Rafael Nadal will head to Australia at the start of next year to play in the first Grand Slam of the season, according to the Australian Open tournament director. 

Craig Tiley has told Nine Network’s ‘The Today Show’ that the former world No.1 will be playing at Melbourne Park. Although there is yet to be any official comment from either Nadal or a member of his team about the matter. 

Nadal hasn’t played a Tour match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. He was originally expecting to take an eight-week break but the recovery didn’t go to plan and he ended up having surgery. In May he confirmed that he will take an extended break from the sport to heal his body and admitted that he may retire next year. 

Whilst question marks remain over Nadal’s career, Tiley says he is confident the Spaniard will be playing at the Australian Open in what will be his 19th main draw appearance at the event. He has won the title twice before and was runner-up on four other occasions. 

“We can reveal exclusively here that Rafa will be back,” Tiley said.
“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.”

Another player tipped to return to action is Nick Kyrgios who has also been hindered by injury in recent months. Kyrgios has played just one match in 2023 due to problems related to his knee and wrist. The setbacks came a year after he reached his maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic. 

“The one great thing about Nick is that he’s very transparent and very open about how he’s feeling and what he thinks,” The Age newspaper quoted Tiley as saying.
“I personally believe in the communication that he’s very motivated to come back and play in January.
“He loves playing here … he knows everyone wants him to play. It’s just a matter of his health. He’s had a significant injury.
“He’s … in the process of still getting over that … [but] I fully expect him to be here and ready to play.”

Both Nadal and Kyrgios are currently ranked outside the top 200 due to their absences. 

The 2024 Australian Open will begin on January 14th. Next year the event will be held over 15 days for the first time in its history. 

UPDATE: Since the publication of this article a spokesperson for Nadal has responded to Tiley’s claims by stating that no return date has been set.

Next year’s Australian Open will get underway on a Sunday following feedback from both players and fans.

For the first time in history, the Melbourne Grand Slam will take place over 15 days in a move that has been done to minimize the chances of late-night finishes at the tournament. In the past players and fans have criticised organisers for matches going on until the early hours. In this year’s edition, Andy Murray’s second round clash against Thanassi Kokkinakis didn’t finish until 4am.

Under the plan, first round matches will be spread over three days instead of two. Something that is already done in Paris at the French Open. Some data has shown that there is a growing trend in matches lasting longer.

“We’ve listened to feedback from the players and fans and are excited to deliver a solution to minimise late finishes while continuing to provide a fair and equitable schedule on the stadium courts,” Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said.
“The additional day will achieve this, benefiting scheduling for fans and players alike. The first round will now be played over three days instead of two, also giving fans an extra day of unbelievable tennis, entertainment, food and family fun.
“Every year our team works hard to bring fans an event that feels new and exciting, and this is another opportunity to grow what is already the biggest annual sporting event in the world in January.”

Another change is that day sessions on the Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena will feature a minimum of two matches instead of three. However, the night sessions will remain the same at two matches and no changes will be made to the John Cain Arena schedule. Overall, the number of sessions in the three areas will increase from 47 to 52 in 2024.

Meanwhile, organizers said next week a raft of exciting initiatives will be announced by the Australian Open before tickets go on sale on October 12th. It is unclear as to what these initiatives will be.

The 2024 Australian Open will take place at Melbourne Park between 14-28 January. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the current champions.

On Sunday in New York, the men’s singles and women’s doubles championship matches will be played.

Two years ago in the final of this same tournament, Novak Djokovic was just one match away from the ever-elusive calendar-year Grand Slam.  But on that day, a nervous and drained Novak succumbed to Daniil Medvedev, who claimed his first and only Major title to date.  Now in 2023, Djokovic vies to avenge that painful loss in the same round of the same event, and win his record-extending 24^th men’s singles title at a Major.

And in the women’s doubles championship match, it will be Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe (16) vs. Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva (12).  This is a second Major final for Dabrowski in women’s doubles, and she’s already a two-time Slam champ in mixed doubles.  Routliffe is a Major final debutante. 

