Rafael Nadal to fly to Australia tomorrow, on track for Australian Open 2022 participation: Reports

Rafael Nadal is reportedly on track to be fully fit for the 2022 Australian Open, and is expected to leave for Australia on New Year's Eve. The Spaniard will also participate in the Melbourne Summer Set in the lead up to the first Slam of the year.

The World No. 9 returned to action at the 2021 Mubadala World Tennis Championship in December after a four-month injury break. But a COVID-19 infection after the tournament cast doubts over his plans for the 2022 season.

Rafael Nadal had signed on to play at the ATP 250 event in Melbourne, which is scheduled to be held from January 4-9, followed by the 2022 Australian Open. After he tested positive for COVID-19, his participation at these tournaments became uncertain.

However, there has been some speculation on social media that Nadal is going to compete at both the competitions. The former World No. 1 will leave for Australia on December 31 from his hometown of Mallorca. The Melbourne Summer Set will be a warm-up to the first Grand Slam of the year.

"Rafael Nadal is flying to Australia tomorrow and should take part in the ATP 250 event organized in Melbourne as expected," wrote one Twitter account.

A few days ago, Rafael Nadal had announced on Instagram that he was working on his fitness so that he could recover in time for the 2022 tennis season.

If the sources are correct and Nadal has recovered, the 20-time Grand Slam champion has a shot at pulling ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the Grand Slam race in Australia. Federer is still recovering from his injury and will not be taking part in the tournament while Djokovic's participation still hangs in the balance because of his vaccination status.

Rafael Nadal will be the No. 1 seed at the Melbourne ATP 250

Rafael Nadal leads the pack at the Melbourne Summer Set

The main draw of the Melbourne Summer Set begins on January 4 and Rafael Nadal will be seeded No. 1 in the ATP 250 event. World No. 26 Reilly Opelka and World No. 28 Grigor Dimitrov are among some of the other top players taking part in the tournament.

The event will take place on the hardcourts at Melbourne Park, the same venue as the 2022 Australian Open. The Summer Set includes two WTA 250 events in addition to the ATP 250 event.

Several of the top players on the women's tour are scheduled to play at the two events. This includes four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, former World No .1 Simona Halep and 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu.

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