Rafael Nadal plans to delay his departure to Melbourne for as long as necessary to recover from a virus that devastated his tennis this week in the Gulf.
The world number one, bidding to win a record fourth-consecutive Grand Slam as the Australian Open starts January 17, has had to change his travel plans and would not fly until he is well — likely early next week, meaning he would arrive in Australia with just days to acclimate.
Nadal lost in straight sets in the Qatar semi-finals to Nikolay Davdenko, a match he almost quit because of feeling poorly after scraping through the previous round.
“I thought about retiring for a moment,” the Spaniard said. “I had no chance to win the match. It is difficult for me to go off court. It’s not nice for the crowd, not nice for the tournament, not nice for the opponent, too.”
Nadal has been taking a course of antibiotics, but any change in his training programme could affect his game in the opening major of the season. Roger Federer is defending the title he won over Andy Murray a year ago at Melbourne Park.
Nadal said he fears making the 12- to 13-hour journey to Australia until he is well.
“I must get healthy before I travel,” he said. “Going by plane sometimes makes you worse.”
Nadal lost his last big-match appointment when he was beaten by Federer for the title in London at the ATP year-end championships in late November. He then took three days off before starting training for 2011.
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