Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has claimed Rafael Nadal will make his return to Grand Slam tennis in Melbourne at the start of next year, but the Spaniard’s camp remain coy on a potential comeback.
Nadal has been out with a hip injury since the start of this year, when his title defence at the Australian Open ended in a second-round defeat to Mackenzie McDonald in January.
Speaking after the match, Nadal admitted he was “mentally destroyed” by his injury issues, and in May announced that he would not be ready to participate at the French Open as he revealed his focus was on taking time off to ensure he was fit for 2024, a season that would “probably” be his last as a professional.
“My idea is to try to enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important for me,” Nadal said.
It was announced two weeks later that the 22-time Grand Slam champion had undergone hip surgery, with his Benito Perez-Barbadillo stating that the procedure was expected to keep him out for five months.
Nadal has not given any indication of when he expects to return to competitive tennis, but Tiley has now revealed that the Spaniard has told him he will be in Melbourne at the start of next year to play in the Australian Open.
“We can reveal exclusively here that Rafa will be back,” Tiley told Nine’s Today.
“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 spokesman said in response: We have seen the reports and comments but as of today we wouldn’t be able to confirm. Definitely we don’t know yet. Too early to say.
“We have definitely not released any date cause we simply don’t know it. Rafa is just starting to practice.”
Nadal’s Australian Open victory in 2022 came after a six-month injury lay-off, and just weeks after his preparation had been further hampered by Covid.
He pulled off a remarkable comeback in the final too, battling from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev, and Tiley is not ruling out more miracles from Nadal next year.
“He’s not going to come into the event unless he thinks he can win it,” Tiley said.
“He’s not going to just show up to play, he’s going to show up to win. I called him. We stay in touch.
“You always get your hopes up because you want people like Rafa to be here. He particularly is someone who loves Australia. So far the early signs have been really good.”
Tiley also claimed that Nick Kyrgios, who missed his home Grand Slam through injury this year and has played just one match in 2023, has returned to training and is expected to feature, with Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki also set to play.
