he hadn’t considered withdrawing but was not as optimistic about his chances as he was when he arrived in Australia last month.
“The whole positive feelings that I had one week-and-a-half ago, two weeks-and-a-half ago now, disappeared a little bit, of course, because I was not able to practice the right way the last week-and-a-half,” Nadal said. “At the same time I still am having not the best feeling possible on the back. But I am practicing again. I did a lot of things to recover. Is not serious, but the muscle is still tight, so is difficult to play with freedom of movements today.
“Let’s hope situation keeps improving. We are doing everything. My physio is here, the doctors here — everybody is helping me in all possible ways.”
Nadal revealed he first felt the back pain during his first practice in Adelaide, and since then he has experienced muscle pain and stiffness.
The 34-year-old Spaniard recorded his 20th major title at the French Open in October. He won the Australian Open in 2009, and has appeared in three finals in Melbourne since, most recently in 2019.