Rafael Nadal confirmed for Rio Olympics

Omnisports

August 2, 2016 11:15 PM

Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will play at the Rio Olympics to mark his return from a wrist injury.

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The Spanish world number five has been sidelined since the French Open, casting doubt over his participation at the Games.

Nadal, the singles gold medalist in Beijing in 2008, said he was not yet fully fit, but would play in Rio.

"I was talking with the whole team and the team decided that I am going to play so I'm going to try to practice for the next couple of days," he said on Tuesday.

"It's not the ideal situation but my captain [Conchita Martinez] had confidence today that I am the best option to try to get a positive result for our country. So I practiced six hours today.

"The wrist is not 100 per cent perfect but the best thing is that after the six hours of practice the wrist is not worse than yesterday. That is great news."

Nadal said he wanted to play "everything," but would leave the decision on which events he features in to Martinez.

The 14-time grand-slam champion, however, is thrilled to be ready for the Olympics.

"I'm excited to be in an Olympics. The Olympics is once every four years and you never know what is going on in the future," Nadal said.

"I lost London so I'm excited to be here and I'm motivated to play."

Nadal's participation is a huge boost, with the likes of Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic among those to have pulled out.

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