Novak Djokovic says it would be ‘nice’ for tennis if he gets to play Rafael Nadal again after the Spaniard revealed some promising news about his comeback.
Nadal, who is 12 months older than the Serbian, hasn’t played a competitive match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January. He has been sidelined from action due to an injured hip which he underwent surgery on in June and has admitted to there being uncertainty surrounding the chances of his comeback to the sport.
However, things appear to heading in the right direction for Nadal who confirmed on Wednesday that he intends to play again. Although he has yet to confirm when or where he will play his first match on the Tour next year. In recent weeks the former world No.1 has uploaded videos of him training as he continues his rehab.
“I’m well, training, and happy. I’m at a good stage of my life,” atptour.com quoted Nadal as telling reporters in Barcelona.
“Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good.’
“We know that the pain will never disappear, but I’ve taken a step forward,” said the Spaniard. “That’s a lot for me. Talking about tennis is another matter altogether, as is the level I’ll be able to play at. But the steps toward trying to play again have been big and positive, which is what we have been fighting for for several months. I’m confident I’ll be able to say something more specific in the coming weeks.”
Throughout Nadal’s career, Djokovic has been one of his most notorious rivals in the sport. The two have locked horns 59 times with the 24-time Grand Slam winner winning 30 of those meetings. The last time they played against each other was in the quarter-finals of the 2022 French Open where Nadal won in four sets.
“I think it would be nice for the sport to have at least one more match between Nadal and me,” Djokovic said after beating Hubert Hurkacz at the ATP Finals.
“That’s the biggest rivalry in terms of the amount of matches played that this sport ever had. Hopefully that can happen.”
Nadal admits that it won’t be easy returning to the main stage of tennis and states that his ‘personal success is often more rewarding than general success.’ However, his resilience has been hailed by his rival.
“He’s a big warrior. He’s somebody that really never gives up,” Djokovic commented.
“With all the injuries that he had, keeps going. That’s definitely something that you have to respect and admire about him and his spirit.”
Djokovic and Nadal have won 189 ATP titles between them so far in their careers.
