Nadal’s woes continued when his body caused him to pull out of another tournament. The former world No. 1 arrived early in Indian Wells, hoping to play just his second event of the season. But he announced that he wasn’t yet ready to play at the highest level 24 hours before he was due to contest his first-round match.
The 22-time Major champion returned in Brisbane at the start of the season following a year-long injury layoff. He looked promising in his first two matches before he picked up a fresh injury that forced him out of the Australian Open. Since then, Nadal has also withdrawn from Doha and Indian Wells.
One of Nadal’s greatest rivals has now given his honest response to the Spaniard’s latest setback, as Djokovic weighed in on the news that the 37-year-old wouldn’t be playing in California. “It’s sad for the tournament that Rafa had to withdraw and also for him,” the world No. 1 said ahead of the tournament.
Djokovic and Nadal set social media alight when they shared a selfie from the plane after catching the same flight to America for the first Masters 1000 event of the year. And the Serb explained that his rival had been trying to give himself enough time to be ready to compete.
The five-time Indian Wells champion continued: “I actually travelled with him to America, that was not planned. It was nice to see him and his family. And I know he came in early because he really wanted to adjust to the timezone, get as much practice as possible, get himself ready to play.”
