{"id":344101,"date":"2025-12-12T22:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T22:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/344101\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T22:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T22:48:09","slug":"rafael-nadal-message-sparks-social-media-meltdown-as-he-pulls-out-of-australian-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/344101\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal message sparks social media meltdown as he ‘pulls out’ of Australian Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennis legend Rafael Nadal<\/a> has had some fun with his followers on social media as he posted a post-operation image after he received treatment on his hand.<\/p>\n

Nadal called time on his career a little over a year ago, as he was forced to admit defeat in his battle with a succession of injury problems.<\/p>\n

The 22-time Grand Slam champion did not go into details on the fine details of his injury prior to his retirement at the Davis Cup Finals, but it has now been revealed that he has had surgery on his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cRafa Nadal underwent a surgical procedure yesterday at the Teknon Medical Center in Barcelona, where surgery was performed on his right hand due to severe osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint,\u201d read a statement from the player\u2019s agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe procedure, carried out under the supervision of Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, Rafa Nadal\u2019s physician, together with Dr. Vilaro, and performed by Dr. Alex Lluch, consisted of an arthroplasty aimed at relieving pain and restoring mobility of the joint.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/p>\n

Toni Nadal reveals the difference between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal \u2013 \u2018A bit weaker\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Patrick Mouratoglou identifies one area where Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are a step ahead of the \u2018Big 3\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The tennis great had some fun with his followers on social media, as he suggested the operation would rule him out of the upcoming Australian Open, even though he was never in the mix to play in Melbourne next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like I won\u2019t be able to play the AustralianOpen 2026,\u201d said an ironic Nadal. \u201cI had to undergo hand surgery because of an issue I\u2019d been dealing with for a long time, but I hope to be fine soon!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nadal has stepped back from public appearance since his high profile retirement party at the French Open last summer, which was one of the highlights of the tennis year.<\/p>\n

His great rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were in attendance at Roland Garros for his emotional farewell, as Nadal reflected on his remarkable career that included 14 titles at the Paris Grand Slam tournament.<\/p>\n

At a press conference in Paris in June, he spoke about his desire to return to the court at some point, when his physical problems allowed him to compete again in a non-competitive environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be back at some point, because at some point I will prepare myself to play an exhibition or something like this,\u201d said Nadal.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if I had a lot of opportunities to made that, I need to give myself a time of disconnection, you know, because at the end, play exhibitions is not only go there and play the match, it\u2019s about all the preparation that requires that. When you play an exhibition you want to show a good level of tennis for the fans and for everybody who organize.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daily routine is no routine. I have no routine today. I am just learning about the next business chapter of my life that I have. I have projects like my academy, the hotel company, the supplements company that I did with Cantabria Labs. I take care of my foundation too, and I take care of my family. I am discovering what really motivates me for this new life. So it\u2019s not easy in terms of choosing your next goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, it\u2019s so important to have goals in this life, because a life without objectives is more difficult from my point of view. So I am discovering what really excite me and motivates me to keep going. And that\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am having fun. I don\u2019t miss much tennis, because I feel that I gived all what I had. I arrive at the day of today with the peace that I can\u2019t be on court. You know, my body don\u2019t allow me to be on court. So that\u2019s all. I am in peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did all what I could to have the best career possible, and now I am enjoying this new phase of my life, that I am sure going to be less exciting than the tennis career, because the adrenalin that the sports gives to you, I think it\u2019s impossible to find in other things in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat don\u2019t mean I gonna be less happy. I can be happier with less adrenaline and taking care of different things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has had some fun with his followers on social media as he posted a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-344101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}