Rafael Nadal opens up about Australian Open participation after pulling out of Brisbane

Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the Brisbane Open 2019 due to a thigh strain, which was revealed after an MRI scan. He was due to play Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2nd round of the tournament after receiving a first-round bye.

"I feel good, but after a long period of time without competing, I felt the leg tightening a little bit in Abu Dhabi in the first match," he said to the media.

"That's why I didn't play the second (match). So I came here. I did an MRI, and it shows a very small strain on the left thigh, but it's there."

He recently pulled out of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship last week after playing one match, which he lost to Kevin Anderson.

However, he opened up about his participation in the upcoming Australian Open and said that the doctors were confident that he would be able to play in the tournament, which begins on January 14.

"My hope is to win the Australian Open," he said. "And being honest, I feel myself playing well. I feel myself playing at a good level of tennis. And I feel myself with very high motivation to compete and to play."

Nadal underwent a surgery on his ankle towards the end of 2018 due to which he was forced out of action for a few tournaments, including the World Tour Finals. In fact, the last professional match he played was at the US Open, where he lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.

He will go into the Australian Open as the second seed and will hope to win his second title at Melbourne Park. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, look extremely fit, playing the Hopman Cup and the Qatar Open respectively.