Watch: Rafael Nadal trains in Cincinnati despite early exit from Western & Southern Open to prepare for 2022 US Open

Rafael Nadal has stayed back in Cincinnati despite losing in the first round of the Western & Southern Open to prepare for the upcoming US Open, which begins on August 29.

In a video posted on social media by the Cincinnati tournament organizers on Saturday, Nadal was seen practicing on the hardcourts.

The 36-year-old can be seen sweating it out on the court, playing long double backhands and forehands while practicing his footwork. He was also spotted hitting a few slice shots as well.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion made a comeback at the Cincinnati Masters, having been on the sidelines since an abdominal tear forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon ahead of his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios. He also pulled out of the Canadian Open last week as he had not fully recovered from the same injury.

However, he made an early exit in Cincinnati, losing 7-6(11-9), 4-6, 6-3 to Borna Coric in his opening match. This also meant that the Spaniard could not regain the World No. 1 ranking ahead of the New York Major.

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"I'm sorry that I'm out, but that's tennis, that's the sport"- Rafael Nadal on his Cincinnati Open exit

Rafael Nadal made an early exit at the 2022 Western & Southern Open.

Following his early exit from the Cincinnati Open, Rafael Nadal thanked the organizers and apologized for not being able to make a deep run at the tournament. He also commended Borna Coric for putting up a solid fight on the court.

"I can't thank enough the organization for making things very easy. I try my best. They know and I'm sorry that I'm out in the first round, no, but that's tennis, that's the sport. The other opponent plays well, and he played better than me today," he said.

"Obviously I didn't play my best match. Something that can happen. Coming back from, yeah, a tough period of time, something that easy to accept and easy to say congrats to Borna that he played better," he added.

The 36-year-old also said that the tournament in Cincinnati hasn’t always been easy for him, but added that he has always been well received.

"It's true that this tournament hasn’t been the easiest for me during all my tennis career, even if I was able to win one year. But was the year that I was achieving almost everything. I make a couple more semifinals, I think, or one," Nadal stated, adding, "I don't know, for some weird reason this tournament, I never had the best feelings, but in the other hand, I felt very welcome here all the time.”