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 12 months.
The Spaniard was initially anticipated to overlook eight weeks however underwent surgical procedure on a hip muscle in June.
Tiley instructed 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 stated.
“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 instructed Reuters through 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 stated.
“But there is no date confirmed, scheduled, or programmed yet for his comeback.”
Tiley stated 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 ladies’s champions – Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki – have been additionally planning to return to the 12 months’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 stated 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 earth however is eligible for a protected rating having been injured and never competing in any occasion for a minimum of six months.
Nadal, who has been releasing movies of his coaching, has additionally expressed his need to play in subsequent 12 months’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, along 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 return again from two units down within the ultimate to win.
Next 12 months’s Australian Open might be an prolonged 15-day occasion that may run from Jan. 14-28.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
