It remains unclear whether the Spaniard will be in good enough health to compete at the Australian Open in January.
As the tennis world anxiously awaits information regarding Rafael Nadal’s return, Alex Corretja suggests that precise details may not emerge until approximately mid-December.
The 37-year-old has been sidelined since suffering a hip injury at the Australian Open back in January, but has since undergone surgery and indicated his intention to return in the 2024 season.
Australian Open CEO Craig Tiley announced last week that Nadal is set to make his comeback at the first Grand Slam of the year, but the Spaniard appeared less convinced in his response to the announcement and, instead, revealed that he is ‘working hard to come back asap’.
‘’After taking a while from not playing tennis, I was thinking that Rafa will be the one announcing when he’s going to be back,” Corretja told Eurosport.
“But the announcement was a bit like a wrong foot for everyone.
“At the beginning, I thought maybe that’s something that they talked to each other about and planned it like this.
‘’But then after I saw what Rafa said I felt like ‘okay, they need to be very careful what they say about Rafa’s news’.
”Because it’s still almost three months away from the Australian Open, lots of things can happen and I don’t think it’s necessary to put the whole pressure on yourself like ‘oh yeah, I’m going to be there’.
“Because you don’t know how you’re going to react, how your body is going to feel after you start playing sets, after you do some more fitness. After you play three hours one day and maybe how is your body for the next day?
“And this is pretty much what you need to do before you go into a Grand Slam, especially after such a long time without playing.’’
Corretja believes Nadal won’t know himself whether he will be ready to play in Australia until a few weeks before the tournament begins.
‘’Hopefully, he’s going to announce he’s coming back,” Corretja continued.
“But I’m not expecting that before the middle of December, maybe because that would be pretty much the time that I believe that he will know if he is ready to start the season in Australia or not.
“But if he does that before, that would be awesome. We are waiting for Rafa desperately.’’
