Rafael Nadal Illness: Updates on Tennis Star's Status and Return

Rafael Nadal retired from his second-round Miami Open match against Damir Dzumhur because of illness, and it's unclear when the world's fifth-ranked player will return to action.  

Continue for updates. 

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Latest on Nadal's Illness

Saturday, March 26

According to We Are Tennis, Nadal tapped out of his tilt with Dzumhur while trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 and appeared to be in great distress:

Per Live Tennis, the on-court doctor urged him to retire from the match, and although he attempted to push through, he ultimately couldn't compete any longer:

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'If you're feeling that bad, there's no point pushing yourself,' the doctor says. But #Nadal will continue. pic.twitter.com/ThNRRDJjgc

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) March 26, 2016"

Nadal's retirement broke a long streak of finishing out matches, according to Ricky Dimon of The Grandstand:

The 2016 season has been a struggle for Nadal thus far, with no titles to his credit and a first-round Australian Open exit on his record as well. This comes on the heels of what was a subpar 2015 campaign for the future Hall of Famer.

Rafa started the 2015 season with high expectations, befitting a player with 14 career major titles, but he struggled to the tune of just three singles titles and nothing better than a quarterfinal appearance in his four Grand Slam entries.

It also marked the first year he did not win the French Open title since 2009, which was the biggest sign that he simply wasn't the dominant player he once was.

While injuries didn't cause him to miss much action in 2015 like they did in previous years, nagging ailments may have played a role in his less-than-stellar showing.

Despite everything Nadal has dealt with in recent years, he didn't feel sorry for himself entering the 2016 campaign, per the Times of India (h/t Ahmed Rizvi of the National).

"It's not right to feel unlucky," Nadal said. "I feel very lucky about all the things that happened to me. I still got 14 Grand Slams and an Olympic gold, so I did much more than I ever dreamt."

Even so, Nadal certainly hasn't enjoyed much luck on the injury front as of late, which has to be discouraging for both him and Toni Nadal. Prior to the 2016 season, Rafa's uncle and coach felt strongly that his nephew was bound to get back to the top of his game, according to ESPN.com's Mark Hodgkinson:

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I couldn't do this work if I thought that he couldn't win more Grand Slams. No, no, no, I think that he can win more Grand Slams. He can win the Australian Open in January. And he can win Wimbledon, too. The last few years, Rafael arrives at Wimbledon and he loses early, and very fast. And, in Roland Garros, for sure, Rafael can win. In tennis, you need confidence to do things. It's impossible to do anything without confidence. You can't win any good tournaments if you think you cannot and you don't believe.

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Tennis is an extremely demanding sport with a grueling schedule, and there is no doubt it has taken its toll on Rafa over the past several years. When taking into account his injury history, though, he has more wear than most other athletes at the age of 29.

An illness is a slightly different story, and while the exact nature of his condition isn't yet known, one can only assume it isn't something that will impact him over the long haul.

Nadal's primary focus currently is likely on getting himself in ideal form ahead of the French Open in May, and although that hasn't happened yet, he still has plenty of time to get to that point.  

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.