Rafael Nadal to play Australian Open as Spaniard’s plans for Grand Slam come to light

Rafael Nadal is set to play in January’s Australian Open in Melbourne. The Spaniard has outlined his plans to continue to compete for Grand Slam events through the latter stages of his career and is set to take part in the opening major of 2022 in January.

Nadal’s chances of playing down under were thrown into jeopardy earlier this month, after the tennis great tested positive for COVID-19 after competing in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

However it seems this hasn’t hindered any plans to compete in the Australian Open, after booking in to play an ATP 250 event in Melbourne in preparation for the opening Grand Slam of the year.

There had been real fears that the sport’s big three – Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer – were all set to miss the event.

This came after Federer ruled himself out through injury, whilst Djokovic’s chances of competing remain unknown after refusing to reveal his COVID-19 vaccination status.

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Further fears for tournament organisers then grew following Nadal’s positive case, however it now seems at least one of tennis’ headline acts will be in Melbourne come the 17th of January.

This has been further cemented after Australian Open chief executive Craig Tiley eased fears that Nadal would not be competing.

Tiley revealed he was ‘confident’ the Spaniard would be making the trip to Melbourne earlier this week.

Injury once again blighted Nadal’s season last term, as the 20-time Grand Slam winner has not featured in a competitive event since the ATP Washington in August of this year.