Rafael Nadal shows how much he misses tennis with a single, perfectly captured expression

12-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal will be making his return to the ATP tour next month, having confirmed his participation at the Rome Masters and Roland Garros. But the World No. 2 has withdrawn from the 2020 US Open citing health and safety concerns, which means he'll be away from tennis a little longer than most of his peers.

Rafael Nadal hasn't played a single match since the start of the COVID-19 break, and will be a glaring absentee during the American hardcourt swing. While the rest of the top 10 have landed in New York for the Cincinnati Masters and US Open, Nadal has continued to train on the claycourts of the Rafa Nadal Academy.

The Spaniard has been working on a number of new projects during his downtime, but it goes without saying that he must be desperately missing playing competitive tennis. And a few hours ago, Nadal posted a video on his social media handles that accurately conveys his emotions at the moment.

Rafael Nadal's grounded but endearing demeanor was captured perfectly in the five-second video, which is now warming the hearts of the entire tennis community. The four-time USO champion couldn't possibly have been more expressive about his despair at sitting out of the New York Slam, which is scheduled to kick off from 31 August.

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In the video Rafael Nadal can be seen lamenting his absence from the courts, which was prompted by the COVID-19 situation in the US and safety concerns during travel.

"After many thoughts I have decided not to play this year’s US Open. The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still don’t have control of it," Rafael Nadal had said a couple of weeks ago.

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Now, however, the Spanish Matador is face-palming in disappointment while his peers are enjoying the comforts of the US Open bio-secure bubble.

"Not some tennis, but soon we will know," his caption read.

Rafael Nadal ended the message with an optimistic message for his fans though, by adding a winking emoji. The emotive Spaniard would likely not be be feeling too despondent after considering the big picture, with the prospect of a a 13th Roland Garros title to arrive soon.

While Rafael Nadal had cited safety concerns for his withdrawal from the US Open, many pundits believe his decision was also motivated by his age and injury history. It would be impractical for the 34-year-old to play all the tournaments amid the jam packed ATP tour, which will finally resume tomorrow at the 2020 Western & Southern Open in New York.