Worrying Rafael Nadal sign spotted as star back in practice after Olympics scare

Rafael Nadal raised new fears as he was spotted wearing a large bandage on his thigh as he returned to the practice courts at Roland Garros ahead of the Olympics.

The Spaniard cancelled his training session with Alexander Zverev on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Thursday and his coach, Carlos Moya, later revealed that Nadal was having a rest day after suffering a setback.

When he came back out to the main stadium on Friday with doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz, he sported strapping.

Nadal also wore the bandage during a doubles practice session on Wednesday. A day later, his coach admitted that he didn't know whether the 38-year-old would be ready to take to the singles court at the Olympics.

"It was a setback and we decided that today Rafa would rest and not train to recover," Moya told Radioestadio Noche.

"We are going to give ourselves 48 hours, we have to wait but, at this point, I can't guarantee that Nadal will be fit to play.

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Moya indicated that Nadal would be ready for the doubles, where he is teaming up with Alcaraz. He added: "The Nadal-Alcaraz double is something to fall in love with."

Nadal only practised doubles with Alcaraz on Friday as they shared the same side of the court ahead of their first-round match on Saturday night. They have been drawn to face No. 6 seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni from Argentina.

The 14-time French Open champion didn't look out-of-sorts as he and Alcaraz rallied against fellow Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Pablo Carreno Busto for an hour on Friday morning. Moya was present alongside the Spanish Olympic team to keep an eye on his charge.