The 2012 tennis season won’t be a very memorable one for Rafael Nadal, who did win the French Open for the 7th (new record) time, but he’s also been out with an injury since an early exit at Wimbledon. However, it does give him more time to do other stuff, like PokerStars promotions, trying to convince people he isn’t Rafa.

The story goes like this – Nadal’s poker “coach” needs him to work on his bluffing, so Rafa “gets a job” at a golf club in Mallorca, does some Clark Kent thing where he puts on his glasses and being the most popular Spanish athlete at the moment and possibly ever, he needs to convince the buyers walking into the shop that it’s not him.

Needless to say, none of them are really convinced that he’s actually Tony, that often gets reminded of how closely he resembles the genuine thing. The only person who half falls for it is the only shopper who isn’t Spanish. Go figure.

Nadal missed out on the Olympic tournament, the US Open and a few more Masters tournaments. He hasn’t played since his loss in the second round of the Wimbledon tournament to Lukas Rosol, which was in late June. According to estimations, there’s a very good chance he won’t be stepping on the court in 2012 again. Due to his long absence from the tour, Nadal has dropped to the fourth place in the ATP rankings.