Will Rafa Nadal play again on the same stage where he played his last match? According to the director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, it appears from the conversations he has had with the Balearic tennis player in recent days that this will be the case. “I'm going to give you an exclusive. Rafa Nadal will be back in Melbourne, which makes us very excited because he is the 2022 champion. It is incredible,” the executive revealed on the Nine Network's The Today Show. And he added: “He wouldn't come to the tournament unless he thinks he can win it. He will not show up just to play, he will show up to win.” The player's response came a few hours later through his social networks and in English. He did it by curbing the euphoria and opting for prudence, but also with hope. “I appreciate the vote of confidence from the Australian Open... I am training every day and working hard to return as soon as possible.”
The Australian great will be played from January 14 to 28, 2024. The 37-year-old from Manacor has not played a match since losing in the second round at Melbourne Park on January 18, against Mackenzie McDonald. That day he injured his hip flexors and has been struggling to recover ever since.
On Wednesday of last week he was already seen training at his academy in Manacor. It was the first time in recent months that she appeared publicly with a racket in her hand. These images and the words of the director of the Australian Open fuel the feeling that Nadal's return to the courts is on the right track. Although one of the people closest to the Manacor native, his press chief, Benito Pérez Barbadillo, prefers to advocate also keeping one's feet on the ground. In this sense, he maintains that there is nothing to announce yet about Nadal's return, nor a specific date that is set as a goal. The final decision has not yet been made.
The Spaniard tried by all means to get ready to compete in the latest edition of Roland Garros because at first he thought he would be back in eight weeks, but when he was unable to achieve this he offered a press conference on May 18. In that appearance he announced that he would stop for a few months, that he would try to return at the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024 and that next year would be, in principle, the last of his sports career. The Spaniard's desire is to feel competitive again and be able to say goodbye at least in the big tournaments and by playing his fourth Games in Paris. He was Olympic champion in singles in Beijing 2008 and gold in doubles with Marc López in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Nadal underwent hip surgery on June 2 at the Teknon clinic in Barcelona. The operation, “arthroscopically”, was performed by doctors Marc Philippon, Jaume Vilaró and Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro and lasted for two and a half hours. Then a medical leave time of about five months was estimated.
That period falls at the beginning of November, a month that should be key to weighing whether Nadal's recovery enters a final phase. That will be when your workload increases.
From the tennis player's entourage, it is considered that next month will be when it can really be determined whether the Manacor native will be available to play in Australia or even in the preparatory tournaments, which would allow him to arrive with a little bit of filming at the big Aussie event. . Depending on how his hip responds, we will choose to do this or delay his reappearance.
During this time of absence Nadal fell out of the top 100 for the first time in 20 years and has fallen to 240th in the world rankings, but is eligible for a protected classification after having been out of competition due to injury for more than six months. He has always said that he does not want to say goodbye to the courts just for the sake of it, but that he wants to be competitive and fight for important victories until the moment when he decides to hang up his racket forever.
Whether it is his reappearance in Australia or later, the Spaniard is fulfilling what he promised, that he would fight as always to get back on the field.
