Former ATP player Alex Corretja believes that Rafael Nadal will not be greatly affected by the latest injury setback, which forced the Spaniard to pull out of the upcoming Australia Open.
Speaking to Eurosport, Corretja said that muscle problems are common after long time on the sidelines.
"It's certainly a setback that could happen. After so many months without competing, it is logical that muscularly you may feel some discomfort. The important thing is that it is not in the place where the big injury was made, that would be something to take into account and would perhaps be more worrying,” he said.
"I believe at the moment that if Rafa recovers, it doesn't have to affect him mentally. He has realised that his level has grown, that he is back to more or less where he wanted to be and now the only thing we have to hope is that he can recover, play a few more days and return to compete in the tournaments that he wants."
Nadal will not be participating in the upcoming Australian Open 2024 as the Spaniard suffered a muscle tear during his last match at Brisbane International, the 20-time Grand Slam winner confirmed on Sunday.
Nadal, 37, had just returned from a 12-month-long absence and played one double and two singles matches in the last 15 days but he is now set to be sidelined for some time again after suffering an injury during his match against Jordan Thompson on Friday (January 5).
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the Spaniard revealed that he encountered some pain after which he underwent a Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI) which revealed a micro tear in a new muscle.
"Hi all, during my last match in Brisbane I had a small problem on a muscle that as you know made me worried. Once I got to Melbourne I have had the chance to make an MRI and I have micro tear on a muscle, not in the same part where I had the injury and that’s good news,” Nadal posted on X.