Two of Rafael Nadal’s biggest rivals on the Tour believe the Spaniard will return to winning ways following his lengthy injury absence.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcarz have both made positive predictions about the return of Nadal who hasn’t played a competitive match since the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. Nadal underwent surgery during the summer and has now fallen outside the world’s top 600 as a result of his absence. However, he will still be able to play in top tournaments in the coming weeks with the use of his protected ranking and wildcards.
World No.1 Djokovic has played the king of clay a staggering 59 times on the Tour so far in his career, winning 30 of their meetings. The 24-time Grand Slam winner told reporters earlier this week that he believes his rival will be aiming to claim more titles in his return. Djokovic made the comments whilst in Saudi Arabia where he played an exhibition match against Alcaraz, which he lost in three sets.
“I always expect him to play at his best, to be honest,” Reuters quoted Djokovic as saying.
“Many times they’ve signed him out, they’ve done that with me as well. But we’ve proved them wrong. He’s not a kind of a player who will come back to the tour just to play, let’s say, on a medium level, play a few matches.
“He wants to win titles, he wants to be the best, that’s why he is who he is: a legend of our sport. I’m sure his training and preparation is done with an intention to win a grand slam.”
Alcaraz is another player who believes 37-year-old Nadal will return to the top of his game. The two clashed twice in 2022 with the world No.2 winning their meeting in Madrid. However, he lost to his compatriot in Indian Wells.
“I hear from other players that practised with Rafa in these past weeks and they said he’s going to return to his good level. His top level,” Alcaraz said.
Nadal’s comeback tournament will be the Brisbane International which will get underway on December 31st. He arrived in Australia on Wednesday evening.
“(I’m) happy to be back on the tour and happy to be here in Brisbane after a few years,” Nadal told brisbaneinternational.com.au.
Brisbane will be the first Tour-level ever Nadal will play as an unseeded player since Auckland 2005.
