Why is Rafa Nadal not participating in the Laver Cup and when will he play again?
The 37-year-old Spaniard has decided to opt out of the three-day event at Berlin’s Uber Arena.
The 2024 Laver Cup gets underway today (Friday, 20 September) and winds up at the Berlin Uber Arena on Sunday.
For the next three days, some of the world’s best tennis players will be in action in the German capital with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev representing Team Europe as they face players of the calibre of Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe from Team World. However, regardless of the stellar line-up, many tennis fans are lamenting the absence of Rafa Nadal.
Despite having been registered to play for months in advance, on 12 September, the Laver Cup organisers confirmed that the Manacor native will not be taking part in the tournament in Berlin with the 22-time Grand Slam champion not competing since the Paris Olympics.
Nadal explained that he felt that were others more equipped to help the team. “To really support Team Europe, I need to do my best for them and at the moment, there are other players who can help the team to victory.” Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov has been drafted in to replace Nadal on the European team at the Laver Cup.
It’s been a frustrating year for Nadal who set his sights on competing in a series of major tournaments but injury saw him skipping the likes of Wimbledon as he set his sights on performing well at the Olympic Games. Nadal stated recently, “My objectives for the year have ended. I have not achieved what I would have liked. I have not been as healthy as I wanted and when when I came back it was difficult for me. I have to take my time and I am enjoying other things in life and training every day.”
When will Nadal return to action?
The Laver Cup was the only tournament Nadal had scheduled to play at for for the remainder of the season, so, at present there is no date set for his competitive return to the courts in an official tournament and as things stand, it’s more than feasible to think that this will not happen for the rest of the year.
Nadal, however will play at the Riyadh’s Six Kings Slam exhibition, which will take place between October 16 and 19 , and where Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Medvedev and Holger Rune will also participate with 1.5 million euros guaranteed for each player and 6 million for the winner, the largest prize in the history of tennis.
The only slender option of the 38-year-old taking to the court again in 2024 could be the Davis Cup finals in Malaga in November but at present, this is still very much up in the air.
As for a possible retirement, the Spanish player has repeatedly said that he will make a decision when he has a clear decision made regarding the mattter.