Rafael Nadal could play in Melbourne. If the virus gives him rest...

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Rafael Nadal would be better off after contracting the COVID-19 virus, and he could be present in Melbourne for the Australian Open 2022. But what will his physical condition be if he were to, as we all hope, play the Happy Slam? It depends on how much the virus gives him respite.

If the Spaniard were to overcome COVID-19 without too many complications, he could have time to physically prepare for the Australian Slam. If the virus were to leave any aftermath, obviously his physical preparation could be different and slower.

However, the latest news seems to be encouraging. Fans of the Australian Open are eagerly awaiting the event, and if as far as world number one Novak Djokovic is concerned, the situation seems less and less encouraging, for Rafa the situation would be more positive.

Roger Federer is now out until next summer, and everyone is pouring out their hopes of seeing Rafael Nadal on the pitch at the Australian Open 2022. It is a complicated situation as the Iberian tennis player, winner of twenty Grand Slam titles, is currently positive for Coronavirus and we need to understand when he will be able to return to the field to train for the next matches.

Nadal is one of the tennis players who was infected at the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament (almost all the men tested positive and among the women also Emma Raducanu and Belinda Bencic) and now we need to understand his situation.

Rafael Nadal could play in Melbourne. If the virus gives him respite...

The mandatory isolation period for Coronavirus positives in Spain ends after 10 days and therefore for Rafa it will end next Thursday. To go to Australia, Nadal will also need to present a negative swab of at least 72 hours before taking the flight to Australia.

If initially Nadal appeared perplexed about this situation, now things seem to improve as evidenced by an Instagram story of the Majorcan tennis player. Nadal posted a video where he trains with weights in the gym and appears much more optimistic than a few days ago to be able to participate in the first Grand Slam of 2022.

In addition to Covid, Rafael Nadal has been stopped for some time due to injury and the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament was his first 'official' engagement after months of absence due to a foot injury. Nadal ended 2021 prematurely in Washington by skipping events such as the US Open and the ATP Finals at the end of the year as well as the beloved Olympics.

In 2022 Nadal has the hope of winning a Grand Slam tournament again and perhaps surpassing his two greatest rivals, Roger Federer and world number one Novak Djokovic, in the ranking of tennis players with the most Grand Slams.