Rafael Nadal announced last week that he will come back to tennis at some point in 2024. A specific date and location for his return remains to be seen.
“I’m well, training, and happy,” Nadal said while in Barcelona. “I’m at a good stage of my life. Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer and the progress is good.
“We know that the pain will never disappear, but I’ve taken a step forward. That’s a lot for me. Talking about tennis is another matter altogether, as is the level I’ll be able to play at. But the steps toward trying to play again have been big and positive, which is what we have been fighting for for several months. I’m confident I’ll be able to say something more specific in the coming weeks.
“I haven’t played for a year. Personal success is often more rewarding than general success. The hope is that I’ll play again. You never know what will happen. My gut says it will be very difficult to get back to a good level of tennis. If I wasn’t hopeful of trying to be competitive, I wouldn’t be doing everything I’ve done over the past months at my age and after a long career.
“The years pass by. My hope is that I will play again, and that is hugely satisfying to me on a personal level. I won’t win more Grand Slams than (Novak) Djokovic, but I will have the chance to enjoy myself again.”
The 37-year-old Spaniard has been out since the Australian Open because of a hip injury. He had been hoping to return for the clay-court swing but decided that surgery was necessary and underwent a procedure in June.
Aussie hopefully
Craig Tiley has said he is sure Rafa will pay AO.
After last year and endless reports of Rafa’s return, including from Toni who is reliably so completely wrong I sometimes wonder if Rafa actively feeds him disinformation, I will believe it when I see it.
Rafa,says he will always have pain from the injury which doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.
nothing Tiley says should be believed
Another Andy Murray? 🙁 Hope not for his sake.
Not in the sense he has made clear this is his final year. Am filled with trepidation as to how he actually is both physically and mentally.