Rafael Nadal lost in his second match at the Barcelona Open and his upcoming schedule remains unclear.
The 37-year-old Spanish tennis legend lost to world No. 11 Alex De Minaur, 7-5, 6-1, one day after he prevailed over Italian Flavio Cobolli in straight sets in his first match on clay in 681 days.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has won the Barcelona title 12 times and the main court there is named after him.
His upcoming schedule remains in flux. The next two big clay court tournaments are in Madrid (April 22-May 5) and Rome (May 6-19).
Nadal will likely play in at least one of those ahead of Roland Garros (May 20-June 9).
Nadal has a protected ranking of No. 9 in the world for the French Open, where he has won 14 times. It remains unclear if the French Tennis Federation will seed him there or not. He is currently ranked 644th in the world.
He is expected to make one more run in Paris this year before potentially calling it quits for his career.
“I’m just trying to enjoy every moment now,” Nadal, ranked 644th in the world, said ahead of his first match in Barcelona. “I was not able to spend a lot of days on the tour the last three years so just trying to enjoy every day that I am able to play with the guys and at a professional level. That means a lot to me.”
Nadal last played on March 3 in an exhibition loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Las Vegas and appeared healthy despite a left hip injury that forced him to withdraw from Brisbane after three matches and then miss the Australian Open.
He then withdrew from Doha and Indian Wells
“The day after Roland Garros I have been on crutches, so that’s the truth,” Nadal said, referring to a foot injury that required numbing injections on the nerve in his foot.
He added that he has dealt with “a lot of issues and difficulties” over the years.
“That’s part of life,” he said.
Against De Minaur, it was 5-all in the first set before De Minaur broke Nadal for a 6-5 lead and then closed out the set on his serve at love.
De Minaur then went up a double-break at 4-1 in the second before breaking Nadal again in the seventh game of the set.
Asked what success this week would look like for Nadal, Paul Annacone said Tuesday on Tennis Channel: “I think getting through the tournament uninjured, whether it’s one match or four, that to me is success. Hopefully and feeling better as you play.
“Every match you win is a huge bonus, but getting through and getting to the end of the tournament.”