Rafael Nadal is a honorary member of Real Madrid football club since 2011
Rafael Nadal took the honorary kick-off in the match between Real Madrid and Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabéu. The Minorcan-born tennis player, who has been a Real Madrid honorary member since 2011, is the only tennis player to have secured 21 Grand Slam titles. Real Madrid has been crowned champions of Spain after winning the match 4-0.
Rafael Nadal is a superfan of Real Madrid and has previously expressed his wish of becoming a President for the club. “If you ask me if I would like it, of course I would, why not? But there is more to it… I think it will not be. We are very good as we are. We have a great president right now, and I don’t think Real Madrid need me, but we never know what can happen in the future. It is not something I can raise today”, Nadal had said earlier on his ambitions of becoming the President of the Spanish giants.
Rafael Nadal suffered a stress fracture in his rib which ruled him out for more than six weeks. Nadal complained of a chest issue during his run to the final of the Indian Wells Masters in California. Upon his arrival in Spain, Nadal visited his team in Barcelona for tests which revealed a ‘stress fracture of the third left costal arch.’
Rafael Nadal had withdrawn from the Miami Open to manage his workload and keep himself fit for the clay-court season. The Spaniard’s plans of preparing for the clay-court season were hampered due to the rib injury. He missed the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament played on clay surfaces and is considered to be an ideal warm-up event leading to the Roland Garros in Paris. However, Nadal should be fit in time for the Grand Slam in Paris in pursuit of a record 22nd Grand Slam.
Rafael Nadal took to social media to announce his return to training sessions after being out of action for more than four weeks. “Today after 4 weeks without stepping on a tennis court, first light training. What an illusion to step on the earth again“, Nadal wrote in his tweet last week.
Nadal is scheduled to play in the Madrid Open on May 3.
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