Rafael Nadal lands in Melbourne for Australian Open after COVID battle

A positive COVID-19 test initially threatened to derail Rafael Nadal's participation at the 2022 Australian Open, but the Spaniard has fully recovered ahead of the first Slam of the season.

The Spaniard arrived in Melbourne and took to Twitter to hint at his participation at the Australian Open.

"Don’t tell anyone… … here I am," Nadal tweeted.

Nadal's last tournament of the season was the Citi Open in August, following which he took time off to recover from a foot injury. He made a comeback at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi in December. But a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 following the tournament's conclusion meant his Australian Open campaign was in doubt.

Fortunately, the Spaniard only experienced mild symptoms and resumed training after a short while. It was reported that he would depart for Australia on New Year's Eve.

Nadal is scheduled to participate at an ATP 250 event in Melbourne from January 3-9, where he is the top seed. This will be followed by the Australian Open. In the season's first Grand Slam, Nadal will attempt to become the first male player to win 21 Majors.

Rafael Nadal inaugurates the "Roland Garros Restaurant" at his academy

Rafael Nadal at the 2020 French Open

With 13 Grand Slam titles at the French Open, Rafael Nadal is the most successful player ever to compete on the clay courts of Paris. Now the former World No. 1 has brought the French Open experience to Mallorca. Nadal recently inaugurated the "Roland Garros Restaurant" at his academy to evoke the ambience of the French Open.

Hanging on the walls of the restaurant is a portrait of Nadal, along with other Roland Garros legends Steffi Graf, Chris Evert and Bjorn Borg.

The restaurant offers a wide variety of culinary delights prepared by a team of highly skilled chefs and nutritionists. This is the third Grand Slam-themed restaurant at Nadal's academy, following ones based on the Australian Open and US Open.