Rafael Nadal has trained over the past few weeks in order to prepare for the 2022 Australian Open. The Spaniard had to skip the US Open due to a foot injury, and was undergoing the same treatment. after

Now, Nadal is adding a new member to his coaching staff ahead of next year’s ATP tour. Marc Lopez, the gold medal winner alongside the Spaniard at the 2016 Rio Olympics, will join Carlos Moya and Francis Roig in Rafa’s coaching staff.

Rafael Nadal is ready to add another member to his coaching staff

The Spanish sports website Marca reported the news. Moya, Roig and Lopez are jointly responsible for preparing Rafael Nadal for 2022. The former World No. 1 has yet to make the news official.

Marc Lopez’s coaching experience includes fellow countryman Feliciano Lopez. The two announced their partnership before the start of the ATP season last year. Both players have known each other for a long time and played a lot of matches together.

Coming to Nadal, he will be ready to take part in the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi next week, where he plays an exhibition match against Dominic Thiem.

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It will be an opportunity for both Nadal and Thiem to assess their fitness before the start of the 2022 season.

Nadal signed up to play warm-up events in Melbourne ahead of the 2022 Australian Open

Nadal also scored in the warm-up tournaments in Melbourne prior to the start of Happy Slam. With this, the Spaniard is hoping to get more training and get used to the conditions. Last year, Nadal was ousted in the quarter-finals by Stefanos Tsitsipas in a thrilling five-set match.

The Spaniard has enjoyed a successful race on European clay this year, winning titles in Barcelona and Rome ahead of the French Open. But world number one Novak Djokovic ended Nadal’s hopes of a record 14th Roland Garros victory.

The Serbian star went on to win his 19th Grand Slam title in Paris by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. If all goes well, fans may be able to watch Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic again at the 2022 Australian Open.

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