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Rafael Nadal‘s comeback might be happening sooner than expected. The Spanish tennis star suffered an injury at the Australian Open in January of this year, which left him unable to play for some time. It was an opportunity that Nadal took to relax and heal, undergoing surgery in June in Barcelona to address various injuries. It seems like recovery is going well, and like his return to competitive tennis might happen sooner than expected.
Reports from Spain claim Nadal’s recovery has been going better than expected, per Tennis 365. It seems like Nadal is feeling encouraged by his progress in practice matches and that he might even play in the Davis Cup, which begins qualifications in September and has a final in November, in Malaga.
“Rafa is fine, recovering. If everything goes well, he wants to return to the courts for the 2024 Australian Open,” said Toni Nadal, Rafa’s uncle and former coach in an interview with El Desmarque.
Nadal’s decision to step back from tennis
Nadal made the decision to step back from tennis earlier this year, making some statements in a press conference. “I worked super hard every day to try and be ready for the playing season, and then I was not able to play week after week, missing super important tournaments for my tennis career and now this one, the most important one - Roland Garros,” he said in May. The moment represented an opportunity to take a step back and focus on his recovery, making it clear that he’d plan to return to play by the end of the year.
Nadal also shared that he planned to retire soon, and wanted to give his body time to recuperate in order to enjoy his last year of playing professional tennis as much as possible. “My goal and my ambition is to try and stop and give myself an opportunity to enjoy the next year and that will probably be my last year in the professional tour,” he said.
“That is my idea but I can’t say 100% it will be like this, but my idea and my motivation is to try to enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important for me.”