Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, has been out of action from the professional tennis circuit after suffering a hip flexor injury at the Australian Open earlier this year, for which he underwent surgery soon after.
There have been a lot of rumours and speculation about when will the Spaniard return to competitive tennis action, especially after his comments to the ATP website recently about how he will be able to reveal a specific date in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, Rafael Nadal had made a confirmation through his official Instagram account that he will be back in the sport. But at the same time, he also asked the fans to ‘stay tuned these days when I decide and announce with my team when and where.’
In his interview with the ATP website, the 37-year-old was quoted as saying, ‘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. 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,’ he added.
Moreover, Craig Tiley, the Chief Executive of the Australian Open reiterated his view about how he expects Rafael Nadal to make his return in Melbourne in January next year. He was quoted as saying by Reuters, ‘Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day, because he’s a massive drawcard for us. He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up.’
‘Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago,’ he added.
