Rafael Nadal's participation at the Australian Open next year has been put into further doubt, with the Spaniard testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
The 20-time grand slam champion has been nursing a foot injury in 2021 and made his return at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
Despite suffering consecutive defeats to Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov, Nadal declared his comeback a success after the event.
However, the 35-year-old has since tested positive for COVID-19, adding a further challenge to his injury return.
Hola a todos. Quería anunciaros que en mi regreso a casa tras disputar el torneo de Abu Dhabi, he dado positivo por COVID en la prueba PCR que se me ha realizado al llegar a España.
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) December 20, 2021
"I wanted to announce that on my return home after playing the Abu Dhabi tournament, I have tested positive for COVID … when I arrived in Spain," Nadal wrote in Spanish.
"I am having some unpleasant moments but I hope that I will improve little by little.
"I am now homebound and have reported the result to those who have been in contact with me."
Nadal has also confirmed that he tested negative during his time spent in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait in the past couple of weeks.
After the tournament in Abu Dhabi - which was his first tournament appearance since August’s Citi Open - he said that he could not confirm he would make the trip down under for January’s Australian Open.
The Spanish star was set to fly to Melbourne later this month to compete in an ATP event prior to the Australian Open, with his participation in 2022's first grand slam now in further doubt.
He joins a cast of other men's players who have either pulled out of warm-up tournaments or the Australian Open itself.
Dominic Thiem announced on Sunday that he will not play in the ATP Cup or Sydney Tennis Classic, whilst Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have withdrawn from the Australian Open.
The women’s draw will also be without reigning Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady, Karolina Pliskova, Serena Williams, Bianca Andreescu, and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
