Rafael Nadal has been warned that he will need to emulate Roger Federer by quickly ‘finding his rhythm’ in order for his long-awaited return to go down as a success. The Spaniard is currently working his way back from a hip injury and is expected to make his comeback in Brisbane later this month before playing at the Australian Open.
Nadal will certainly be hoping to add to his long list of titles in 2024, with the 37-year-old having already said that he is planning to retire at the end of next year. However, it remains to be seen if he will be able to produce his best tennis after spending so long on the treatment table following his injury at the Australian Open last year.
Sebastien Grosjean, who reached four Grand Slam semi-finals during his career, believes that Nadal will need to take a leaf from Federer’s book in order to ensure a successful return to the court.
“I’m a fan of Rafa, I love the champion and the man, so I’m delighted, it’s great that he’s coming back,” Grosjean told L’Equipe. “It’s a good sign, it’s good. I can’t wait to see him again. We’ll see how he recovers, we’ll see him train.
“If he announced his return for Brisbane and Melbourne, it is because, on a physical level, he is there. These champions, once they return to competition, they find the rhythm. Federer did it after Wimbledon [in 2016] – the [knee] operation, six months of absence and, behind that, he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon [in 2017].”
Nadal has tumbled down the rankings as a result of his injury absence and now sits outside the world’s top 600, having dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in over 17 years in March. It means that he will be unseeded at the Australian Open, which could potentially see him pitted against Novak Djokovic or another big-name player early on.
The Spanish icon has already played down expectations ahead of his return to the court by trying not to put too much pressure on himself, insisting earlier this week that it will be ‘very difficult’ for him to get back to his best straight away.
“I expect from myself not to expect anything, this is the truth,” said Nadal in a video published on X, formerly Twitter. “To have the ability not to demand of myself what I have demanded from myself throughout my career. I believe I’m in a different moment, in a different situation and in an unexplored terrain.
“I have internalised what I have had throughout my life, which is to demand from myself the maximum, and right now what I really hope is to be able not to do that, not to demand the maximum, to accept that things are going to be very difficult at the beginning and to give myself the necessary time and forgive myself if things go wrong at the beginning, which is a very big possibility.”
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