Toni Nadal has spoken positively over Rafael Nadal’s hopes of playing at next year’s Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal has been injured since this year’s Australian Open after suffering a hip injury during his match with Mackenzie McDonald.
The Spaniard had initially been scheduled to be out for eight weeks but has had surgery and multiple setbacks since then.
Earlier in the year, Nadal had revealed his intention for 2024 to be his last year in the sport.
However Nadal is taking it one step at a time as he looks to participate at the tournament in Melbourne at the start of next season.
Craig Tiley had initially guaranteed that Nadal would be in Australia before the Spaniard downplayed those claims.
Now Nadal’s uncle, Toni Nadal, has remained optimistic over his nephew’s hopes of playing in Melbourne, “My nephew intends to be cautious, which is the right approach,” Nadal said to Spanish radio station Onda Cero.
“But I believe that for the Australian Open, my nephew should be in good condition to compete, all going well, because I have seen him train. Every day he is improving a bit. It’s true that it has been a very long-term injury, but well, that’s how it is. In high-level sports, in the end, it’s almost obligatory to play with pain, unfortunately, because you push your body to the limit, and pushing it to the limit is what leads to all these problems.
“He is aware that the situation is complicated. Let’s say he manages to get to Australia, it won’t be easy to compete again with an added problem. He won’t be a top seed, and from the very beginning he could face a high-level player.
“When Rafa plays a Grand Slam and faces a manageable opponent in the beginning, he gains momentum and becomes dangerous starting from the quarter-finals.”
Nadal will hope that he is fit in time as he aims to continue building on his Grand Slam title count which stands at 22.
The 2024 edition of the Australian Open starts on the 14th of January.
