Rafa Nadal Anticipates Return to Tennis for 2024 and Australian Open

Rafa Nadal, during the presentation of his new business project (EFE/ Mariscal)

If there is an expected return in tennis at the moment, it is that of Rafa Nadal. The Spanish tennis player, the second player on the men’s circuit with the most Grand Slams in history, is already working to be able to be in the game again in 2024. A year that could well be the last one in which we see him active, with two events ahead. good insurance marked in red on their calendar: Roland Garros and the Paris Olympic Games, whose tennis tournament would be held, precisely, at the facilities of the Balearic fetish competition.

It is still not known exactly when Nadal will return to action. The iliopsoas injury that has forced him to be in dry dock for practically all of 2023 has been no small matter, and has required considerable downtime. But the man called by many the best athlete of all time in Spain has resumed training vigorously, gradually increasing the intensity in order to be able to face the coming challenges with the greatest possible guarantees.

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Right now, Nadal is ranked 240th in the world. His competition this season has been limited to just four games, all of them played on Australian soil. In the United Cup, he lost both against the British Cameron Norrie (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and against the local Álex de Miñaur (3-6, 6-1, 7-5). Already at the Australian Open, he beat another Brit, Jack Draper (7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1), and was defeated by the American Mackenzie McDonald (6-4, 6-4, 7-5), already injured.

Nadal, at the last Australian Open (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

Since the duel with McDonald, Nadal has not been seen on the courts. It so happens that the first big event in which he could be part of the game would be the Melbourne major. A possibility that is gaining more and more strength, as even those around Rafa recognize.

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It has been Toni Nadal, the legend’s uncle and coach for many years, who has made new statements about the news that everyone wants confirmed. In a very optimistic tone, too. “I think Rafa Nadal will be able to play in the Australian Open,” he said in an interview with Radioestadio Noche (Onda Cero).

“My nephew pretends to be prudent, which is what he has to do. But I think that at the Australian Open, my nephew normally has to be fit to play, because I have seen him train. Every day he goes a little better. It is true that it has been a very long injury, but hey, it is what it is,” Toni Nadal completed during his radio intervention.

He is fully aware that caution must prevail in a situation like that of the winner of 22 majors. “Let’s say he manages to get to Australia. It will not be easy to compete again with an added problem. You will not be seeded and from the first moment you could get a high-level player. Rafa, when he plays a Grand Slam, when at the beginning he has an affordable rival, he starts to gain momentum and is dangerous from the quarterfinals onwards,” Toni pointed out about his nephew.

Toni Nadal, former coach and uncle of Rafa Nadal (EFE/ Alonso Cupul/Archive)

He also mentioned that Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, if they played together in Paris 2024, would make “a very good couple.” “Let’s see if there is a possibility of winning an Olympic gold in singles or doubles,” he wished. Although first, if all goes well, we will have to focus our sights on Melbourne from January 14 to 28.

2023-11-03 12:29:53
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