Nadal recently announced that he would be making his highly-anticipated return at the ATP 250 event in Brisbane which begins on December 31. The 37-year-old has been sidelined since he got injured during the Australian Open back in January and later underwent arthroscopic surgery in June.
After a few successul months on the practice court, the former world No 1 is now heading to his academy in Kuwait for one last big training block with Arthur Fils before heading home for Christmas and then flying to Australia. With his comeback looming, Nadal’s uncle and former coach has shared his expectations.
“Very excited to see @rafaelnadal compete again,” Toni wrote on Instagram “Even knowing this time will be ‘the hardest one yet’, I have great faith in him and believe he won’t disappoint.” It comes as something of a warning to Nadal’s big rivals, with his uncle backing him to challenge the top players once again.
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The 37-year-old recently explained that the time was right to make his return and is expected to use the Brisbane International to test his match fitness before likely competing at the Australian Open. “After one year outside of the Tour, I think it’s the right moment to be back,” Nadal explained.
“I have been working hard and feeling much better the last couple of weeks, so I feel ready to announce that I will be back in Brisbane the first week of the season.” But tennis fans will be made to wait to see Nadal take on Djokovic or Alcaraz again.
