Rafael Nadal concerns raised ahead of Indian Wells after private practice session | Tennis | Sport

Rafael Nadal has sparked concern following a training session with Grigor Dimitrov’s camp in Indian Wells. The Spaniard is making his return to official competition after picking up a new hip injury in January. But he could be in trouble after it emerged that he barely moved during the practice.

Nadal will be back in action on Thursday night after a setback forced him to cut his comeback short in Brisbane. The 22-time Major winner returned from a year-long injury layoff at the ATP 250 event but he suffered a micro muscle tear during his quarter-final defeat and has not played an official match since.

The 37-year-old also suffered defeat in an exhibition match against Carlos Alcaraz over the weekend. There were question marks over his fitness ahead of his opening round clash with former world No. 3 Milos Raonic, and Grigor Dimitrov’s coach has now shared some fresh news of Nadal’s physical state.

Jamie Delgado was at the practice session when Nadal hit with Dimitrov and admitted that the Spaniard spent most of the time standing in one spot. “Actually for our session with him, we did a lot of static hitting for about an hour or so,” the British coach told Sky Sports.

“[We did] controlled moving with him and we played a few points at the end.” Although Delgado saw some positive signs from Nadal, he admitted that the three-time Indian Wells champion couldn’t chase down some of Dimitrov’s more powerful shots.

The former coach of Andy Murray added: “I thought he was moving pretty well. When Grigor was hitting some really penetrating shots into the corner, maybe not getting there as fast as he would like to. But I’m sure that will come with a bit of practice and matches but he’s definitely hitting the ball well.”