Rafael Nadal gives out shocking announcement announcement after meeting with...

The winner of 22 Grand Slam championships has suffered a muscle tear on his hip days after making his long-awaited comeback to competitive tennis.

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Australian Open with an injury after playing just one tournament in his comeback from 12 months on the sidelines.

Nadal said he had concerns over his surgically repaired hip after needing a medical timeout in the third set of his Brisbane International quarterfinal loss to Jordan Thompson on Friday.

The Spaniard suffered a small muscle tear during the match.

Nadal’s latest injury casts doubts about the former world number one’s ability to compete at the elite level again after he previously said he expected to finish his glittering but injury-plagued career in 2024.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion made his long-awaited return to competitive tennis in Brisbane after spending almost a year out on the sidelines with a hip flexor injury sustained during his second-round defeat to Mackenzie McDonald in last year’s Australian Open.

“During my last match in Brisbane I had a small problem on a muscle that as you know made me worried,” Nadal said in a statement on X on Sunday.

“Once I got to Melbourne I have had the chance to make an MRI and I have micro tear on a muscle, not in the same part where I had the injury and that’s good news