Rafa Nadal's return is close. The director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, confirmed this morning that the Manacorí tennis player's presence in the first Grand Slam of the year was assured: "We can exclusively reveal that Rafa will return," he said for Australian television. An issue that the player's entourage has flatly denied: "Rafa is practicing, as everyone saw in his last post on Instagram. But there is still no planned or scheduled date for his return," said the player's communications manager. Benito Pérez-Barbadillo, to the Reuters news agency.
Furthermore, Tiley added in advance that Rafa “will show up to win” and that “he would not come to the tournament unless he thinks he can win it”, just as the Balearic player did in 2009 and 2022. On this last occasion, overcoming a 2-0 down in the final against Daniíl Medvedev for the first time in the 'Open Era' and achieving what would be his 'great' number 22.
However, Nadal has not played his last official match since last January 18, when he lost in the second round of the Australian Open against the American, Mackenzie McDonald, 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5 and then suffered the injury. in the iliac psoas of his left leg that kept him off the slopes until now.
The 14-time Roland Garros winner was just as cautious as his spokesperson about his return to the top competition, when he was interviewed in September on Movistar: “The hope is not to return and win Roland Garros or win Australia. I am not sure what I am going to do in 2024, because because of the way I am, I cannot be clear. My way of approaching the year changes depending on the objectives. I don't even have the need to respond to myself. My hope is that within two months I will know how and where I am," he declared.
The words of the director of the Australian Open have not only glimpsed what could be Nadal's first steps in 2024, since he also spoke for Australian television about the Japanese Naomi Osaka, who became a mother this summer, or the injured Australian Nick Kyrgios of the knee. Craig Tiley has them on paper for the next edition of the Melbourne Grand Slam, which will be held from January 14 to 28, lasting for fifteen days, one more than in previous editions, as is done at Roland Garros.
