{"id":20121,"date":"2024-02-14T21:21:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T02:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/rafael-nadal-not-healthy-enough-to-play-to-skip-qatar-open\/14\/02\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T21:21:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T02:21:15","slug":"rafael-nadal-not-healthy-enough-to-play-to-skip-qatar-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/rafael-nadal-not-healthy-enough-to-play-to-skip-qatar-open\/14\/02\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal not healthy enough to play, to skip Qatar Open"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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DOHA, Qatar — Rafael Nadal<\/a> put off his return to the tennis tour because he isn’t yet healthy enough to play, announcing Wednesday that he will sit out next week’s Qatar Open.<\/p>\n

“I would have loved to play in Doha, where the tournament team, as well as the amazing Qatar fans have always supported me greatly. Unfortunately I am not ready to compete and I won’t be able to come to Doha where I really wanted to be and play again after that unforgettable win in 2014,” Nadal wrote on social media<\/a>. “I will focus on keep working to be ready for the exhibition in Las Vegas and the amazing Indian Wells tournament.”<\/p>\n

Nadal, 37, Spaniard is scheduled to participate in an exhibition match with Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> on March 3, then head to Indian Wells, California, for the hard-court tournament there next month.<\/p>\n

Nadal played in three matches at the Brisbane International in early January — his first competitive action in nearly a full year — but then pulled out of the Australian Open and hasn’t been back since.<\/p>\n

He hurt his hip flexor during the Australian Open in 2023 and eventually needed surgery, missing the rest of last season.<\/p>\n

Nadal has indicated this year might be the last of his career, and he’s pointed to the French Open — where he won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles — as his focus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n