According to ESPN on Monday, 20-time grand slam tennis champion Rafael Nadal of Spain has tested positive for coronavirus. Nadal received the positive test after competing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.
Nadal’s positive test occurred on his arrival back in Spain. There have been 5,455,527 cases of coronavirus in Spain and 88,708 deaths. The positive test of coronavirus for Nadal comes at a time when the Omicron variant is becoming extremely serious and causing the postponement for many sporting events in North America.
Nadal is one of two major champions to test positive for coronavirus over the last week. The other is 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, who did not play in Abu Dhabi at all, even though she was scheduled to participate.
Nadal had been a winner of Abu Dhabi five times. The event, which is only an exhibition event, was won by Andrey Rublev of Russia. Rublev beat Andy Murray of Great Britain, 6-4, 7-6. Nadal, who got a bye to the semifinals, lost to Murray, 6-3, 7-5. On the women’s side, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia defeated Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, 4-6, 6-3, [10-8]. With the tournament being an exhibition, they used a third set super tiebreak up to 10 points instead of playing an entire set.
Nadal won two titles in 2021. He defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 in the final of the Barcelona Open, and then Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in the final of the Italian Open. It should be no surprise that Nadal won both of his titles on the European dirt, because after all Nadal is the King of Clay.
