Australian Open boss Craig Tiley clarifies his statement after ‘announcing’ Rafael Nadal’s confirmation at the Grand Slam next year
Australian Open director hopes for Rafael Nadal to play in the 2024 Australian Open.
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Rafael Nadal and Craig Tiley. (Credits: The Canberra Times, Sky Sports)
In what might be the last ATP Tour of his career, Rafael Nadal has been making a lot of effort to participate in the 2024 Australian Open. The tournament director, Craig Tiley, in a recent interview, stated the Spaniard’s comeback in the next edition of the Australian Open in January 2024.
To this statement, the 22-time Grand Slam Champion thanked the tournament officials for their vote of confidence and mentioned that he was trying his level best to get back on Tour as soon as possible.
On announcing this exclusive news, the director later confirmed that his statement about the Spaniard returning was more of a hope than news. He further added, ” He’s someone who loves Australia, who loves playing here, who is well-liked by all the staff. If you follow social media, you look closely at the footage of him hitting the ball and you always have hopes because you want people like Rafa to be here”.
Rafael Nadal has been out of the season since his early second-round exit at the Australian Open earlier this year due to an injury. The Spanish legend skipped the remainder of the year to get back and play in what might be his last year on the Tour.
Rafael Nadal knows his capacity and is not dreaming of winning next year
The 14-time French Open Champion has clearly stated his goals and objectives for the next season. He does not want the fans to raise their expectations as he himself believes he might not be on the level he used to be and that he only looked forward to getting into the competitive zone for perhaps the last time in his career.
Rafael Nadal mentioned that he may not win any slams in the upcoming year, but at least it will give him an opportunity to plan his farewell from the sport on his own terms.
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Vineet Udaykumar
(254 Articles Published)