Although Rafael Nadal bid farewell to Madrid a few days ago, he has already begun training in Rome in preparation for what many believe to be his comeback to the Italian Open.

These days, nothing about the 22-time major winner is certain. His circumstances are extremely unstable and literally alter with each stroke. Even though he didn’t go all the way, things in Madrid appeared to be going really well last week.

He competed, emerged victorious a few times, and experienced no physical problems at all during the competition. That was about as far as he was willing to go; he now intends to carry out a similar operation in Rome.

For Rafael Nadal, who participated in the Italian capital numerous times and took home ten titles, the Italian Open holds great significance. Nadal feels particularly great in the Italian city, as evidenced by the fact that this is one of the few tournaments in which he has won 10 or more times.

Following his experience at the Madrid Open, the 37-year-old proceeded to Rome and, to the delight of many tennis fans, held his first practice at the Foro Italico. Fans went to witness Rafael Nadal in person as his attendance at the ATP Masters 1000 event remains uncertain, therefore the stadiums were crowded.

Although he came to Rome so early in the hopes of playing, he really just wanted to practice and see if he was talented enough to compete. In the end, Nadal doesn’t care much about playing in Rome; rather, he views it as a necessary step toward his real objective, Roland Garros.

The ideal situation would be to play more matches before Roland Garros, since the Spaniard is projected to improve with each game. In the end, we’ll just have to wait and see, but it’s encouraging to see him competing on the Italian Open courts.