Rafael Nadal has explained he is “not sure at all” whether he will play at this year’s US Open after appearing on the entry list for the tournament.

The tennis legend also revealed that the upcoming Paris Olympics will not be the last event of his career as he confirmed he will feature at the Laver Cup later this year.

Nadal is competing at the Swedish Open in Bastad this week, where he is playing his first tournament since his opening round French Open exit at the end of May.

The 38-year-old is using the ATP 250 clay-court tournament to prepare for the tennis event at the Olympic Games in Paris, which will be staged at Roland Garros from July 27 to August 4.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion previously admitted he would likely retire at some point in 2024, but he has opened the door to extending his illustrious career in recent months.

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Nadal has committed to playing the Laver Cup after being announced as a member of Team Europe’s squad, with the team competition to be held in Berlin in September — after the US Open.

Speaking to the media in Bastad, Nadal divulged he would make a decision on his US Open participation after the Olympics.

“I needed to book (enter) to have the chance to decide after that, that’s as simple as that,” Nadal explained. “Nothing changed for me. I’m going to decide what’s going on after Olympics.

“By the way, I will be playing in the Laver Cup, but I am, to be clear and to not create false expectations, I am not sure at all to be in New York or not. No decision today and the decision will not happen before the end of Olympics.”

Asked how his body is reacting to his return to competitive action, Nadal replied: “Since I arrive here, I have the knee, the elbow, the back.

“I am jumping, falling on the court, but that’s part of the clay too and yeah, just accept that.”

The former world No 1 also addressed his choice to skip Wimbledon to prioritise preparing for the Games.

“I love playing tennis,” the Spaniard said. “After Roland Garros, it saddened me that I could only train for a week at the physical level I needed to give myself the chance to be competitive on the tour.”

“That’s why I decided to keep training, to see how my body reacted with the Olympics in sight. Skipping the grass season was the right decision.”

Following his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Cameron Norrie to reach the Swedish Open quarter-finals, Nadal assessed his form.

“It feels great,” he continued. “I haven’t played on tour for a while, since Roland Garros, and to have the opportunity to compete well against a great player like Cameron is a great feeling.

“I think at times I played good tennis, at other times I need to play a bit more aggressive, but that’s part of the journey today. I haven’t competed much, so matches and wins like today help.

“Keeping the pace throughout the match and keeping the pressure on the opponent throughout the match is something I need to improve because I haven’t been playing enough.

“I feel like in some ways at the beginning of the match he was a little bit better than me because he was winning his serves quite easily and I was struggling a little bit more with my serve, but I was the one who got the break.

“And then at the beginning of the second set I was playing better than him, I had break points and I was more in control, but I played a bad game and he played a really good one and broke me.

“So I was like, ‘okay, it’s 1-4, but it could also be 4-1 for me, so I have to keep doing what I’m doing. ’ I probably played a little bit more aggressive with my backhand and I think at the end of the match it worked a little bit better.

“That makes a difference. I’m pretty happy with my forehand and with my serve as well.”

Nadal will face world No 36 Mariano Navone in the Bastad quarter-finals, while he has also reached the doubles semi-finals with Casper Ruud.

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