New Delhi: Speculations are going on in Rafael Nadal’s return to tennis but the question remains when ? The Spaniard has currently been in rehab due to the past injures he had to go through and didn’t play a professional match since his second round defeat at Australian Cup 2023. He was side-lined due to a hip-flexor and earlier this year, he revealed that the 2024 year will be his last tour of his competitive career.
Australian Open chief executive, Craig Tiley on the other hand is a confident man and he feels that the tennis ace will be fit in time for the next Australian Open.
“Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day, because he’s a massive drawcard for us,” the Australian Open chief was quoted as saying by Reuters. “He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up.”
“Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago,” Tiley further added.
As quoted by atptour.com, Nadal revealed that he had doubts that he will ever play tennis again but now he certainly feels that he can genuinely play and the progress has been so far good in his road to recovery.
“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”, he said
“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,” the 37-year-old concluded.
