Nadal might be again in motion in January for what may very well be his final 12 months on the tennis tour. The 37-year-old picked up a left psoas harm on the 2023 Australian Open and did not mount a comeback for the clay swing, as an alternative ending his season and having surgical procedure. There have been months of uncertainty following the operation till Nadal lastly confirmed that he would have the ability to return to the tour.
Ever because the Spaniard made his comeback announcement, followers have been hoping to see one final instalment of his rivalry with Djokovic. The world No 1 even shared his want to face Nadal once more, saying: “I believe it will be good for the game to have no less than yet another match between Nadal and me. That is the largest rivalry when it comes to the quantity of matches performed that this sport ever had. Hopefully that may occur.”
However one other showdown with the 24-time Grand Slam champion may very well be unhealthy information for Nadal, as Specific Sport readers are questioning whether or not he’ll be able to defeating his greatest rival anymore. Requested whether or not the Spaniard may nonetheless beat Djokovic, 59 per cent of voters mentioned no.
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The pair have confronted off 59 occasions prior to now with the Serb simply main their head-to-head 30-29. And a spherical sixtieth assembly may very well be a becoming strategy to finish their rivalry, even when the match is extra one-sided than their earlier conferences.
Nadal himself has already downplayed expectations for his comeback as he shared a collection of video updates on X (previously often known as Twitter) within the lead-up to the Brisbane Worldwide. “I believe I’m prepared. I don’t know at what stage, I don’t know what to anticipate, I do not know, however I don’t care proper now,” the 37-year-old mentioned in a single clip.
“I’m coming again in a event that I’ve performed prior to now, that I’m accustomed to, a 250 event. I do know it’s a troublesome event however I hope to be able to compete. I don’t aspire to the rest, simply to be aggressive.”
Again in Could, when Nadal shut down his season following a failed comeback try, he admitted that he would seemingly retire in 2024. And the 92-time title winner doubled down on these feedback in one other comeback video.
Earlier this month, the Spaniard defined: “There are a lot of possibilities that it is going to be my final 12 months with none doubt. There are possibilities that it could solely be half a 12 months, there are potentialities that it could be a full 12 months, there are potentialities that we might not have the ability to attain all that…”
Though he might be having fun with every event as if it had been his final, Nadal remains to be refusing to decide to a retirement in case his return goes higher than anticipated. “I don’t wish to announce it as a result of in the long run, I have no idea what can occur. And I’ve to present myself the chance to not say one factor after which I generally is a slave of what I’ve mentioned. I believe it will be like that however I can’t be 100 per cent certain,” he added.