Siegemund and Zvonareva won this tournament in 2020.  Siegemund also won mixed doubles at this event in 2016, while Zvonareva has three US Open titles in women’s doubles (2006, 2012, 2020), two in mixed doubles (2004, 2006), and of course was a runner-up here in singles back in 2010.

Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – 4:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium

Djokovic is 44-5 on the year, and has now reached all four Major finals in 2023, where he’s 2-1 thus far.  He’s won five of his six matches this fortnight in straight sets, and came back from two sets down in the third round against his fellow countryman, Laslo Djere.  Novak already has four titles this year (Adelaide, Australian Open, Roland Garros, Cincinnati), with his only loss in a final coming against Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.  In his career, Djokovic is 95-40 in ATP finals, and 23-12 in Major finals.

However, Novak has a sorted history at this particular Major.  He is only 3-6 in US Open finals, which is a startling stat for a man easily considered the best male hard court player of all time.  By contrast, he’s a perfect 10-0 in Australian Open finals. 

And in the last three years, this tournament has been particularly frustrating for Djokovic.  In 2020, he was disqualified in the fourth round for hitting a linesperson in the neck with a tennis ball.  In 2021, he suffered the aforementioned loss to Medvedev while playing for the Grand Slam.  And in 2022, he was unable to enter the United States due to his vaccination status.

Medvedev is 55-11 in 2023, with five titles (Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami, Rome).  Four of those titles, all on hard courts, came between February and March of this year.  Daniil’s results had tapered off in recent months, and he uncharacteristically went just 3-2 on North American hard courts heading into this tournament.  But as he often does at hard court Majors, Medvedev built his confidence as the tournament progressed, dropping only three sets through six matches.

Ahead of his semifinal against Alcaraz, Medvedev stated he would have to play “11 out of 10” to defeat Carlitos.  And Daniil did just that, performing at an extremely high level in that match.  He won 82% of his first serve points, and saved eight of the nine break points he faced, showing how well he played the critical points in the match.

Medvedev is 20-13 in ATP finals, and just 1-3 in Major finals.  That includes two soul-crushing five-set losses to Rafael Nadal, and a one-sided straight-set loss to Djokovic, which occurred at the 2021 Australian Open.  Medvedev is yet to play anyone not named Nadal or Djokovic in a Major final.

Novak and Daniil have played 14 times across the last seven seasons, with Djokovic leading their head-to-head 9-5 overall, and 8-4 on hard courts.  At Majors, Novak leads 2-1.  After losing to Medvedev is the final of this event two years ago, Djokovic went on a revenge tour against him, winning their next four encounters.  But Daniil claimed their most recent meeting, six months ago in the semifinals of Dubai.

These are definitively the two best ATP hard court players of the past five years.  Since August of 2018, they have combined to win 34 titles on this surface, with 17 each.  But at this level, there is no comparison.  During that same span, Djokovic has won five hard court Majors, even with missing a few because of vaccine protocols, while Medvedev has procured just one.

On the last day of the 2023 US Open, Novak is the favorite to pick up yet another hard court Major.  And that’s not despite his history in New York, it’s because of it.  After what Djokovic has gone through in recent years at this event, including his 2021 loss to Medvedev, he’ll be exceedingly motivated to reassert his authority on Arthur Ashe Stadium.  And unlike 2021, Novak comes into this match fully fresh, after a straight-set victory over Ben Shelton on Friday. Plus, he’s on an 11-match winning streak, and has won 24 of his last 25 matches, dating back to the start of Roland Garros.  Simply put, Djokovic is currently at the height of his abilities.

And when’s he’s in this kind of form, an extraordinary level is required of his opponents.  No other player can consistently match Novak’s well-rounded skillset, and his superiority reveals itself even more so in the best-of-five format.  Daniil already had to reach an astounding level to advance beyond Alcaraz in the semifinals.  Maintaining that level for a second match in a row, and under the pressure that comes with a Major final, will be an extremely challenging task.  Djokovic will regain the World No.1 ranking on Monday regardless of Sunday’s outcome, but I expect him to do so as a 24-time Major champion.

Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.