Known for his passion for golf, Rafael Nadal had recently been contesting for the 2021 Balearic Golf Championship, a three-day-long tournament. After performing incredibly over the first two days, Nadal did not play on the third and final day of the Championship.

Held in Llucmajor, Mallorca, Nadal finished in the second position with a score of 74 shots on the first day. However, on the second day, the Spaniard signed a 77, five above the field, for a +7 which brought him down to sixth place.

No more golf clubs, Rafael Nadal heads back to the practice court

After a grueling two-month-long clay season, the 20-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from the Wimbledon Championships and the upcoming Tokyo Olympics last month.

With the goal of prolonging his career, Nadal didn’t want his body to suffer further exertion. In addition, just a two-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon was inadequate to recuperate, Nadal said.

At this year’s French Open, the 13-time champion lost to his arch-nemesis, Novak Djokovic, in an exhilarating semifinal, it what turned out one of the greatest matches between the two heavyweights.

It was Nadal’s third loss at the French Open, a tournament he has virtually owned since the start of the career. Now, the World No.3 is back to training on the courts of the Rafa Nadal Academy for the American hardcourt season, starting with the ATP Masters 1000 in Toronto, then Cincinnati, all the way to the 2021 US Open in New York.

Out of Nadal’s four US Open title victories, two of them have come in his last three attempts (2017, 2019). Last year, Nadal didn’t compete at Flushing Meadows because of the coronavirus restrictions.

As the 35-year-old aims to preserve his body, which has endured a slew of serious injuries over the last fifteen years, he would aim to return with all guns blazing at the US Open.