A year after he limped away from competitive tennis with a hip injury, Rafael Nadal has announced that he will return to the sport at next month’s Brisbane International.
The 22-time grand slam champion has not played since January, when he suffered a torn psoas muscle during a shock second-round defeat to Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open. The injury ended Nadal’s title defence and also his season, and at one stage even raised fears he might not play again.
But after undergoing surgery on the problem this summer, Nadal announced on social media that he plans to play the ATP 250 event in Brisbane, which begins on New Year’s Eve and runs until 7 January. The Australian Open, where the 37-year-old has twice been crowned champion, begins in Melbourne a week later.
“After a year away from competition, it’s time to come back,” Nadal said in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It will be in Brisbane, the first week of January. I’ll see you there.”
It remains to be seen whether Nadal’s second appearance in Brisbane will also be his last. In May, when he announced his withdrawal from the French Open at a press conference held at his academy in Mallorca, the Spaniard said 2024 would probably be his last year on the professional tour.
“My idea and my motivation is to try to say goodbye to all of the tournaments that have been important for me and my tennis career,” said Nadal.
He has since given himself some wriggle room, however, suggesting that his “roadmap” will be determined by how well his body responds to the latest comeback of a career that has been repeatedly interrupted by injury.
“I maintain that possibly 2024 is my last year, but I can’t confirm it,” Nadal said in September. “I’m working, and then my physique and my head will tell me.”
The former world No 1 is languishing at 633 in the world rankings as a result of his extended spell on the sidelines. But the length of his injury hiatus means Nadal is eligible for a protected ranking, based on his average position during the first three months of his absence. That would place him inside the top 10, guaranteeing entry to the first nine tournaments in which he competes, for a period of nine months.
As one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, however, Nadal will be virtually guaranteed a wild card for any tournament in which he wishes to compete. A bigger problem is that protected rankings are not used for seedings, meaning that a bad draw could immediately pit him against the likes of Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz. Unsurprisingly, Nadal has played down expectations of a fairy-tale return like the one he had at Melbourne Park last year, when he came back from a long-term foot injury – and a two sets to love deficit in the final against Daniil Medvedev – to win a second Australian Open.
A more realistic target is Roland Garros. As he pointed out when he announced his withdrawal from this year’s French Open, Nadal is unlikely to go to Paris simply to make up the numbers, and he will doubtless hope to rebuild his match fitness and his ranking in time to make a proper tilt at a record-extending 15th title. With Roland Garros the setting for the summer Olympics, Nadal has also spoken of his motivation to form a dream doubles pairing with Alcaraz.