Rafa Nadal’s return to Grand Slam tennis on the Australian Open in January was confirmed by match director Craig Tiley Wednesday.
However, a consultant for the 22-time main champion clarified that no particular timeline has been established for his comeback.
The 37-year-old former world primary has been sidelined since hurting his hip flexor in a second-round loss to Mackenzie McDonald on the Melbourne Park main earlier this yr.
The Spaniard was initially anticipated to overlook eight weeks however underwent surgical procedure on a hip muscle in June.
Tiley advised Nine Network’s ‘The Today Show’ that Nadal had confirmed his participation within the Grand Slam.
“We can reveal exclusively here that Rafa will be back,” Tiley mentioned.
“He’s been off for most of the year and in talking to him over the last few days he confirmed he will be back, which we’re really excited about, the champion of 2022. That’s awesome.”
However, Nadal’s consultant Benito Perez-Barbadillo advised Reuters by way of textual content from Shanghai that there was nothing to announce but on the Spaniard’s upcoming schedule.
“I can confirm to you that Rafa is practicing, as everyone saw on his last post on Instagram,” Perez-Barbadillo mentioned.
“But there is no date confirmed, scheduled, or programmed yet for his comeback.”
Tiley mentioned Australian Nick Kyrgios may return in time to play at Melbourne Park after he had knee surgical procedure in January and suffered wrist and foot points in an injury-plagued 2023.
“We know Nick’s been in training, wanting to return as well. So we expect to see him back,” he added.
He added {that a} trio of former girls’s champions – Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki – had been additionally planning to return to the yr’s first Grand Slam after maternity breaks.
“We’ll welcome them – and their families – back to Melbourne with open arms and can’t wait to see what their next chapter brings,” he added.
Rankings drop
Nadal has mentioned he expects to retire after the 2024 season, with a sequence of accidents limiting his appearances on tour.
He dropped out of the highest 100 for the primary time in 20 years earlier within the season and has slipped to quantity 240 on the planet however is eligible for a protected rating having been injured and never competing in any occasion for no less than six months.
Nadal, who has been releasing movies of his coaching, has additionally expressed his want to play in subsequent yr’s Paris Olympics with the tennis match set to happen at Roland Garros, the place he has received 14 of his 22 main titles.
In Nadal’s absence, Novak Djokovic has gone on to win a report 24 Grand Slams.
Nadal has received the Australian Open twice, together with his final victory coming in 2022 when he beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and have become the primary man within the Open period to come back again from two units down within the ultimate to win.
Next yr’s Australian Open shall be an prolonged 15-day occasion that may run from Jan. 14-28.
Source: www.dailysabah.com