Should Rafael Nadal have gone to the Golden Swing instead of Qatar Open to make his comeback after Australian Open injury setback?

Rafael Nadal will be playing at the 2024 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, which begins on February 19. There have been many questions surrounding the Spaniard choosing the post-Australian Open hardcourt swing over the Latin American claycourt season, but his coach Carlos Moya's recent admission brought more perspective to the decision.

Nadal was out of action for most of the 2023 season due to a hip injury that required arthroscopic surgery. The Spaniard endured a long recovery process last year before announcing in December that he would make his much-awaited comeback at the 2024 Brisbane International.

The 37-year-old's participation at the tune-up event to the Australian Open ended on a worrisome note, as he tore a muscle in his left hip area during his quarterfinal exit to Jordan Thompson. He subsequently withdrew from the Melbourne Slam, insisting that his body wasn't ready for the toils of best-of-five tennis.

"Once I got to Melbourne I had the chance to make an MRI and I have a micro tear on a muscle," Rafael Nadal wrote on his social media handles. "Right now I am not ready to compete at the maximum level of exigence in five sets matches. I’m flying back to Spain to see my doctor, get some treatment and rest."

Following that, Rafael Nadal's coach and good friend Carlos Moya recently spoke to a Spanish tabloid about the 22-time Major winner's current physical state and why he didn't consider participating in the Golden Swing — where he has won six ATP titles.

Moya stated that the Spaniard's team was approaching his recent physical niggles with caution. He also insisted that sitting out of Melbourne was not an easy choice for the former World No. 1.

"We are being cautious. Where we come from, we have to be careful. We are slowly starting to train again," Carlos Moya told Punto de Break. "It wasn't serious, but it was serious enough to not play the Australian Open, which was one of the big goals he had."

When asked about Nadal's decision to miss the Latin American claycourt season for the 2024 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the 47-year-old replied that the transition from hardcourts to clay, and vice versa, would be hard on the Spaniard's body.

"Surface changes are not easy. While it is true that land should be better for your joints, going from fast to land, to go back to the US and then back to land, we thought it was a bit excessive," he added. "That's why we chose to make this calendar, without so much change of surface."

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Rafael Nadal has missed the Golden Swing on several occasions in the past

Rafael Nadal poses with the 2014 Rio Open title.

Needless to say, Rafael Nadal is the best player in tennis history to hit the green fuzzy ball on clay. The Spaniard has won a whopping 63 titles on the surface, including a haul of 14 Roland Garros titles.

While most of the 22-time Major winner's titles have come at the European claycourt swing, he has also enjoyed success in the Golden Swing — a series of tournaments held on dirt every February in Latin America. He won two each at the Brasil Open and the Mexican Open in 2005 and 2013, also reigning supreme in Rio and Buenos Aires in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Having said that, Nadal sat out of the Latin American claycourt season in 2006-12 and from 2017-till date. Out of those years, he played on the hardcourts in the lead-up to the Sunshine Double in 2006-09, choosing rest over matches in the remaining years.