Certainly, the good news was buzzing more and more in the air, as the videos piled up, showing a more intense Rafael Nadal every day in training or in the gym in recent weeks. But, when it comes out of the mouth of the person concerned, the prospect of a return of the icon of Spanish tennis to the 14 Roland-Garros suddenly takes on another dimension.
On Wednesday, during a press briefing organized on the occasion of an event at the Tennis Clinic, led by his doctor, Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro, the 37-year-old Mallorcan suggested that his return to the track was almost validated now, without pointing out any specific date or event yet. “If you want something new that I haven’t told you until now, then honestly I think I’ll play again. I can’t say if it will be in this or that location, but I’m happy with the way things are going. A few weeks ago I wasn’t able to say if I would be able to come back, but the progress has been positive. I hope that in the coming weeks I will be able to announce something more concrete,” Nadal said.
Not seen on court since his defeat in the second round of the Australian Open against Mackenzie McDonald on January 18, a match in which he suffered a serious injury to the iliopsoas of his left leg, Nadal is today hui fell to 664th place in the ATP rankings. Operated last June, he announced a convalescence of at least five months, then considering a possible return for the start of 2024, which season could be, a priori, his last on the circuit.
“I’m not going to win more Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic”
But until today, the man with 22 Grand Slam titles had always been cautious, even if he had been optimistic already a little over a month ago, about a possible return to the game This time, it seems that the Spaniard has stored up some physical certainties. Not to return to the top level undoubtedly, but at the very least, as he wishes, to be competitive again and have fun.
“I know it will be difficult to return to a very high level of tennis, but if I did not have the hope of being competitive again, I would not have done the work I did these months- here, the effort that must be made after a very long career and the years that weigh on them,” he says, while immediately calming his most enamored fans who would imagine him coming back and immediately amassing two or three Grand Slams. moreover !
“I’m not going to win more Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic (who has 24 against 22 for the Spaniard), but I’m going to give myself the opportunity to have fun again. I’m training, I’m happy. It’s a good time in my life. It’s a step forward without a doubt and it represents a lot,” said the former world No. 1.
