"The goal is achieved" - Rafael Nadal following his comeback in Abu Dhabi

Rafael Nadal put up a huge fight, but came up short as he lost 7-6 (4), 3-6 (10-6) to Denis Shapovalov in the third-place play-off on Saturday at the 2021 Mubadala World Tennis Championship. He previously lost to Andy Murray 6-3, 7-5 on Friday.

While Nadal's comeback may not have ended in a tournament-win, he seemed pleased during his on-court interview. Having last played in August at the Citi Open, the Spaniard stated that his main goal was to get some matchplay. While it was indeed a tough start, Nadal spent quite some time on court over the last few days.

"Yeah, maybe too tough to start after a long time. Good. The goal is achieved, be back on court played two matches. I spent more or less four hours on court, during the last two days, three days because the day before I practiced with Rublev."

Nadal had a lot of fun playing in front of the crowd and wished Shapovalov good luck for the next season.

"So I enjoyed it, playing in front of you guys, that is always a big pleasure so thanks. Congrats to Denis today. I wish you all the very best for the next season and I'm going to keep trying to go with my road."

The Spaniard has competed in this tournament plenty of times before. The 2021 edition was his 11th time playing here. Nadal said that if he continues to play the sport, he would be more than happy to play in Abu Dhabi again.

"I have been here plenty of times so, the thing is if I'm still playing tennis then I'm always super happy to be here playing. So hopefully I can keep coming during next couple of years."

In the end, Nadal reiterated the fact that he enjoys playing a lot here and everyone knows how much he enjoys it as well.

"As everybody knows here the organization, guys from Mubadala, I always enjoy it playing here. I've been, the last stop before beginning of the next season, so this year was an exception and I hope to keep going like this. I always enjoy it a lot here."

What's next for Rafael Nadal?

Rafael Nadal at the 2021 French Open.

Nadal had earlier stated that the exhibition event in Abu Dhabi was more of a test to see where he's at physically after recovering from the injury. While he competed well in his two matches, there's a long way to go before he's back to his best.

The former World No. 1 will begin his 2022 season by participating in the Melbourne Summer Set, an ATP 250 event. While most of the top players will be competing at the ATP Cup, Nadal has decided to skip the 2022 edition. He'll compete at the Australian Open after that, where he'll be battling Novak Djokovic to be the first male player to win 21 Grand Slam titles.